Community
There's no single door. Start with the weekly letter, jump into Slack, show up to an event — then go as deep as you want. Here's how, step by step.
Ways in
Start at the top and go as deep as you want — from the weekly letter to a desk in the room.
The weekly newsletter — events, programs, and who's shipping what. The lowest-commitment way to plug in and see what's happening.
Louisville's founder community — a working channel for builders, operators, and the people who back them. Real-time intros, asks, wins, and the day-to-day of building in Kentucky.
HackKentucky, Velocity, Casino Night, the LOUIES. Vote with your feet — the fastest way to meet the room in person.
When you're building in earnest, apply for a desk in the room — a small, selective studio of founders shipping side by side.
Our events run on the people who show up to run them. Help put on HackKentucky, the LOUIES, and more — say the word in #volunteer on Slack.
Support the wider Louisville ecosystem — the organizations building alongside us. Show up to their things too.
Inside
Operators sharing the actual day-to-day — what's working, what's breaking, what they need next.
Warm intros, hiring leads, customer references, and a low-friction way to ask for help.
Funding rounds, launches, events, and the people moving the Louisville scene forward.
Conventions
Channels follow a few simple prefixes so it's easy to skim the sidebar and find what you care about.
#v-{company}Follow any company in the community. One channel per company, prefixed with #v-. Join the ones you want updates from — leave the rest. Founders post product updates, hires, asks, and the occasional win.
Examples: #v-jokester, #v-duegooder, #v-leapfrog
#event-{name}Coordination channels for KYX events. Logistics, RSVPs, day-of announcements. Channels open ahead of an event and quiet down after.
Examples: #event-golf, #event-louies, #event-velocity
Where to start
A few core channels everyone joins by default.
#generalSite-wide announcements and the front door of the community.
#introductionsPost a short intro when you join — who you are, what you're building, what you need.
#helpAsk for intros, hiring leads, vendors, lawyers, accountants, or anything else you need.
#winsFunding, launches, customers, hires, milestones — celebrate the small ones too.
#jobsOpen roles at Louisville startups. Hiring or looking — both welcome.
#v-jokesterUpdates from Jokester — product, hires, asks.
#v-duegooderUpdates from DueGooder.
#v-leapfrogUpdates from LeapFrog.
#event-golfCoordination, tee times, scoring.
#event-louiesThe LOUIES Awards — nominations, RSVPs, logistics.
#event-velocityVelocity cohort — schedule, prep, demo day.
Norms
Ask the concrete question. “Anyone use Stripe Atlas for a Delaware flip?” beats “Has anyone done this?”
Don't pitch the community to sell to it. Contribute first; ask later.
Reply in thread. Use the channel for the headline, not the back-and-forth.
Building something? Spin up #v-yourcompany. Running an event? #event-yourevent.
Post an intro in #introductions when you land, and follow a few company channels you're curious about.