Coffee shop co-building · weekday afternoons
Bring your idea.
Take a seat.
Build it with people who get it.
A weekday afternoon working group for adults building something — a business, a career move, a product. We claim a coffee shop table and put two focused hours into the thing that keeps getting postponed.
The short version
- What we do
- Come prepared to pray, plan and participate.
- Where
- A coffee shop table around the Richmond, Pinole, Hercules, Vallejo and Benicia areas.
- What you bring
- One outcome you want finished by the end of your block.
- What it is not
- Not a pitch night, not a class, not a networking mixer.
Watch first
A quick invitation from Cory
A word from Cory
Read the transcript
Hi, this is Cory Roberson, founder of FIN Group. And I'd like to invite you to join us at Co-Build Table.
And basically what that is, is we pick a coffee shop where we meet with a small group in our community to discuss your business plan, your concept, your idea, project or app.
This is something that's near to my heart, because I started my ventures out of a coffee shop myself.
And so if this is you — whether you're a working parent, a single person, a single parent, or just someone who's struggling to launch an idea — I'd like to help you out.
And I'd like you to fill out our contact information and join us. Thank you.
Not a new idea
This table has been set for years
Co-Build Table isn't a new venture for Cory. For years he's been meeting friends at coffee shops and restaurants during the week — talking through the ins and outs of life, jobs, family and business over a cup and a booth.
What's new is the focus. Same table, same honesty about the hard parts — now with a clock on it: name the challenge, press through it, and get to work before the two hours are up.
Four tracks
Pick the track you're actually in
Track 01
Job and career track
Track 02
Business model and plan
Track 03
Scale, apps, services, products
Track 04
Website, brand and marketing
Why now
Overwhelmed, burned out, behind — and the idea still won't leave you alone
Most people don't stall because the idea is bad. They stall because the week is already full. Overwhelm takes the hours, burnout takes the energy, and the idea gets pushed to a someday with no date on it.
Life happens — we get busy, tired, off track from goals we set with real conviction. That isn't the end of it. Sometimes God gives us another chance, even when it looks nothing like the version we started with. Same gift, new shape.
Starting over rarely begins with a launch. It begins with driving to a coffee shop, opening a notebook, and writing down what you actually want. We've added a table, a time, and other people doing the same thing.
- You're exhausted by the job but can't picture the next move.
- The idea only gets attention at 11pm, when there's nothing left in the tank.
- You've reset three times this year and haven't told anyone.
- You don't need a coach — you need two protected hours and company.
Who the table is for
- Working parents
- Single parents
- Singles
- Married couples
- Anyone in between who wants to start over
No stage of life is too early or too late. If you can get to a coffee shop by noon or by 2pm, you qualify.
The purpose behind it
The parable of the talents, worked out on a Tuesday afternoon
In Matthew 25, two servants put what they were given to work and it multiplies. The third, afraid of losing it, buries his in the ground. The fear is understandable. It's still the one choice the master calls a waste.
Cory's conviction is simple: skill, experience, an idea, a burden for a community — none of it was meant to be buried out of fear of failing or starting late. Putting those gifts to work in the open, alongside other people, is a practical way of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, lived out where people actually struggle: work, money, calling, and the next move.
All are welcome. You don't have to share the faith behind it to get a seat, a time block, and people who take your work seriously.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.”
The verse behind Cory's mission work for years: what you're good at belongs on the table, not in the ground.
“Starting over usually begins with one ordinary act: driving to a coffee shop and writing down what you actually want.”
Who hosts the table
Cory Roberson
Twenty-plus years in investment management, a book on turning ideas into ventures, and community programs across four continents — brought down to one table on a weekday afternoon.
Read Cory's story- 225+
- Business customers served since 2012
- 2012
- 14 years in consulting business
- 100+
- Users among three SaaS ventures launched
- 1
- Book — From Student to Entrepreneur
The three SaaS ventures
01
Reg Review
AI compliance operating system for RIAs, broker-dealers and financial firms — documents, filings and fixes on one calendar.
02
Invest Prep
Fund administration and investor reporting for private fund and family office managers, run by a lean team instead of five vendors.
03
AD Scanner
Marketing compliance review in seconds — AI checks advertising against the rules before it goes out the door.
All three are live with paying customers — built the same way we'll work at the table: an idea, a plan, and hours put in before anyone said it was a real business.
And for every one of those, plenty of other ideas never left my head — good ones, stuck behind a full calendar, a hard season, or plain fear. This table exists so the next idea gets a time, a table, and people who keep you moving anyway.
The next two hours can be the ones that count
Tell us what you're working on and which weekday works. We'll save you a seat at the next session.
Join the table