While there are many Silicon Valley institutions catering to founders’ business needs, few focus on mental health, community, and interconnectivity — and that’s a major problem in an increasingly isolating startup world, especially one that’s migrating more and more to Los Angeles. As Launch House co-founder Brett Goldstein explains, “LA’s a very hard place to meet people.
It’s spread out. There’s no central hub where startup founders are meeting.” And therein lies Launch House’s niche: bringing bright minds together under one roof, making an impact on its community of entrepreneurs, both in Los Angeles and around the world. Thanks to its digital ‘home’ on Discord, global members get access to the same resources as those living in Launch House hub cities such as New York and LA.
Founder: Launch House Is All About ‘Leveling Up’
While Launch House certainly serves as an accelerator alternative for many of today’s top entrepreneurs, Goldstein describes it as “a community for startup founders to help them do two things: level up and look better. Leveling up is obviously all about helping you achieve your business goals. But living better is about mental and physical health.”
To that end, building community is equally important to scoring financial backing in the Launch House world. Upon acceptance, members can join a group of five to seven fellow entrepreneurs who “are going to be there with you, help you solve problems … [and] achieve a specific outcome like fundraising or hiring,” says Goldstein. Perhaps more importantly, however, they’re going to “be your shoulder to cry on,” he adds.
Why is this emotional support so critical to the Launch House model? As Goldstein highlights, “The need to belong [is] the most fundamental human need … In blue [zones] around the world, which are regions where people live the longest, [studies] found that these are regions where people have a strong sense of community. So the need to belong — the sense of belonging — is deeply tied to physical health and longevity. It’s also tied to mental health.”
From the outset, the Launch House founders were determined to focus on mental health, to give their community members a sustainable path forward. Yet they see community as also being “a driver of success, [because] you are the sum of the people around you.” And if those people are carefully grouped in highly curated cohorts? As Launch House graduates have proved again and again, achievement is sure to follow.
The Launch House Difference: Building Connections, Not Networks
To some, the idea of building connections is nothing groundbreaking. After all, Goldstein acknowledges, as the saying goes, “Your network is your net worth.” But there’s something about the idea of networking that makes relationships feel too calculated for the Launch House team and so, says Goldstein, “Networking is not a word that we use personally.” In fact, he continues, it’s antithetical to what his community is trying to do.
He explains, “The broad mission and purpose of Launch House is to make business and the technology industry less transactional, more authentic and person-driven.” To that end, at Launch House events, “We’ve even not had name tags because we didn’t want people to be sizing each other up.” Now, at these events, people may still be “socializing as a means to generate business opportunities.” Yet, by making the connections a stronger focus than the need to find a backer or close a deal, they’ve found people arrive with better energy. In contrast, networkers “come with a more closed-off, different kind of vibe and attention that makes the event less exciting and nice.”
How has this shift in focus impacted the Launch House community? Interestingly, Goldstein notes, “The ironic thing is that the people who have literally raised money from great investors while at our events and made great connections are not the ones who come in with the intention of doing that.” At the same time, he says, “Every single cohort that’s ever happened, we have people who make their lifelong best friends.” Together, he says, “They have career-changing realizations, they have personal revelations.” And that, says Goldstein, is “a reason why we’re continuing to do what we’re doing.”
