House Jam III happened in the rain, and Charlotte still showed up. But the real reason we're changing how Wednesdays work here started weeks before that night.
Finally, we have the space to capture a group shot of House Jam!
Show and tell pulled everyone into a circle.
One of the conversations that turns into an idea nobody planned on.
Small groups broke off to dig into what people are actually building.
We'd been sniffing this out for weeks
We used to call it a day pass. Come in, sit down, get some work done, leave. Totally normal for a co-working space.
Except we kept noticing the same thing. We thought people would show up Monday through Friday, nine to five, like any normal work week. Some days had a lot of energy. Some days, almost nobody came in.
We had to measure something different than a full house. We had to measure how good the actual connections were.
The idea traces back to a story about Bell Labs in the 1950s, when one team kept producing more patents than anyone else at the company. It came down to lunch. Every day, the same group sat down together, and that's where the breakthroughs kept coming from.
Proximity creates collisions. Collisions create breakthroughs.
We wanted to build a day around that on purpose, instead of hoping it happens by chance.
Two things happened that backed us up
At House Jam III, during show and tell, a founder stood up who wasn't technical at all. She had the idea, the audience, the platform. What she didn't have was a developer. She floated something out loud to the room: what if there was a speed dating night for developers, a way to pair people who have the idea with people who can actually build it. A few other founders in the room have run into the same wall.
Around the same time, someone who'd just moved back to Charlotte after leaving a PM role at IBM, where he led agent development for their API Connect platform, found us through a family member's Instagram. He wanted to check the house out before our first official Collision Wednesday was even on the calendar, so he came in on a regular day and spent roughly 9 to 5 at the house.
Somewhere in the middle of just being around other builders, he landed on a real idea: building a pipeline of young builders by opening the house up to Charlotte area high school and college CS clubs, free or discounted during school breaks.
Two different rooms, two different weeks, and both times a good idea showed up because someone was around other people instead of working alone.
Neither of them walked in looking for that idea. It showed up because they were in the room with other people.
That's exactly the bet we were already making.
So what's actually different about a Wednesday
Starting this Wednesday, August 19th, a Collision Pass gets you into the house 9 to 5, same as always. What's different is there will also be some curated time built into the day, so you're not just working next to people, you're actually meeting them.
Expect it to move in three parts. First, a meet and greet where you share what you're actually working on, so people know who's in the room and what they're building. Then Drew (and whoever from the team is around) holds office hours on the porch, the kind of conversation where you might walk away with an introduction you didn't expect. After that, it's a working session: bring a real problem, work alongside whoever's around, and see what comes out of it.
Some Wednesdays, we'll also bring in outside experts to be part of the mix. Legal, finance, insurance, whatever a room full of founders actually needs help with. Not a formal talk, just another person to collide with while you're already there.
The back of the house is still coming together (we'll show you the finished space soon), but the porch and the rest of the house are ready for you.
What's coming up
The Other Side of Startups, Thursday August 27th, 6 to 8:30pm. Every founder learns legal, insurance, real estate, and finance the same way… the hard way. We're trying to change that. Craig Ready on legal, Meigan Alexander and Kelley Moulton from Highstreet on insurance, the team at Savills on real estate, and Chris Rosbrook from Fintelos on finance. Open to the whole community, not just members. Bring a friend who's building something.
AI Show & Tell, Tuesday August 25th, 5:30 to 7:30pm at Tabbris. A night of Charlotte builders and hackers showing off what they've been making with AI, hosted by the AI Innovation Council. We're proud to help support it.
Wrapping up
Most people wait for the right connection to just happen to them. The founders who get the most out of this house are the ones who show up on purpose, on the day when everyone else is showing up too.
Until next time,
Chris
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.
