Chief of Staff community · Germany & AustriaYou sit next to the chief. Now sit next to your peers.
Next to the Chiefs is a curated, confidential peer community for Chiefs of Staff, Founder’s Associates, Entrepreneurs in Residence and everyone doing that job under another title.
Real questions, real answers.
- Free to join
- Reply within two weeks
- What’s shared stays here
“My founder wants me to own the board comms, the full hiring and our office move this quarter.
How do you push back without sounding like you’re dodging?”
“Been there. What helped in my case was sharing a clear overview of upcoming priorities that landed on my plate along with workload estimates and my recommendation on how we can make it work.”
The role
The loneliest seat in a growing company.
You sit next to the leadership. You see everything. You own the problems nobody else wants. And you have almost no one to talk to about it: not your founder, not your team, not LinkedIn.
You see everything.
Strategy, people, cash, politics. You carry context that you can’t share with colleagues, and can’t always share with the founder either.
You own what nobody else owns.
Whatever falls between functions lands on your desk. The role has no playbook, and no two job descriptions look alike.
Nobody to compare notes with.
The people who understand your job work at other companies. This community puts you in a room with them.
What you get
A room of people who actually get it.
A curated, active community built around the questions
you can’t ask anywhere else.
A Slack community with real answers
Ask what you’d never post publicly: how to structure your first 90 days, what to do when the role has no scope, which finance tool to use,... Real questions, real answers, no self-promotion.
Meetups in German cities
Occasional get-togethers in person, because some conversations work better over dinner or talking a walk together than in a thread.
A confidential space
What is shared here stays here. Everyone agrees to that when they join, and it is the reason people are honest.
Real peers, not everyone
A deliberately small, hand-picked group at different stages and in different industries.
Who’s in
Built for people already in the seat.
Next to the Chiefs is not an open group. Every application is read by a human, and we care about a good mix.
In the role today
You’re a Chief of Staff, Founder’s Associate, Entrepreneur in Residence or something like it under another title, working directly with a founder or the C-level. This is the heart of the community.
Between two roles
You’ve done the job and you’re currently looking for your next similar role. You can share your wisdom and use the community to find out about the newest job opportunities in this space.
On your way in
You’re aiming for a role like this and have a strong track record in strategy, consulting, operations or founding your own company. We keep this group small, at a maximum of 20% of the community, and you join to learn from those already in the seat.
Region: We are starting in Germany and Austria only - but feel free to share your email in the application form so that we can contact you should this change.
Check the details in the FAQ ↓How it works
Apply. We read it.
You hear back.
We promise you a reply within two weeks,
either with a Slack invitation or with an honest no.
Tell us who you are
A short form: your role, your context and a few questions about you.
It takes around five minutes.
We read every application
Done by Julia and Charlotte. We look at your role, your track record and what you’d bring to the room.
You hear back within two weeks
Either a Slack invitation to join the community, or an honest no. We won’t leave you waiting.
WHY WE CREATE THIS COMMUNITY
We've hired for the role. We've done the role.
Julia Reis Consulting helps start-ups and scale-ups hire Chiefs of Staff and Founder's Associates, and works as a fractional Chief of Staff alongside founders. So we know this role from both sides: the search and the desk.
More and more founders are bringing someone in to sit next to them, but the people in these roles have hardly anyone to compare notes with. There's no playbook, and every job looks different. We kept hearing the same questions, so we built the community we wished existed.
More about Julia Reis Consulting →“This key role in a growing company deserves a proper community.”
Who's here
The first people in the room.
68
Current number of members
14
Cities
33
Messages
FAQ
Questions people ask before they apply.
What is Next to the Chiefs?
Next to the Chiefs is a curated, confidential peer community for people in generalist, entrepreneurial roles directly next to founders or the C-level: Chiefs of Staff, Founder’s Associates, Entrepreneurs in Residence, or the same role under another title. It starts as a Slack community with occasional in-person meetups in German cities.
Who can join?
Three groups. First, people who are in such a role today (the core of the community). Second, people who have held such a role and are between jobs. Third, people who want to move into the role: they need a strong track record in strategy, consulting, operations or founding, and they make up at most 20% of the community.
Is it free?
Yes. Joining Next to the Chiefs is free.
How does the application work?
You fill in a short form that takes around five minutes. Every application is read by hand. You will hear back within two weeks, either with an invitation to our Slack or with an honest no.
Why is it curated and not open to everyone?
Because honest conversations only happen in rooms where people trust each other. A small, hand-picked group keeps the questions real, the answers useful and the space confidential.
Which countries and cities are covered?
Germany and Austria only, so that in-person meetups are realistic. If you’re based elsewhere, you’ll see a friendly “not the right moment” message when you apply. Meetups will take place in German cities depending on where members are.
What happens in the Slack community?
Members introduce themselves and ask and answer real questions that come up in their day-to-day work (from big to small). There are also channels to share useful resources, share career opportunities or network locally. But: no pitches or spam.
Who runs the community?
Julia Reis, founder of Julia Reis Consulting, together with her colleague Charlotte Carnehl. Julia Reis Consulting is a Germany-based consultancy that also supports start-ups and innovative companies as fractional Chiefs of Staff and with hiring for such roles.
Will there be a WhatsApp group?
Possibly later, if members want one. We’re starting with Slack and mightl add other channels if the community asks for them.
Your seat is waiting
Next to the chief is a great seat.
But it can be
a lonely one.
Apply in about five minutes. We read every application and reply within two weeks.
