Founded in 2020, Launch House has always been seen - particularly by its founders - as the beginning of something new. Yes, it opened its doors amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. But during that period, when a sense of community was at a premium, everyone longed to be a part of something ultimately larger than themselves. What could be better than a collective that brought together like-minded individuals in an attempt to take old-school Silicon Valley principles and translate them into a "new school" foundation for organizational leadership in the technology and entrepreneurial space?
Since creating Launch House, its founders - Michael Houck, Brett Goldstein, and Jacob Peters - have always focused on the next big thing, on promoting what's new and meaningful. That's why it's noteworthy that they've built a new solution called Homescreen. More than just a traditional email newsletter, Homescreen offers Launch House members access to programs and educational opportunities virtually and in person, all of which can continue to further the goals that the organization set out to accomplish.
A New Era for Launch House
The Launch House founders understand that entrepreneurs of all types have no shortage of morning email newsletters from which to choose.
But after securing $12 million in Series A funding in 2022, Launch House and its founders wanted to approach things a bit differently.
During a period of internal testing, the company's new newsletter, Homescreen, quickly amassed over 600 subscribers. More importantly, they had an open rate of more than 60% during a time when a "quality" open rate was considered to be roughly 21%, according to the experts at Mailchimp.
Truly, it's a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit upon which Launch House was founded. In a world that's constantly growing more advanced, more "sophisticated," and more complicated, sometimes a return to the age-old mantra of "keep it simple" is in order. Rather than trying to be the flashiest email newsletter, or the longest, Homescreen instead wanted to succeed simply by being the best - the one with the highest quality content that its subscribers actually wanted to read.
Goldstein perhaps described it best when he said that the goal with Homescreen was to inspire. He and the other founders wanted to empower people to join startups, to craft companies, and to embrace their entrepreneurial nature. It doesn't get much more straightforward than that.
Flash-forward to today and both Homescreen and Launch House are positively thriving. The former continues to expand its network of newsletter recipients, honing its ability to get the right message in front of the right people at precisely the right time. Launch House itself is endlessly expanding, welcoming new entrepreneurs into the fold from a wide range of fields.
Indeed, all of this harkens back to the very principles upon which Launch House was founded. It's an organization built on the idea that if you simply facilitate like-minded individuals - if you get them all into a shared space and give them access to the same resources - they can't help but thrive. It's symbolic of how the "Old Silicon Valley" thrived in a bygone era, and how the "New Silicon Valley" will continue to pave the way for years to come.
Not only that, but Launch House recently developed its own venture, the appropriately titled House Capital. Not unlike Homescreen, it aims to change the way people think about the status quo - this time, in terms of how organizations like Launch House can invest in promising startups. It's backed by a multimillion-dollar fund, and it's prepared to invest in exciting ventures both inside and outside the larger Launch House community, which is a trend that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
