3 things I've learned from launching Focus Founders

and I launched Focus Founders just 4 months ago.

Since then, we've grown to 185 members, consistently get 15-25 people showing up to our weekly co-working meetups, and have almost made enough for me to quit my second business and go full-time with this company.

The Focus Founders' mission is simple: Help as many ADHD entrepreneurs as possible to build incredible, life-fulfilling businesses that benefit the world.

Here are 3 things I've learned from these 4 months building this startup:

1) Free is for ME!

When I moved to Austin, I had a problem: Everyone hosting events wanted my money.

$20 for this men's circle. $40 for this sound healing experience. $150 for this drop-in.

Everyone asked, but no one gave. No one cared about who I was until after I gave them money.

I get it; businesses gotta make money. People gotta eat.

But I wasn't about that life. I wanted to make community and connection accessible.

So we launched Focus Founders (Free!). And we told EVERYONE about it. Within the first month, we hit nearly 100 members—and most of them were local to Austin.

Since then, we've changed the name to simply: Focus Founders.

We are not a free community. We are a COMMUNITY that happens to be FREE to join.

Will it always be that way? I don't know. But it worked for us for now, because it removed any barrier to entry. It's a no brainer; if you are an ADHD entrepreneur, you belong in Focus Founders—full stop.

(Side note: I love using em dashes (—). This was written by ME, untouched by AI. I've been using these em dashes in my writing for years. Curse you, AI, for ruining one of my favorite writing tools! I digress.)

So anyway... we wanted this community to be accessible for anyone. The only cost is that you fill out a few questions with some effort. That's it.

Yes, this is a funnel for our paid offerings. If you're in Focus Founders, you've probably been pitched on our paid Focus Founders Accelerator program (doors close in 3 days BTW! Book a call with Rex to apply if you're interested in changing your life forever.)

But the purpose of this group is not simply to funnel people into our paid offerings. It is to genuinely offer help to those in need, without any barriers.

The paid group is just there for those who are ready to invest in themselves and their future—the same way I've invested over $100k in coaches and online courses.

TLDR: Give all the information and community away for free. Charge for help with the implementation.

2) Community—especially offline community—is INSANELY valuable

In a world where everything is online and (as

@Alexander Goldman

can attest to) there is a loneliness epidemic... gathering people in person is one of the most powerful things we can do.

I've heard from SO many of our members that they're lonely and tired of building things by themselves. They want to get out of the house and be around other humans doing cool things.

That's what Focus Founders is all about: Encouraging human beings to create together and support one another.

Yes, Rex and I have a combined 20 years of experience building businesses. But we ultimately do not have all the answers—no one does.

That's where the community comes in.

We've got incredible people like

@Linnet Gonzalez

who is developing her own software simply because she doesn't like what's our there.

@Matthew Miceli

who's creating a "Life OS" app to streamline his life and the lives of it's users.

@Shelby Heitkamp

who just flipped a house and knows a ton about real estate and is crushing it as a single mom.

@Maxwell Riseman

who has one of the top communities on Skool.

@Shaun Harris

who runs a beekeeping business and is sharing his passion with the world.

@Reema Rana

who's helping people overcome anxious attachment in relationships.

@Sam Miles

who's bringing the joy of swimming to the world—and creating jobs in the meantime.

@William Harris

who runs a world-class ecommerce ads agency.

That's just scratching the surface. There are SO many incredible humans doing incredible things in this group. Rex and I couldn't possibly have all the answers—but someone in here does!

Because of this community, we get to lift each other up. And it's collaborative, not competitive; meaning we get to build each other up rather than fight each other.

TLDR: Build a community, especially a local one, and you will have an incredibly valuable asset.

3) "Everyone around me gets to win"

This is a quote by my legendary co-founder and one of my best friends on this earth:

@Rex Loyer

Rex said this to me recently, and it landed. Everyone around us gets to win. We care about every single person in this community, whether they pay us or not. If you are in our space, we WILL help you succeed.

This comes with a caveat:

Not everyone gets to be in our space.

Rex and I hold strong, loving boundaries with this community. Because we care so much about the people we let in, not everyone gets to be in here.

But for those that do? Magic happens.

Before partnering with Rex, I sold coaching services and was generally fairly confident in my abilities. But once we partnered, my inner voice went from "I think I can help this person" to "there is NO WAY that someone who works with us won't succeed, if they are willing to put in the work."

My confidence now is unshakeable. I KNOW that anyone who joins Focus Founders—free or paid—will succeed if they are willing to put in the work and show up for themselves.

The proof is in the pudding:

@Rainbow Bird de Soliris

had his highest-income months EVER since joining our accelerator program

@Nathan Archer

started a BRAND NEW business and earned back more than he invested in our program in just two months

@Mathew Heywood

used his vision to build a business and sell everything to become a digital nomad, traveling the world during our work together

TLDR: Care about your people, and your people will care about you.

So there you have in—3 things I've learned from launching Focus Founders:

1) Have extremely valuable free offerings

2) Build a community

3) Care deeply about your community's success