We first launched Sidebar in the fall of last year, and we’ve been thrilled to see people tell their colleagues and friends about their incredible experiences. In the last year, our membership has grown 8 fold, and we currently have a waitlist of more than 25,000 people. Our expert facilitators have led our members through over 1,000 meetings, and it’s extraordinary to see the impact. For example, a Sidebar member decided to leave their full-time corporate job to start their own company. They’ve received seed round funding and hired a small team to begin building. Another member decided that entrepreneurship wasn’t something they wanted to do anymore, so they decided to sell their business and pursue a role at a large company. In both examples, the Sidebar members’ groups provided the support and accountability necessary to go all in on these changes. 

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Since launching to the public, we’ve heard from many Sidebar members that they’re getting reimbursed by their companies for the costs of their memberships. And, in some cases, multiple members are from the same company. These members have asked for us to be able to work directly with their companies. And that’s what we’ve done!

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Today, we’re announcing the beta launch of Sidebar for Your Company. Now, companies can become Sidebar partners and begin offering Sidebar memberships to their employees. In addition to streamlining the process for multiple members, we’ll work with Sidebar for Your Company partners to:

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• Assess the company’s employees’ specific needs
• Work with them to identify and prioritize the employees who would benefit most from the Sidebar program
• Collaborate with employees to match them with the right peer group to accomplish their goals
• Create dedicated channels in the Sidebar product for employees within the same company to share their learnings across their different Sidebar groups

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We’re launching this early beta version of Sidebar for Your Company with Spero Ventures as our pilot partner, and we’re excited to share that Fluxx and more partners are coming on board soon.

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Fluxx CEO Kristy Gannon joined Sidebar as an individual member in the fall of 2023 and immediately found value from her experience. “I joined Sidebar because I was looking for a way to support my continued growth as a CEO. I’ve been impressed by the diversity of the community and the valuable perspectives I’ve been exposed to. It quickly became clear to me that others at my company would benefit in the same way from Sidebar, and we’re thrilled to have a seamless way to offer Sidebar memberships as an employee benefit.” 

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Our vision is to help each and every one of our members work through their trickiest problems keeping them up at night and for members to achieve extraordinary success. That’s why we’re so pleased that 93% of current members say that Sidebar has made a significant difference in their career trajectory. There’s a huge pipeline and rapidly growing list of people who are already Sidebar members who love being part of the community (our average value from call score is 4.5/5) and who have been asking their companies to offer Sidebar memberships as part of their leadership and development programming. We’re pleased to now be able to extend these benefits for businesses by enabling them to purchase a package of memberships to offer to their employees, or in the case of Spero Ventures, their portfolio companies.

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“At Spero, we believe venture capital is a team sport; we know that the best work happens in the context of community. Having spent time in leadership roles, I recognize the unique challenges that come with them, especially in the startup world. I’m keen on creating and supporting spaces where leaders can share, learn, and refine their skills together, and Sidebar will enable exactly that type of collaborative growth and shared success for the leaders of our portfolio companies,” said Lisa Zieger, Partner overseeing Community & Network. 

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At Sidebar, we think the future of work is being driven by the superpower of peers, and this is something Sidebar is uniquely positioned to offer. As more and more companies experiment with AI - oftentimes meaning needing fewer people to generate more revenue - Sidebar is people-first. Research tells us small coaching groups create safe spaces where peers can grow, have accountability, and take risks.   Small group coaching unlocks career growth – it's a competitive advantage that's untapped for many. 

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If you’d like to nominate your company to join Sidebar for Your Company, check out more information here. We’re looking forward to continuing to build the Sidebar community, alongside businesses with progressive, employee-centric cultures.