YEC Core. The council for founders at $1M+

The council

A council, not a network.

Isolation at altitude.

The further you go, the lonelier the decisions get. The people around you depend on you, look to you, or report to you. Very few of them carry what you carry. The calls that keep you up at night are the ones you cannot make out loud. That is the quiet cost of operating at altitude, and almost no one names it.

Who this is for.

Founders who have built something real, with people counting on them. You are not looking for another feed to scroll or another network to work. You are looking for peers who understand the weight without the preamble.

Selective by design.

YEC is selective by design. We lead with the person, then the business. There are no badges to collect and no contacts to farm. It is a small group of founders who show up honestly, hold what is said in confidence, and make the hard parts a little less lonely.

Member access

What a Core seat includes.

The table

The council itself

A vetted circle of established founders and operators, placed by your company's stage. Searchable when you need a specific kind of mind. Present when you need a sounding board that has already made the call you are weighing.

Asks and gives

Bring a real problem. Get real help. Offer the same when it is your turn. Hiring calls, vendor referrals, warm introductions, candid feedback, all from people with nothing to sell you.

People you cannot hire

Some members no longer take clients or sell their time. At the table, their judgment is open to you as a peer.

The member directory

Search the table by industry, location, expertise, and stage. Built for finding the one person who has navigated exactly what you are walking into.

Tables in person

Small, member-hosted dinners and gatherings. The kind of evening where one conversation resets how you think about the next year.

Sessions with operators

Live conversations with people who have done the specific thing you are working through, recorded in the Replay Library for the weeks you cannot make it.

Your visibility

Publishing, with substance

Placements through YEC and its partners, including Inc. Expert panels put real questions in front of you, your answer runs under your name, and it reaches readers who come for signal.

Press pitching

Reporters' requests matched to what you know, so you can pitch the stories that fit you.

The YEC blog

Our own publication. Hundreds of published pieces, and a standing place for yours.

Member newsletters

Your work and your asks go out to the table and to our list, not just onto a page.

Member spotlights

Interviews and profiles that put you at the head of the table, carried across our LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok channels. Visibility that drives introductions, not vanity.

Your public profile

An optional page on yec.co that shows who you are and what you build. You choose to turn it on.

The working library

The member home

A private space that holds it all: the feed, the directory, asks and gives, session recordings, and every resource. One place, members only.

Playbooks and templates

Templates, SOPs, checklists, and session materials. Tools you can put to work the same day.

AI tools in the portal

AI skills built for founders, inside the member home.

Access negotiated for the group

Curated introductions and partner arrangements across travel, software, and growth, chosen because they are useful.

A direct line to the YEC team

Message staff from the portal and a person answers.

Tiers

How the tiers compare.

	YEC Next	YEC Core	YEC Fellows
For	For founders under $1M in revenue.	For founders at $1M+ in revenue.	For members who have outgrown Core.
Dues	$5,000 a year	$3,500 a year	$3,500 a year
The 14 shared benefits	Yes	Yes	Yes
Year-long curriculum	Yes	No	No
Coaching	Yes	No	No
Monthly check-ins with staff	Yes	No	No
Attendance tracked (75% rule)	Yes	No	No
Mentor, moderate, run sessions	No	No	Yes
Fellows-only gatherings	No	No	Yes

YEC Next

For: For founders under $1M in revenue.

Dues: $5,000 a year

The 14 shared benefits: Yes

Year-long curriculum: Yes

Coaching: Yes

Monthly check-ins with staff: Yes

Attendance tracked (75% rule): Yes

Mentor, moderate, run sessions: No

Fellows-only gatherings: No

YEC Core

For: For founders at $1M+ in revenue.

Dues: $3,500 a year

The 14 shared benefits: Yes

Year-long curriculum: No

Coaching: No

Monthly check-ins with staff: No

Attendance tracked (75% rule): No

Mentor, moderate, run sessions: No

Fellows-only gatherings: No

YEC Fellows

For: For members who have outgrown Core.

Dues: $3,500 a year

The 14 shared benefits: Yes

Year-long curriculum: No

Coaching: No

Monthly check-ins with staff: No

Attendance tracked (75% rule): No

Mentor, moderate, run sessions: Yes

Fellows-only gatherings: Yes

What Next includes

After Core

The path to Fellows.

For members who have outgrown Core.
Past or current members who reached $10M+ in revenue or an exit, or bring expert knowledge. By invitation; the member chooses Fellows or stays in Core. Fellows can earn credits or be paid to mentor, moderate, and run sessions.
$3,500 a year, paid upfront.
YEC Next graduates get $500 off their first year of Core.

Joining

How joining works.

Membership is decided through a short application, a conversation, and a review by YEC leadership.

Apply through the short form on the apply page.
Have a conversation with the YEC team.
YEC leadership reviews the application and confirms your tier. The conversation can place you in a different tier than the one you applied for.
If accepted, you receive a private link to choose your plan and take your seat.

Questions

Plain answers.

All questions

Do I need to have it all figured out?

No. You do not need it all figured out. You need to be building something real, and to be willing to be seen while you do it. Certainty is not the bar. Honesty is.

What makes this different from a networking group?

Networks collect contacts. Councils solve problems. This is a small circle of peers who act as a mirror, not a directory you scroll. The difference is intention, and you feel it the first time you sit down.

How does the application work?

You apply through our secure form, a person reviews it against the same bar the members built, and we reach out either way. If the timing is not right, we will tell you honestly. Upfront in both directions.

What does the table ask of me?

That you show up, give counsel as readily as you take it, and be honest about what is below your waterline. Earn your seat, and keep it by showing up. This is a gym, not a spa.

Is this only for a certain kind of founder?

It is for founders, co-founders, CEOs, and builders who are in the arena right now. Age is not a requirement. Where you fit depends on your company's stage, not age. YEC Next is for founders under $1M in revenue, YEC Core is for founders at $1M+ in revenue, and YEC Fellows is for members who have outgrown Core. The full tiers, requirements, and dues are on the Membership page.

Can members do business with each other?

Yes, and on purpose. The vetting is intense enough that we want members hiring each other, working together, and opening real doors for each other. Most groups forbid it. We built for it.

Where do events happen?

Online and in person, through our Luma calendar. Some gatherings are open to anyone building something real, and some are members only. You can see what is current on the Events page.

I am already a member. Where do I log in?

Use the Member Login link in the navigation, which takes you to the member home. This site is the front door, not the home.

Earn a seat
at the table

Apply for YEC Core Compare all tiers

For founders at $1M+ in revenue.