I like living in my own little bubble. Business, coding (now with AI agents), family. I never thought I'd join a business network. Here I am, reviewing one: Hampton. It's a business network specifically for founders or CEOs.
After exiting my last company, I'm starting again from scratch with Vu Agency and Raq.com. I want to give myself every advantage and learn from a wide range of people who have figured out business.
Is it a cult?
Sort of.
There are lots of rules, a lot of "commitment" talk, strict attendance requirements (turning up for all core group meetings), and you're never allowed to be late. My theory is that the founders, Sam Parr and Joe Speiser, are trying to prevent diva behaviour, like a billionaire founder thinking they can swan into meetings 30 minutes late and only attend half of them. As someone who usually doesn't enjoy overbearing rules, I can see they serve a purpose when you're herding potential divapreneurs.
There's also a strict no-solicitation policy, which is a good thing. It stops people using the Slack and events to pitch at each other.
Confidentiality is one of the key things about Hampton. Anything mentioned in this post is already public or mine (don't kick me out of the cult, please).
One of the main perks is their Slack. There are 1,000+ members and lots of channels relevant and interesting to me, like #talk-ai, #talk-agencies and #talk-saas (software as a service, the industry term for subscription-based web software, like our product Raq.com).
Also random ones like #sh*t-im-f***ed and #how-i-spend-it, which have stories that feel more real than polished Insta presentations.
One of the first things you have to do when you join is post in the #intros channel. I thought I should try to stand out (in a slightly teacher's pet way), and posted an AI video of the founders, Sam and Joe Speiser:
This led to Sam excitedly contacting me about this magical new technology, and I spun up an AI agent in Agent Operator HQ to research verbatim phrases that he and Shaan Puri had said on their podcast and turn them into a Bond spoof with some MFM characters. One of them is Brett Adcock, founder of multiple multibillion-dollar companies, Figure, Hark, Cover and Archer. He's also a Hampton member who has apparently never missed a meeting:
In my first few days, I also had a wholesome experience after commenting on a thread about exits. The next poster was someone whose blog post about their exit I vividly remember reading 18 years ago, when I was 17. That was Jason Cohen (A Smart Bear), who was recently on Jason Shafton's podcast, Founder Mode. I had the chance to speak to and get advice from Jason Shafton, who met his Founder Mode co-host through Hampton (they're both Hampton members).
I joined in May, so this is still a first-impressions review. I'll update this post after my first year.
Core groups (the main thing)
I had my first core group meeting last month, and my second is next week. There are eight people in my group, with a range of ages and experience. Some have built household-name companies. Everyone was great, including the moderator. I can see the group being valuable over the next decade as Phil and I grow Vu and Raq.com.
Extra events
I attended an AI roundtable where 30 people each spent five minutes talking about how they're using AI in their businesses.
I'm attending a racing experience at PalmerSport with 16 other Hamptonites (a name sometimes used for members, but remember, it's not a cult).
This is all to say that, if you're a business or tech nerd, this is a great community to join.
Almost every day, someone new joins who has a business doing $X-XXXm in revenue and some crazy backstory.
See Hampton's FAQ for its requirements, and check out the Wall of Fame to see some of the members.
Drop me an email if you have any questions: alex@vu.co.uk.