Hampton

The one question that completely changed how I’m planning for 2025… Went to a Hampton dinner last week in London. Honestly, this has been the best investment I’ve made in myself and my career this year. Massive thanks to Noel Andrews for hosting- great food, great company, and overall a great night. It was refreshing to switch off for a night and have some real, intimate conversations with other entrepreneurs. We went around the table sharing goals for next year, and it was reassuring to hear so many people aiming for the same thing: Better work/life balance. One question really stuck with me: "What’s one thing you can do next year that you wish you’d done this year?" My answer? Do more outside of work. More hobbies. More physically challenging stuff- endurance activities, hiking, things that push me outside my comfort zone. Turns out, a lot of other entrepreneurs feel the same. Even those who are successful often admit they’ve sacrificed balance along the way. This dinner helped me realise how important it is to prioritise that balance. It’s cleared my head and set me up with a stronger mindset for 2025. Here’s to more growth—inside and outside of work 🚀 Emma Garnett Abhi Arya Joe Kensett Matic Jesenovec Jordan Schlipf PJ Walters Connor Jensen Murphy Trent Scanlen Harish Malhi Cezar Grigore Maria T. Wayne Zwiers

Sat down with Hampton to talk about the journey from CrackBerry to Clicks! It's a good entrepreneurial story... definitely an example of "find something you enjoy doing and you'll never work a day in your life". I look at business as a team sport, and I've had so much fun over the years playing the game everyday. Startups are HARD and business is never easy. Biggest advice I can give to founders is to build a great team that you love to work with, jump out of bed every morning wanting to win and just KEEP PLAYING with infectious enthusiasm... there'll be lots of Ws and Ls along the way, but eventually you'll find your way to a championship. I'm truly grateful to all of the amazing teammates I've had the privilege of building and playing with through the years - thanks for putting up with me! 🫶 Lots of memorable years in this story but I think 2024 may just be my favorite yet with the launch of Clicks. I didn't expect to go from media publishing and writing about the tech I love to now building it, but the crossover makes so much sense and is a dream come true for a gadget nerd like me. The ambitions for Clicks are BIG. Year 1 has been nuts (in a good way!), reacting/scrambling to the demand coming out of our launch in January. Many learnings this year and we're starting to find our groove now - we even have a 1500 Day plan locked down that we're executing against. We're now going into fundraising mode so we can keep the pedal to the metal as we continue to scale up operations, invest more into R&D and continue to build out the dream team. DM if interested!

Last week, we hosted Hampton's first-ever Townhall for our 1,000+ members—and it was awesome. It wasn’t just about updates (though there were plenty). It was about showing our members how much we value their feedback. This was a “you ask, we listen” sort of jawn, and I got to share some of the amazing things coming in 2025. Three big themes from the roadmap: (1) Show up: We’re doubling down on IRL because nothing beats connecting in person. Core groups in-person are game-changing. (2) Do your biz: Our new concierge and support programs are here to 10x the value members get from Hampton. (3) Paid out: Our referral program will reward the people who help this community grow. And that’s just scratching the surface. If you’re curious about everything we’ve got planned, check out the recap and full roadmap here: https://lnkd.in/d_A93gmz To our members: thank you for your trust and energy. 2025 is going to be our biggest year yet!

In 2006, Kevin Michaluk spent $15k on a domain name about BlackBerry phones. Turned it into a $115m exit. Built crackberry.com into: -Biggest BlackBerry site online -Full tech media company -Multiple mobile tech brands -$115m exit in 2019 Recently heard about him as he’s a Hampton member. Now he's building something even bigger. His latest company, Clicks, is growing insanely fast: -100k+ keyboards sold -100+ countries -500m organic impressions -Sold out first launch An inssane stat: 45% of Clicks customers are first-time keyboard users. Gen Z loves it. Amazon’s CEO loves it. Celebs like Meghan Trainor on American Idol are using it. They’re now selling in Best Buy nationwide. And they’re helping blind iPhone users be able to type better. His story is insane. Full thing is on the Hampton Blog. https://lnkd.in/gkiyBria

My company, Hampton...requires so much more logistics than I thought it would (which was dumb since its pretty obvious). Last Thursday we did our second holiday dinner series. Hundreds of Hampton members went to 22 dinners across 20 cities on the same day. Almost all of them were hosted in members homes. It requires a lot of work internally but also from the members. Kinda cool to the community become its own thing.

Hampton has been the single best network and knowledge investment I have made in my career. And I feel like I barely scratch the surface. Sam Parr and Joe Speiser get it.

What an incredible Hampton holiday dinner to celebrate the season! Huge thanks to Kuty Shalev and Beth Shalev for hosting an unforgettable evening on the 100th floor of the Central Park Tower, and to Jessica (Spivack) Lowenstein for flawlessly organizing it all. It was amazing to finally meet some members in person for the first time and reconnect with others after so long. Here’s to more in-person events like this that bring us together! David Steinberger Jeremy M. John Fazzolari Will Sartorius Vijay Kumar Madeline Berg Nick Baily Allie Egan 🚴🏻♂️ Michael Baker Natalie Kaminski Vincent Barr Jen Horonjeff Sam Okpara Erin Sauter Brad Schiller Igor Kaminski

Amazing way to close out the year and a project we've been tackling for nearly 5 months: 260+ members, 22 dinners, 20 cities - all on the same night ⭐ 💖

In November, I had the privilege of joining the Hampton Foundations Retreat in Austin, TX—a transformative experience that went far beyond just being a “retreat.” It was three days of diving deep into leadership, connection, and what it truly means to scale as a founder. Held at the stunning Commodore Perry Estate, the event brought together a group of inspiring founders and leaders, each with unique perspectives and stories. The energy was electric—every conversation felt like a new spark, and every session was a chance to sharpen not just my business strategies but also my leadership approach. Here are some of my key takeaways: 1️⃣ Community is everything: The founder journey is lonely—surrounding yourself with the right people makes all the difference. 2️⃣ Mastering communication is key: Direct, concise communication drives better decisions and stronger leadership. 3️⃣ Prioritize space for growth: Taking a step back from the daily hustle isn’t just a luxury—it’s essential. Step back to move forward. For me, these three days weren’t just about reflecting on where we’re at with Islands but also about how I can better support our team and clients as we continue to innovate and scale. To anyone considering opportunities like this: Invest in experiences that challenge your thinking and allow you to reconnect with what drives you. You’ll walk away not just inspired but equipped to take the next step in your journey. Grateful to everyone who made this event special and excited to see what we all build next. #FounderJourney #HamptonFoundations #Islands

We just did a town hall for Hampton members. Some cool stats: - last year we hosted 235 in real life events - cumulative ARR of $20b (up from $10b last year) - we have 42 social chairs + 25 cities - 25 cities with at least 10 members The big focus in 2025: IRL core groups. Most cool sh*t that happens in people's life, it doesn't happen behind screens. We wanna make more cool sh*t happen. Better bonds, better convos, all that, so people can build better companies and live better lives. If we pull this off, which I think we will, we'll one day be one of the largest organizations out there for small to medium (ish) business owners. Collectively, the community will employee hundreds of thousands of people. I think that's pretty damn cool.