Founders' Kitchen Lab Chicago: Cook, Build & Share

Cook with a local chef while swapping ideas on food, lifestyle brands, and business with fellow founders and creatives. Founders' Kitchen Lab Chicago: Cook, Build & Share Founders' Kitchen Lab is an intimate 16-person workshop where cooking and entrepreneurship happen side by side. Instead of sitting through another business panel, guests work in small teams alongside a local chef to prepare a complete meal while hearing the behind-the-scenes story of building an F&B or lifestyle brand. Throughout the cooking process, short founder conversations are woven naturally between each stage of the recipe. The experience is organized around three ingredients of building a business: • The Mise en Place - Building the Foundation: Finding the customer, defining the concept, and deciding what the brand should stand for. • The Heat - Growing Through the Messy Middle: Testing products, pricing, operations, marketing, mistakes, and difficult early decisions. • The Table - Building Something People Return To: Community, customer loyalty, storytelling, and sustainable growth. Guests will work in teams of four to prepare different components of the shared meal. Experience highlights include: • Hands-on cooking with a chef instructor • Small groups of four participants • Featured F&B or lifestyle founder conversation • Three short business discussion sessions • Guided founder Q&A • Collaborative meal preparation • Practical business prompt cards • Shared family-style meal • Founder and creator networking • Recipe cards to take home • Business takeaway workbook • Kitchen photo experience • Optional attendee contact exchange No advanced cooking experience or startup experience is required. The afternoon concludes around one shared table, where guests eat the meal they created and discuss one question: “What are you building next—and what ingredient is still missing?” TIMELINE • 2:00 PM – Kitchen Check-In & Welcome Guest arrival, aprons, refreshments, introductions, and team assignments. • 2:20 PM – The Mise en Place: Founder Story Part One Featured founder discusses identifying an opportunity, creating the initial concept, and finding the first customers. • 2:35 PM – Cooking Lab: Round One Teams begin ingredient preparation and the first stage of the meal with chef guidance. • 3:05 PM – The Heat: Founder Story Part Two A short conversation about growth, pricing, operations, mistakes, and adapting the business. • 3:20 PM – Cooking Lab: Round Two Teams continue cooking, plating preparation, and collaborative kitchen work. • 3:55 PM – The Table: Founder Story Part Three Discussion around branding, customer loyalty, community, and sustainable growth. • 4:10 PM – Final Cook & Plating Teams complete their dishes and prepare the shared table. • 4:30 PM – Founders' Table Meal Guests enjoy the meal together with guided conversation prompts and founder Q&A. • 4:50 PM – One Ingredient Forward Each guest shares one business or creative takeaway from the afternoon. • 5:00 PM – Event Ends