5 Reasons EO Is More Than a Network -- It’s a Growth Engine

February 18, 2026

Published in:

Networking & Community Building

Photo courtesy Entrepreneurs' Organization

I stood in front of a room full of entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Kenya, thousands of miles from my home chapter in Dubai, preparing to share my transformation journey for the first time as a professional speaker. The learning chair had reached out after hearing I knew something about decluttering life. I remember thinking, as I looked out at that room, that these people had no idea who I was. And yet within minutes of starting, I could feel the walls coming down. People leaned in. They nodded. They shared back. That evening marked a turning point in my career.

What I bring to the stage today is shaped by that journey. I don’t speak about growth from theory or templates, but from lived experience as a fellow entrepreneur, having built, scaled, exited, and rebuilt businesses, while also confronting the cost that unexamined ambition can extract.

"Speaking to EO audiences reminds me that growth accelerates when honesty is shared, not carried alone."

— Saahil Mehta, EO MEPA Bridge

My work with entrepreneurs centers on helping them declutter outdated beliefs and behaviors, redefine success on their own terms, lead in a way that sustains momentum and deliver results without regret. I am passionate about enabling you to explore: How do you grow a business without losing yourself in the process? That question, I’ve learned, resonates deeply with entrepreneurs — especially those who have achieved success yet feel the subtle friction of misalignment beneath it.

Since that day in 2022, I’ve now spoken to EO chapters and Forums across multiple continents. What I’ve learned from speaking on stages, coaching sessions, and a lot of raw conversations has only deepened my conviction that there is something so deeply powerful about speaking to the EO community.

Here are five reasons why EO is more than a network; it's a growth engine:

1. Safety Creates Authenticity

When I walk into most speaking engagements, there’s an invisible barrier between me and the audience. People are polite, attentive, perhaps even inspired. But they’re guarded. They’re not going to share the thing that keeps them up at night in front of colleagues or strangers.

EO rooms feel different. The principles of confidentiality and no judgment aren’t just rules posted on a wall. They’re lived. I’ve had enough guarded conversations in my career to know the difference when walls come down. When I feel safe, I can be vulnerable. And when I’m vulnerable, I share things I wouldn’t say in a public setting. I’ve broken down in tears on EO stages more than once, touching on something so raw that my own emotions surprised me. That level of openness would feel reckless elsewhere. Here, it creates connection.

The audience mirrors that vulnerability. When one person shares honestly, others follow. The conversation stops being surface-level and starts getting to the real struggles beneath the polished exterior we all project.

2. Entrepreneurs Get Entrepreneurs

There’s a particular loneliness to building a business. Your employees don’t fully understand the pressure you carry. Your family sees the hours but not the weight of every decision. Friends outside the entrepreneurial world offer well-meaning advice that misses the mark entirely.

When I speak to EO members, I don’t have to explain what it’s like to lie awake wondering if you can make payroll. I don’t have to justify why the business feels personal in ways that seem irrational to outsiders. They’ve been there. They are there.

This shared experience allows conversations to go deeper faster. Instead of spending time establishing context, we can dive straight into the struggles that actually matter. And because I’m a fellow entrepreneur, not an academic researcher or corporate consultant, they know my insights come from lived experience rather than theory alone.

3. The Learning Flows Both Ways

I’m not going to pretend I have all the answers. And when something falls outside my field, I say so. That honesty is part of what makes EO audiences different. They don’t expect perfection. They expect realness.

Most speakers prepare a talk, deliver it, and leave. The audience is passive. The speaker is the expert.

"EO members share perspectives I hadn’t considered. They push back. They disagree. I walk into every EO engagement expecting to learn as much as I teach."

— Saahil Mehta, EO MEPA Bridge

That’s never been my experience with EO. These leaders push back. They disagree. They share perspectives I hadn’t considered. Someone once told me that my story about rebuilding my marriage sounded too utopian to be real. Another challenged a framework I’d been using for years, and their critique made it better.

My talk has evolved significantly because of questions and comments from EO members. When I notice the same confusion arising repeatedly, I know I need to clarify my message. When someone shares a breakthrough insight, I find ways to incorporate that wisdom into future sessions. The research I’m conducting now for my upcoming book grew directly from patterns I first noticed across these conversations.

I walk into every EO engagement expecting to learn as much as I teach.

4. Forum Facilitation Accelerates Transformation

Beyond chapter events, I’ve had the privilege of facilitating EO Forums, those small groups of six to eight members who meet monthly and know each other deeply. The vulnerability in these settings is extraordinary.

In a Forum, nobody asks hypothetical questions. They speak about what’s actually happening in their business, their marriage, their health. They call each other out when someone deflects or minimizes. There’s a kind of accountability in that container that is itself an act of care. The trust built over years of monthly meetings creates space where transformation becomes possible in ways that a single keynote never could.

When I work with a Forum, I’m helping a group hold each other accountable for the changes they want to make. That accountability piece is what separates inspiration from lasting change. Too many people attend talks, feel motivated, and then do nothing. Forums don’t allow that.

5. Conversations Create Impact

After most speaking engagements, I shake hands, receive polite compliments, and head to the airport. After EO events, people find me. They want to continue talking. Sometimes it’s about business challenges. More often, it’s about the things they’ve been sacrificing while building their companies: their health, their families, their sense of purpose.

I’ve had members approach me afterward and just ask for a hug. They start crying and I don’t even know exactly what’s going on in their head. But I know that something shifted. Maybe it was my story, maybe it was something another member shared in the room. The specifics matter less than the fact that they felt permission to stop carrying whatever they’d been carrying alone.

These conversations often continue well beyond the event. Some of the deepest friendships I’ve built over the years started in those moments after a talk, when someone stayed behind to share something they couldn’t say in front of the group. When a relationship begins at that level of honesty, it tends to stay there.

The Work Ahead

Through my research with fellow entrepreneurs and the book I’m developing with Marshall Goldsmith, I’ve identified seven behavioral traits that consistently hold business owners back from the success they’re capable of achieving, and more importantly, consciously building a life of zero regrets! Many of these patterns first became visible to me through EO conversations. The stories in the book come from real entrepreneurs willing to be honest about their struggles and challenges.

My speaking career started with a simple member story event in my home chapter. I had no grand plan. I just said yes when someone asked me to share what I’d been through. If you’ve been sitting on a story or a lesson that transformed your business or your life, I’d encourage you to find a room and share it. You might be surprised by what happens next.

EO reminded me that growth accelerates when honesty is shared, not carried alone.

Contributed by Saahil Mehta, an EO MEPA Bridge chapter member. Saahil is a global entrepreneur, author, and success coach who helps business owners design a zero-regret life. He is the author of Break Free, and is currently co-authoring a book with Dr. Marshall Goldsmith on the behavioral patterns that limit entrepreneurial success.