So, I have just finished the Summer ‘22 NYC cohort and it has been an incredible journey. I have attempted to document what goes through threads and random musings on Twitter and the sporadic post on Instagram. From the time I arrived I have had questions ranging from the application process to “what are the vibes like?”. Admittedly, when I was accepted onto Launch House, I didn’t know what to expect despite all of my research. All I knew, was that if some of my talented friends came through the program and left on the otherside with friends, community and new opportunities Launch House must have some value. This is why I am writing this lengthy article to answer the questions I had before joining Launch House, answer some of the questions I received, and detail my raw experience(s).
I will write another article about the key takeaways from my Launch House experience. Expect that one to go live a week after this one.
Quick disclaimer → I am detailing and accounting for MY personal experiences. The experiences of others in my cohort are different. This is also, in no way, an attempt to deceitfully over-sell or maliciously attack Launch House.
Why Launch House?
I first heard of Launch House in 2020 when Alex Masmejean participated in the second-ever cohort in Tulum, Mexico. He shared his experiences and highlighted the importance of building with a community. At this point, I was in the final year of my undergrad and was working on a consulting business. I didn’t see the fit or the use case for me. Launch House at that point didn’t align with my goals or vision in the short-term at that point of my life. The following year, Debbie joined the founder cohort in LA, again there weren’t any synergies. But I did keep tabs, Launch House has grown from a group of friends building together out of the pandemic to a "the third space for the new distributed Silicon Valley," alongside long-standing institutions such as universities and incubator programs.
In December 2021, I co-founded early.fans, very quickly I understood that the best place to build a web3 company was in the United States. That is where the industry knowledge, resources, risk appetite and capital are. In the space of a few months, I had all these things…
- An exciting and scalable startup
- Building in web3
- In need of insight, resources and a community.
That said, I rolled up my sleeves and prepared an application to Launch House (which I didn’t submit after I tokenised myself).
Application Process
The application process is split into two parts, first is an online form which you can find here. You fill out a form that has generic questions, things like, what problems does your company solve? What’s is your solution? What do you want to get from Launch House? etc… Easy stuff. The most difficult thing for me was the 1-minute video introduction of yourself section. It took me 35-minutes and 55 takes → don’t believe me? Look below ⬇️
I sent my application on the 24th of February and received a response on the 29th of March for an informal chat with a member of their community. On the 31st of March, I hopped on a call with Katy (co-founder @ Seam) and we had a chat about my background, early.fans and I asked her questions. At the end of the call, she let me know that she’d recommend me to be a part of the upcoming cohort, this call wasn’t an interview but a vibe check.
On the 4th of April, I received my invite to join the Launch House community. However, before I did this, I consulted the $ENIOLA community.
On the 11th of April, a snapshot vote to accept the offer from Launch House concluded and the results were overwhelming… I was going to New York! April 12th, I paid to secure my membership to the Launch House community for a year and one of their upcoming residencies. Obviously, timelines will vary per application and cohort, however, the application process was very easy and seamless. No silly questions, no random requirements. I’m not sure what the sentiment behind the admissions process is from the team, however, the selection process seems to work well.
Onboarding
Onboarding was quite simple, after confirming my membership, I received an invite to join the Discord community and the channels within it. I also was able to create an account and join their community web app which has some cool features and products; ranging from an internal Airbnb (pads) to perk redemption and a lot more. Additionally, there was an onboarding call in the gather app. I kept zoning out, but to be fair the call started at 1 am (local time) and 8 pm et. My cohort was in a unique position, we were the only cohort that wouldn’t be living in the Launch House Penthouse. Launch House partnered with Blueground apartments to provide accommodation for those participating in the live-in programme. I received my email from Blueground detailing move-in/out, location and flatmate information for my stay.
First Day
The cohort started on May 23rd with a welcome brunch at the Chelsea Clubhouse. This is where we met each other in real life for the first time and got acquainted with one another. I didn’t waste time speaking to as many people as possible. I wanted to build as many non-transactional relationships as possible, so apart from the brief one-liner I purposely avoided “founder talk”. Instead, I opted for conversations around the individuals I was talking to; their backgrounds, interests and hobbies. I asked a lot of questions, made jokes (primarily directed at how bad America is), smiled, laughed and just engaged on a human level with as many individuals in the cohort as possible.
The day was a mixture of light work, introductions and exploring the surrounding blocks during our down periods. Official programming kicked off at 5 PM, it was our first demo-day. We had to introduce ourselves, what we are building, what we wanted to achieve during our time at launch house and finally our asks from the cohort via a presentation. Our programme manager Jamie provided 3-slide template which I completely ignored and built out my own 11-slide presentation (I am not a narcissist).
Demo-day allowed the cohort to get to know each other better, no matter how hard you tried you couldn’t have deep conversations with 28 other founders in a matter of hours. By 7 PM on the first day, the cohort had basic information on everyone as people and founders. After we wrapped up demo day I was tired and jetlagged as I arrived the day before, so I went home to sleep.
Typical Week
Breaking down what I did each day will make the article lengthy, it’ll also be redundant considering the fact that I posted daily threads of my activities on Twitter.
Instead, I am going to share what was a ‘typical’ week on the programme to give you an idea as to what goes on.
Official programming is from Monday → Thursday and there is no programming from Friday → Sunday. Programming lasts for about 2-3 hours and typically starts between 5 and 5:30 PM. A typical week was a random combination of these activities.
Weekday (Programming):
- Demo Day - (A weekly recap of what we’ve got up to, what we are working on and our ask from the cohort)
- Squads - Your accountability group within the cohort, sessions are led by professional coaches.
- Founders Circle - A for the founders to build relationships whilst building their startups. We use this as an opportunity to be raw, open and intentional.
- Founder x Investor Meetups - It’s exactly what it says on the tin.
- Fireside Chat - Talks with influential individuals about a topic in their zone of excellence.
- Private Dinners - Again, on the tin.
- Brunch and Dinner - Tin…
Weekday and Weekends (No Programming):
- Personal - Calls back home, gym, cooking, creating Twitter threads
- Founder (early.fans) - Conducting standups, investor meetings, user research, market research, token and incentive design etc...
- Social - Watch parties (tv series), NHL/NBA/MLB games, clubbing, rooftop parties, grabbing brunch/lunch/dinner with friends, comedy clubs, karaoke bars, sightseeing, bar crawling in the Bronx, kickback in Central Park, thrift shopping in Brooklyn, watching plays on Broadway and more…
Yes, a lot of my activities included alcohol; judge me if you wish.
Last Day
This was definitely somewhat of an emotional day. Some people on the cohort had already left, some were going on this day and some stuck around for nft.nyc. I had just spent nearly every waking hour over the past 28 days with people on the cohort and to realise that I was going to be separated from them by the Atlantic Ocean wasn’t a nice thought.
Brunch was provided for the people that were still around, this goodbye session wasn’t really official programming. We were left to continue the relationships that we wanted to and continue building as part of the Launch House community.
