Although Launch House only formally opened its doors in 2020, it's accomplished a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time. In March 2022, for example, it made Fast Company's list of the 10 Most Innovative Social Media Companies of 2022.
From a particular perspective, this was an odd list for the company to land on. At first glance, Launch House doesn't have much to do with social media in the most traditional sense of the term. But then again, for founders Brett Goldstein, Michael Houck, and Jacob Peters, it did have a certain amount of logic. Launch House was founded on the idea that it could be innovative and make a positive impact on virtually every category in the business world that it touched. In some ways, this was proof that the people at Fast Company agreed with the founders.
Flash-forward to almost a year later and Launch House has left a legitimate trail of innovation in its wake in a wide range of different ways, all of which are worth exploring.
Launch House: The Year in Review
Even from its earliest days, Launch House prided itself on doing things a bit differently. It began as what people were dubbing "hacker home 2.0." On the surface, it resembled most of the other incubators you'd find in Silicon Valley, with like-minded individuals and passionate entrepreneurs living together in the same space, sharing ideas and inspiration. Only Launch House wasn't in Silicon Valley - it was in Tulum, Mexico.
When the pandemic hit, having a sense of community was at a premium. This fueled Launch House through a tremendous period of growth. The founders realized that they needed to move past the straightforward accelerator model and become something more equipped to deal with the "new normal."
That's when Launch House created a digital community that bridged the gap between what could happen "in real life" and the potential of what might be possible on the internet. It offered networking opportunities, educational courses, and more - all to help increase the return on investment for participants as much as possible.
This subtle - yet essential - shift in perspective helped Launch House have its biggest year yet in 2022. For members, it empowered success stories like the launch of the non-fungible token social network Showtime, which came about because Launch House member Alex Masmej had a simple idea that he wanted to bring to the masses.
Launch House started waiving any right to equity in the startups created under its roof - a standard practice in Silicon Valley for decades. Instead, it lowered this barrier to entry and focused on assisting people from underrepresented communities.
As a direct result of these actions, Launch House was able to secure $3 million in seed funding. Even more impressive is that the founders later closed on a $12 million Series A round. 2022 was also the year that they opened the company's venture arm, the appropriately named House Capital. It, too, is backed by a multimillion-dollar fund.
When you consider the level of success that Launch House has achieved, you'd assume that its team might want to rest on its laurels for the foreseeable future. That doesn't describe the team members at Launch House, however. They've already debuted Homescreen, a new digital newsletter covering topics that today's entrepreneurs truly care about. In just a few short months, the subscriber list has grown to more than 18,000.
With all this in mind, Launch House has already redefined what we think of when we hear the word "incubator" and the term "social media company." If things continue on their current trajectory, 2023 could become the year where Launch House also redefines what we think of when we hear the term "media company" in general - and that's a very exciting place for people in the technology space to be.
