Anyone could copy everything we built

Hey it's Damian,

Last week John Hu and Vitalii spent the workday with us. They're building Stan, the creator platform scaling past $40M ARR with backing from Gary Vee and Steven Bartlett. On Tuesday every seat was taken, Svry was sampling protein bars in our common area, and a tour full of founders walked through lunch.

A normal week at Founders House, the third space for founders building to scale that Louisa and I created from an idea. Crazy it's been less than 3 months since we opened next to Grand Central.

At one point during the day I asked Louisa a question I'd been pondering: "Are we at risk of being disrupted?"

In the last month, vibe-coded free tools have been eating software companies with hundreds of millions in funding. AI is collapsing the cost of copying what someone else built. So I had to ask it about us.

Anyone with enough money could open a workspace a block from Grand Central. A gym, event programming, nice furniture. All of it is copyable.

This issue is our answer: what a brand actually is, the two things it comes down to, and how to make yours impossible to copy. Every business has one, built on purpose or by accident. By the end you'll know which half of yours needs work.

First, what's coming up, including the one event I'd tell you not to miss.

📆 On the Calendar

Tonight at 7pm | 🎲 Poker & Game Night

Tue to Thu, ongoing | 💻 Cowork Day Pass. Not a member yet? Come work from Founders House for a day.

Wed, Aug 19 at 5pm | 💸 Workshop Wednesday: GTM Mastermind with Valli Ventures

Thu, Aug 20 at 6pm | 🧘 Pilates & Founder Stories with Jess Kolb

Tue, Aug 25 at 2pm | ⭐ Summer Builders Day. The big one, more below.

Wed, Aug 26 at 5pm | 📝 Workshop Wednesday: Founder-Led Growth with Hannah Zhang

The one to circle: Summer Builders Day, Tuesday, Aug 25, 2 to 7pm at Founders House. A full afternoon of founders building side by side at 22 Vanderbilt, then closing out the summer together. Under two weeks out and filling up. If you come to one thing before Labor Day, make it this. Save your spot →

Now, back to the question.

Louisa had an answer before I finished asking. "Anyone could copy what we're doing, but they can't copy the brand that we're building." And she didn't mean the logo. "No one can replicate three years and be exactly in our shoes."

A brand comes down to two things: the things people associate with you, and the feeling you give people. Everything else is decoration.

The associations. Who you partner with. Who's in the space when someone walks in. When you move to New York, you realize how many people are operating at a higher level than you thought possible, and instead of shrinking you, it energizes you. Founders House is an ecosystem we picked by hand inside the bigger New York one.

Last week I watched it happen in one hallway. Two founders were in the space at the same time: the founding engineer behind Cal AI, a $50M app, and Vitalii from Stanley who’s scaling past $40M ARR. They had no idea the other was in the building. I carry a map of what everyone here is working on, and when two dots line up, I walk one of them over to the other. Same week: Lou from SVB, Winston from SimpleClosure, Drew from Rho, and Amy Wang, building the Stan team in New York with John and Vitalii. Proximity plus intention creates moments no algorithm or intro email could replicate.

The people around that Tuesday table are building health tech, life sciences, AI, media. Many had successful runs on Wall Street or in corporate first, then pivoted to something more aligned. When you're surrounded by people doing things you think are cool, your identity shifts. Even if you're not at that level yet, you start moving like someone who will be.

The feeling. Before Founders House existed, Louisa and I looked at 25 to 30 spaces and put in offers on more than five. Nobody saw the vision, and we had no proof to convince New York City landlords, who are notoriously hard to convince. The first fall-through hurt the most. We were naive enough to think we'd get the space immediately, and losing it told us we were in for a wake-up call. It never registered as failure, though. The vision was strong enough that none of it felt like a challenge. We stayed unattached to each deal because we had faith the next one would be better. The whole plan was keep pushing, keep putting out content, keep looking. We were following a feeling, not a grand plan.

Louisa and I met through a friend at a cold plunge party, got coffee afterward, and connected over health, wellness, and building spaces for people to connect. We didn't partner over spirituality, but it turns out we share the same philosophy about creating things: build from alignment, hold the outcome loosely, trust the feeling. That philosophy shows up in everything the company touches: the emails, the events, the way you're greeted at the front desk. You can feel the intention behind things. I believe people can feel the energy you put into what you make.

The reverse is just as true. Louisa spent a decade in corporate before this. I went the other way, starting a business right out of college to avoid it, and still ended up selling to people I didn't have a passion to help. They always say build something you would want for yourself. I didn't follow it the first time. I was running from something rather than towards something, and it came through in the service no matter how professional I kept it. People can tell when work is unaligned, even when they can't name it.

It might look like we’re offering desks, a gym and an event calendar. But looking closer, what people actually take from it is permission to build the way they want to build. Louisa and I both needed that once, on paths that looked right on paper and felt wrong everywhere else.

Energy is contagious. The feeling you give people and the company you keep: that's the brand. And that's the one thing nobody can copy.

Hit reply and tell me the one thing you want people to feel when they interact with your company. I read every one. And if you want to build surrounded by that energy, come work from Founders House for a day, Tuesday through Thursday, or learn more at foundershouse.nyc.

Talk soon,
Damian

P.S. Summer Builders Day is Tuesday, Aug 25, the best single afternoon to experience what this email is about. Bring the thing you're working on.