Build the next chapter without abandoning yourself.
A relational practice for capable men in times of change — held by a brotherhood that can metabolize the patterns that would otherwise stop them. Not woo-woo; Not system-captured. The middle way.
You've already done a lap.
You know discipline. You've produced results. And lately the old way of moving through your career has stopped being enough — internally, and in a world that's shifting under your feet. Read the list. See if you recognize yourself.
- 01A second-time founder, a long-tenured operator, a professional who has delivered — and is now asking what's next.
- 02You know self-perfection and strategic conversation intimately — and you're realizing they are not enough.
- 03You're anxious about a changing world, including AI-driven shifts in work, and you want to land on your feet in whatever comes next.
- 04You want your next chapter to be values-aligned, not just successful.
- 05You're building something, considering it, or carry creative capacity that wants out — through a venture, a family, a different kind of relationship, or a repair.
Most rooms ask you to pick a side. We hold both.
Men in transition usually get offered one of two things: a tactics-and-performance room that ignores the inner life, or a retreat that ignores the real stakes of building. Neither is the whole truth. The work lives in the tension between them.
Optimize. Compete. Win.
Endless self-improvement and strategy talk, with the body, the emotions, and the relationships treated as overhead.
Withdraw. Renounce. Float.
Deep feeling and connection that never quite metabolizes into anything you can build a life on.
We are connected to the contemplative and somatic — and we are professionals. AI doesn't replace human connection here; it's in service of it.
Men a few steps further down the same path.
We are not gurus. We've each made some version of the leap you're facing — and we're still navigating it. Read our paths. You should be able to find at least one of us and say, I see myself in him.
Andrew Davis
Product & EngineeringEngineer turned Buddhist monk for 15 years, now a Chief Product Officer bringing rare depth of technical and human insight to software teams. Co-author of Flow Engineering, the leading book on optimizing team workflow through value stream mapping, and author of Mastering Salesforce DevOps.
LinkedIn ↗Dmitriy Lyan
Product & StrategyProduct lead on Meta AI's 2023 assistant launch (billions of users) and PlayTorch, Meta AI Research's on-device AI framework. Launched Kindle Education at Amazon. MIT research in behavioral health system design. Brings movement, embodiment, and somatic practice to the room — the bridge between body and purpose.
LinkedIn ↗Nima Imani
Coaching & Emotional IntelligenceCo-founder and CTO of InsightsOut, an AI platform for emotional awareness, and an ICF-certified executive coach (ACC) for founders navigating the pressure, uncertainty, and emotional realities of building. A former data and AI architect (Neo4j, EY) who knows the performance world from the inside — and the cost it exacts.
LinkedIn ↗Ben Simon-Thomas
Play & Games for HealthFounder of The Verse, building games and immersive experiences for health, wellbeing, and human flourishing. Brings together designers, researchers, technologists, and artists to create play-based therapeutics and prosocial games — translating behavioral science and emotional-regulation research into mechanics that foster empathy and collective wellbeing.
LinkedIn ↗Over time, participants' own stories extend this mirror — the men who go through The Forge become part of how the next men recognize themselves.
Start with a half day. Stay for the work.
The workshop is a real experience on its own — and the doorway to the cohort. You don't have to commit to six months to find out whether these are your people.
The Half-Day Workshop
A guided walk between hidden corners of the city, each stop holding a real inquiry. Memorable by design — nothing like a sit-down coaching room.
- A signature walk between several open spaces, each a station for inquiry, observation, or a small-group drop-in.
- A real taste of the depth — not a sales pitch with a meditation bolted on.
- An honest read on whether the cohort is right for you, and what you'd want from it.
The Cohort
A small, closed brotherhood that runs long enough for the bonds to actually hold — and to carry your habits, patterns, and commitments when motivation fades.
- A kickoff that surfaces your essence-level vision, your project or commitment, and the patterns most likely to get in the way.
- A closed container once it starts — the same men, all the way through.
- Ongoing accountability, emotional integration, and nervous-system reset, so week one's spark doesn't collapse into isolation by week two.
The practices that keep the spark from dying.
Pattern recognition, weekly experiments, dyadic emotional processing, and group accountability — woven together so something real happens every session, not just in week one.
Project & Commitment
You articulate what you want to create, see it vividly, and rate your commitment 1–10. The project may change; the practice of declaring one and being held to it is the spine.
Pattern Mapping
You name the patterns, fears, and inner voices that stop you — and bring them into the group, so they can be recognized and met when they recur.
Weekly Experiments
Each week, a small, concrete experiment that addresses one mapped pattern — reported back to the group the following session.
Dyads
Pairs run for two to three weeks, practicing naming emotion and locating feeling in the body — drawn from Tania Singer's work. One of the strongest practices we know.
Accountability Partners
Lightweight weekly pairings: each man states two or three commitments and checks in at week's end. It adapts to your project, the cohort, and the rest of life.
Relational Identity Snapshot
You answer an open prompt — who you are, where you're coming from, where you're moving toward — then invite two or three people who know you to reflect honestly. A living map the cohort adds to over time.
"Even if my original project changed or failed — these are my people. This group is supporting me through it. My partner can see the difference. I'm staying."
Ready to find your people?
Tell us where you are in your transition and what you're carrying. We'll let you know about the next workshop and whether a cohort seat is the right fit. No pressure, no funnel tricks — just a real conversation between men.