Thanks for helping us launch the house! 🚀

We did it! On May 15th, over 100 people showed up to officially open CLT Startup House and the vibes were absolutely amazing. We originally capped RSVPs at 75, then bumped it to 120, and people kept coming. We threw up a tent outside, ordered more food, and just let the collisions happen. It was the unofficial pregame for Seed the South at BofA Stadium and it turned into something way bigger than we expected.

CBJ's Symone Graham came to the house and wrote about what we're building in Dilworth/South End. The piece covers how we went from crazy idea to 10 founding members on day one, with 15 people working from the house and a deep pipeline of founders who want in. Bootstrapped, no outside capital, by builders for builders.

Read the article: Charlotte Business Journal

One thing I keep hearing from founders during tours: "None of my other friends get it. They have corporate jobs and they just don't understand." That loneliness is the actual disease. The cure isn't a podcast or a book. It's being physically near people who think the audacity of starting something is normal, not reckless.

The founding cohort is 11 companies across three tiers. Burger restaurants and pool builders. AI consultants and data analytics shops. Strategy firms and swim instructors. The mix is intentional because the best collisions happen between people who don't look alike on paper.

See the full directory: cltstartuphouse.com/members

And a huge shout out to our new Community Manager (we call him the "house boss").. Chris Baron. Chris has been conducting tours, running member interviews, and helping make sure that everyone who walks through the door feel at home. His take: "If you walk through that door, you're saying you want to be around other people who are trying to figure it out too."

Here's his intro and a tour of the house..

Most spaces have an unspoken rule.. put your headphones on and don't bother anyone. We have the opposite rule. Headphones off, conversations on. The whole bet is that the interruption IS the product. The same kind of random collision that led me to this building in the first place is what we're trying to manufacture every single day.

Our first House Jam is happening Thursday, June 4th and it's free for any founder or builder in Charlotte. Here's what to expect:

We have a few dedicated desks available! Lock in your own reserved spot in a shared room upstairs alongside other founders with 24/7 access and all the founding member perks.

And starting next week, we're launching day passes so you can drop in and experience the house without a membership commitment.

Everyone who joins now gets founding member perks and a voice in shaping the culture from day one.

See the tiers: cltstartuphouse.com/pricing

In this age of AI, anyone with a laptop can build a company. But most of them are building alone. Proximity creates collisions, and collisions create breakthroughs. The founder who casually mentions a problem over coffee is sitting next to someone who solved that exact problem six months ago. That conversation doesn't happen on Slack or in a Zoom room. It happens when builders with dirt on their face from being in the arena are working side by side, day after day, in a house that was designed for exactly that.

Onward & upward 🤘
Drew

P.s. Forward this to a founder, builder, or operator in Charlotte who should know about us. The best communities are built by the people in them.