EDITION 01RishikeshUttarakhand, India
The founding cohort. A villa or hostel by the Ganga, five working sessions, six hot-seats, one 90-day plan each. Mornings are career surgery, afternoons are yours.
DEL → RKSH · Overnight busAll bookedA mastermind, not a vacation
3 days. 10 professionals. Zero leaves burned.
Career surgery in places worth traveling to. Structured sessions on positioning, AI leverage and distribution — hot-seats where the room dissects your situation — and you leave with a written 90-day plan the group holds you to.
Edition 02 · Destination and dates coming soon
10 seats max — waitlist opens now.
Destination TBA · India · Place not decided yetEdition 02
Edition 01All booked
Rishikesh got booked.
Every seat for the founding cohort is taken — 6 professionals, Sep 12–14, 2026. The villa by the Ganga is happening.
Missed Edition 01? Edition 02 waitlist is open — new destination, 10 seats, ₹6,000 mentorship.
Join Edition 02 waitlistThe boring truth
Deliberately boring. On purpose.
No hustle-porn, no ice baths at sunrise, no manifesting. Pre-planned sessions, honest conversations, and a plan you actually execute when you're back at your desk.
What this is
- Five working sessions across 3 days, planned in advance
- A hot-seat for every single participant
- A written 90-day plan, presented to the room
- 2 months biweekly live mentorship for execution
- A cohort of 10 — tech and non-tech, chosen on intent
What this isn't
- A party trip with a workshop bolted on
- A lecture — you talk as much as I do
- A networking event with lanyards
- A place where I profit from your hotel bill
- Motivation. You leave with a plan, not a high
Upcoming retreats
Your boarding passes
One edition at a time, done properly. Up to 10 seats each, never more — we mean it.
DEL → RKSH · Overnight busAll bookedEDITION 02Destination TBAIndia · Place not decided yet
Edition 01 sold out. We're scouting the next destination — join the waitlist to get first notice when place and dates lock.
EDITION 03InternationalBali is the candidate
Happens only after two sold-out India editions. That's the deal I've made with myself.
Edition 02
Join the waitlist
Destination not decided yet. 10 seats max, ₹6,000 mentorship fee. Fill the form — no deposit, no commitment.
Run of show · Edition 01
How this edition runs — start to finish
Every milestone in the open. Deposits decide whether we proceed; the villa gets booked only after payments clear.
- Step 01
Announcement + deposit opens
Announcement post live. ₹2,000 refundable deposit via Topmate.
- Step 02
Deposit verdict
5+ deposits → proceed. Fewer → postpone to Jan, full refunds, no shame.
- Step 03
Full payments in
Full payments collected. Waiver + refund policy acknowledged by cohort.
- Step 04
Book the stay
Villa or hostel booked only after payments clear — never before.
- Step 05
Logistics email
Final logistics to cohort: reaching Rishikesh, packing list, house rules.
- Step 06
Setup day
I arrive and set up the space.
- Step 07
The retreat
Three days. 10 seats. Sessions, hot-seats, 90-day plans.
- Step 08
Testimonials
Testimonials + content handoff to editor.
- Step 09
Execution calls begin
First biweekly live mentorship call scheduled.
How we host it
Villa or hostel — 10 seats, zero commission games
This is a hosted cohort experience — not a hotel package. We book a villa or hostel in Tapovan and I negotiate with whichever property we choose to keep stay costs down for everyone. You book your own travel and show up ready to work.
Where: villa or hostel in Tapovan, Rishikesh — walking distance to the Ganga
Cohort: 10 professionals max (tech + non-tech), chosen on intent, not follower count
Stay cost: I collaborate with the property to reduce rates — savings passed to the cohort, every invoice shared
Rooms: shared rooms by default; private room at extra actual cost if available
Schedule: structured mornings and evenings; afternoons are yours
Food: all meals + chai, billed at actual cost, split equally, every invoice shared
Sessions: five working sessions, one hot-seat per person, Build Hour, 90-day plan presentation
My role: facilitate sessions, document costs, send logistics, set up Sep 11 — stay never booked before payments clear
Your role: book own travel, show up prepared, participate in hot-seats, execute the plan after
Edition 01 · Session details
What the 3 days look like
Mornings and evenings are structured. Afternoons are yours — the Ganga is right there.
Day 0Sat, Sep 12
Arrival + Ground Zero
- Check in, settle, walk to the Ganga
- Intro circle: “what's the one career problem you'd pay to solve?” — your answer becomes the hot-seat queue
- Dinner, house rules, agenda walkthrough
Day 1Sun, Sep 13
Positioning + AI Leverage
- Career audit & positioning — proof-of-work over credentials. You leave with a written positioning statement
- Hot-seats ×5 — the group dissects one person's situation at a time
- Afternoon free: Beatles Ashram, cafés, Ganga aarti
- Content Creation & Build in Public (optional) — learn how to document your work online; skip freely if that's not your lane
- AI leverage session — live demos, no-code paths for non-tech folks
- Build Hour: everyone ships one automation or asset tonight. Judged tomorrow
Day 2Mon, Sep 14
Distribution + The Plan
- Distribution — LinkedIn positioning, content as career leverage
- Hot-seats ×5 — everyone's had one by now
- 90-day plan: written, presented, witnessed by the room
- Awards: Best Build, Best Pitch, Sharpest Question
- Evening buses back. Tuesday office. Zero leaves spent
After you're home
2 months of live execution mentorship
The retreat is where you write the plan. The next two months are where you run it — with the cohort holding you accountable.
