Sam Parr, founder of HubSpot-acquired newsletter and media brand The Hustle, doesn’t watch “Succession” because “it’s too real” (and because he’d rather watch comedy than hulking corporate billionaires fighting). But when he announced his new project, Hamptonan invitation-only club for chief executive officers, references started rolling in.
Specifically, it’s a follow-up quote that sticks, in which the much-loved and eternally tormented character Kendall Roy describes his and his siblings’ new media venture as, “It’s like a members’ private club, but for everyone.” Jokes aside, Parr’s vision for Hampton isn’t far off that slogan.
Hampton, built by Parr and media veteran Joe Speiser, aims to provide fast-growing executives with an impactful community to lean on, whether sharing screens, or asking for advice because there’s only one month of runway left. And as the collapse of SVB technology showed, a strong network can be a way to survive.
The company has been around for about nine months and has brought in more than 300 members, including Morning Brew’s Austin Rief, CB Insights’ Anand Sanwal, Fresh Clean Tees’ Melissa Parvis, and Hootsuite’s Ryan Holmes. To join the community, Parr explains, members must have succeeded in one of the following: built a business with $1 million in revenue, raised $3 million in funding, or previously sold a business for at least $ 5 million. They are then interviewed to make sure they fit the culture and confirm that they are building digital businesses. So far half of the members are backed by venture capital, the other half are bootstrapped.
Those who are hired must sign a non-disclosure agreement. They are then welcomed to a custom platform with a member director, where you can see profiles, request intros, and see a map of where other members are located. The portal also has a vetted supplier directory and events calendar. In addition, Hampton members are placed on a Slack for daily chat, which is used by 85% of members. Members are placed in an eight-person group that meets once a month with an “executive facilitator,” which Parr describes as occupational therapy.
Since leaving stealth yesterday, Hampton has received more than 3,000 new signups. “We don’t let everyone in, by the way. We look very slowly and carefully at who is a good fit,” Parr said. And for now, there’s only room for 400 more members before Hampton hits its limit.
The co-founder says he took notes from YPO, Young Presidents’ Organization, and Vistage, a global executive coaching organization, as he built Hampton. “Those are great, but a lot of those people could be someone who owns a plumbing company, or someone who inherited about five apartment buildings in South Florida,” he said. “They need their people, but our people aren’t exactly those people,” adding “No inherited businesses — you have to have started it and you have to be fairly aggressive about growth and personal growth.”
If it sounds exclusive, that’s because it is (although Parr says the company’s name is based on a Missouri street he lived near, not the luxurious summer destination for the Upper East Side). Only 8% of applicants are accepted. Currently, approximately 15% of members self-identify as female, which is higher than some other community programs, but still shows a gap in diversity.
One of Hampton’s closest competitors, Chief, built a company worth more than $1 billion to bridge that gap. Chief is a private membership club for women in leadership positions. It only accepts women who identify as a “C-level executive, accomplished VP or equivalent executive leadership role within your organization,” and who have an “established career with more than 15 years of experience.” And it has recently expanded to the UK. Like Hampton, Chief has a waiting list that exceeds the acceptors.
Parr thinks Hampton is even more niche than Chief because instead of working with people in different leadership roles, it only works with chief executives and founders who have hit very specific growth milestones. Also unlike Chief, which has raised about $140 million in venture capital, Hampton is not raising a dime of outside capital.
Parr built one of the fastest-growing email newsletters at The Hustle, before reportedly selling it for around $27 million. He and his co-founder have pledged to invest up to seven figures of their own capital in the company, and as a result they don’t have to turn to investors for seed money.
While he thinks Chief will succeed, he expressed the stress that comes when venture capital supports start-ups in the community. “Communities are not something you can just throw bodies at, you have to be very, very, very, very careful,” Parr said. “I just didn’t want to have to grow five times a year.”
After the rise of community-based businesses in 2021, and the ensuing sputtering of some, the market is weary of whether a membership will bring value. I’ve spent years covering the networks people in tech use to land their first check, job, promotion, or “yes.” I’ve also seen most community-based businesses jump at the chance to get bigger – whether it’s accelerators expanding their scope of control or simply the number of programs entrepreneurs have to go through.
About five months ago, I wrote that it feels like we’re at a turning point for the community-focused startup: double down on what you know and focus on discipline during this recession. If Hampton sticks to its early coverage, its incentives seem different from other clubs (or even clubhouse) in that it doesn’t see success as scaling by people.
Parr is confident – they’ve only had to issue two refunds for dissatisfied members – but he’s not ignorant of the market reality.
“I don’t want to ruin my reputation and worst of all, if someone gives us their money, we have to give 10 times the value,” said Parr. “I’m afraid of that. I think it will work. But it literally keeps me up all night.”
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.