- Biweekly live group calls for 2 months (~4 sessions, 30 minutes each)
- Focus: executing the 90-day plan you wrote in Rishikesh — not new curriculum
- Calls are live (video), cohort-only, scheduled together after the retreat
- Included in your mentorship fee — no upsell, no surprise add-ons
The money, in the open
I take 0% commission on your stay & food.
My fee is ₹6,000 (₹8,000 list price, 25% off for Edition 01) — that's the only money I make. Everything else is billed at actual cost, split equally, with every invoice shared inside the cohort. I negotiate stay rates with the villa or hostel — if it costs less than estimated, you pay less. Simple.
- Every bill — stay, food, supplies — goes into a shared tracker the whole cohort can see.
- Your travel money never touches my hands. You book your own bus, train or flight.
- Deposits are fully refundable. After full payment: 50% refund until two weeks out, seat transferable anytime.
Est. per person · 10 pax
Stay (villa or hostel, 3 nights)₹4,300–5,150
All meals + chai, 3 days₹2,000–2,500
Supplies, games, awards₹450
Local transport buffer₹300
Mentorship fee (my earning)₹6,000
All-in, excl. your travel≈ ₹13,000–14,900
0% commissionGetting there
Reaching Rishikesh is the easy part
2 PM on Saturday, Sep 12. Leave monday evening, sep 14. Be at your desk on Tuesday, Sep 15 like nothing happened.
Most people do this
Overnight bus
Delhi (Kashmere Gate)
Volvo / AC sleeper, ~6 hrs, ₹600–1,200 each way. Leave Friday night, wake up in the hills.
Comfortable
Train + cab
Delhi → Haridwar
Vande Bharat or Shatabdi to Haridwar, then a 1-hr cab (~₹900) to Tapovan.
Fastest
Fly
Any city → Dehradun (DED)
35 km from Rishikesh, ~₹1,200 cab. For Bangalore / Mumbai / Hyderabad folks.
Your host
Sachin Shukla
Engineer, founder of The Boring Education, and builder of things in public. I've spent years answering career DMs one at a time — this retreat is those conversations done properly: in person, structured, with follow-through. I document everything, including the bills.
Questions people actually ask
FAQ
What exactly am I paying for?
₹6,000 is my mentorship fee (₹8,000 list, 25% founding discount) — sessions, hot-seats, your 90-day plan, and 2 months of biweekly live group mentorship after the retreat. Stay and food are separate, billed at actual cost and split equally. I take 0% commission on any of it; every invoice is shared with the cohort.
Is the deposit really refundable?
Yes. ₹2,000 holds your seat and comes back in full if you back out before full payments open, or if the edition doesn't run. After full payment: 50% refund until two weeks out, and your seat is transferable to another person anytime.
Can I join a waitlist?
Yes — use Join waitlist on the homepage or in the boarding pass grid. Same Google Form for Edition 01 overflow and future editions.
I'm not from tech. Is this for me?
Yes — a few seats in every cohort are non-tech on purpose. Sessions teach leverage (positioning, AI as a tool, distribution), not programming. Hot-seats are about your specific situation, whatever field that's in.
What about rooms and sharing?
Room allocation is shared before you pay — no surprises. It's a villa or hostel with shared rooms by default; if a private room is available, it's yours at extra actual cost.
Do I need leave days?
Edition 01: zero. Sep 14 is Ganesh Chaturthi (Mon). Arrive Saturday afternoon, leave Monday evening, be at your desk Tuesday.
What happens after the retreat?
The real product. Biweekly live group mentorship for 2 months — about four 30-minute sessions — tracking the plan you wrote in Rishikesh. Retreats end; accountability doesn't.
How do I join the waitlist?
Fill out the waitlist form on this page. No deposit, no commitment — just a heads-up when destination and dates are locked.
Where is Edition 02 happening?
Not decided yet. We're open to suggestions from the waitlist once we shortlist a few options.
What's the mentorship fee?
₹6,000 — sessions, hot-seats, your 90-day plan, and 2 months of biweekly live group mentorship after the retreat. Stay and food are separate, at actual cost.
When will details be available?
After we lock a destination and dates. Waitlist members get first notice and first access to seats.
10 people max
Edition 01 sold out. Edition 02 waitlist is open.
Join the waitlistEdition 02 · ₹6,000 mentorship · 10 seats · Join the waitlist below