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private network for founders: hampton, ypo, eo and the free ones
what you pay for honest advice from other founders, and two options that are free
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Your cofounder is tired, your investors want good news, and your partner has heard enough about churn. What you want is a room of founders who will tell you the truth. Stan Gregor wrote in a Fast Company Executive Board column in October 2026: "Community isn't a network you collect. It's a small number of people who will tell you the truth and take your call on a bad day." This guide covers who gets into each private network, what each one costs as of November 2026, and what members complain about. It also covers two free options. One of them is ambient, a private network of verified founders.
what a private network for founders is worth
The best evidence I found is a randomized trial. Economists Jing Cai and Adam Szeidl took 2,820 young Chinese firms and randomly put some of their managers in small groups that met monthly for a year. The rest had no meetings. Revenue at the firms in those groups ended up 8.1% higher than at the firms with no meetings. The gain was still there a year after the meetings stopped, and firms grouped with stronger peers grew more (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2018). The study has limits: these were young Chinese firms, in groups the researchers organized. The study doesn't prove that any group below is worth its fee. It does suggest that regular time with the right peers can help a business grow. When you compare these groups, look first at who else is in them.
hampton: the tech-founder club
Hampton takes founders and CEOs of digital or tech-enabled companies with $3M+ in annual revenue, $3M+ in funding, or a past exit of $10M+. You must also live in one of the 18 cities where it has a chapter. Hampton's website gives the price: $15,000 a year as of November 2026, plus a $2,500 joining fee. If you attend Hampton's "Commitment Call" and ask for a refund within 45 days of joining, you get your annual dues back, minus a 3% processing fee. The joining fee isn't refunded. You join a group of eight to ten founders, called a "Core", that meets in person for about three hours a month. A paid, trained moderator runs it. You also get an online community of more than 1,000 members. To get in, you pass a screening and an interview, and then current members get a chance to veto you.
ambient: the free network for verified founders
ambient is a private, text-native network where verified founders help each other solve problems and open doors. You say what you need, and ambient sends your request to a founder who has already solved that problem. That founder does the work. You do the same for another founder, on something you know well.
Unlike Hampton, it has no dues, no monthly meetings, and no city you have to live in. You spend time only when another founder needs your help, or when you need theirs.
Here is how it works:
- You text ambient.
- You get verified as a founder.
- You say what you need, and what you can offer.
- Before ambient starts looking for someone, you help another founder or invite a founder who gets verified.
- ambient matches you with a founder who can help.
- They do the work, and you rate it.
- If you rate it 4 or 5 stars, ambient asks you both whether you want to connect.
- If you both say yes, ambient exchanges your names and numbers, so you can meet for a coffee with the founder who did the work for you, and maybe become friends.
When you're the one doing the work, the other founder rates you, and the last two steps are the same.
You can't buy your way into ambient, and you can't pitch your way in. A founder who's already in ambient invites you, or you text ambient and get verified. Before ambient looks for someone to help you, you help another founder or invite a founder who gets verified. That's how strangers become each other's unfair advantage. Tap "> access" at textambient.com.
[a]mbient
founders fix founders
> accessypo vs eo: the long-established groups
YPO (Young Presidents' Organization) is for leaders of larger companies. You have to be approved before you turn 45 and be the top leader of your company or division. You need 50 full-time staff, or 15 staff and $2.75M in payroll. You also need $16M+ in revenue ($13M+ for an agency), $27M+ in enterprise value, or $330M+ in assets under management if you run a financial firm. YPO's website lists $4,790 to join and $4,790 a year. Local chapters charge extra: the Chicago chapter adds $5,267 a year and $7,500 to join.
EO (Entrepreneurs' Organization) has lower requirements. You must be an owner, founder or majority stakeholder of a business with $1M+ in revenue last fiscal year. A venture-backed company also qualifies with 10 employees and either $2M raised privately or $5M raised publicly. It costs $2,630 a year and $3,500 to join, plus chapter dues. Your local chapter interviews you. Within three months of joining, EO places you in a "Forum", a group of 6 to 10 members that meets monthly. A trained member runs it, not a professional. If your revenue is between $250,000 and $999,999, you can join EO Accelerator instead. It costs $1,750 a year, plus any local fees, and can lead to full EO membership.
vistage: the one with a coach
Vistage's Chief Executive Program is for owners, founders and presidents of companies with $5M+ in revenue. Groups of 12 to 16 CEOs, from companies that don't compete with each other, meet for one full day a month. A leader called a "Chair" runs the group and also coaches you one to one each month. Vistage doesn't publish its fees. Evan Bailyn, a longtime member and Vistage speaker, wrote in 2024 that dues are $1,380 a month, about $16,500 a year, plus $2,500 to join. Ask for your own price in writing.
south park commons: the free one you apply to
South Park Commons' Member Residency is free and takes no equity. It lasts six months and is for people working out what to build next. It has roughly 175 members in San Francisco, New York and Bangalore. The cost is your time. You're expected to work from its space during the week, and people with full-time jobs generally aren't accepted. You apply, hear back within one to three weeks, and then interview.
what members complain about
- You have to show up. Dennis Vorobyov, a Hampton member since 2024, writes: "If you skip the Hampton meetings when a regular client call comes up, save your money."
- Quality depends on your group. EO's moderators are volunteers, and Andreas Pettersson, a CEO coach, writes that "The forum is exactly as strong as its least committed member." At Vistage, Bailyn says the speakers "can be hit or miss" and that your time is a bigger cost than the dues.
- You don't see your group until after you pay. EO and Hampton both place you in your group within about three months of joining.
which one fits you, side by side
| network | who gets in | price (November 2026) | how it works |
|---|---|---|---|
| ambient | Verified founders, at any stage | Free | Submit your bottleneck. [a]mbient routes you directly to one founder who already solved it. You trade an hour of work anonymously. If the work gets 4 or 5 stars and you both say yes, identities unlock and you meet. |
| South Park Commons | Mostly technical people working out what to build; SF, NYC, Bangalore; interview | Free, no equity | Six months, working from its space most of the week |
| EO Accelerator | $250K to $999K revenue | $1,750 a year plus local fees | Four learning days a year, plus a monthly group |
| EO | $1M+ revenue, or venture-backed with $2M+ raised privately and 10 employees; chapter interview | $2,630 a year, $3,500 to join, plus chapter dues | A group of 6 to 10 that meets monthly, run by a member |
| Hampton | $3M+ revenue or raised, or $10M+ exit; 18 cities; interview, member veto | $15,000 a year plus a $2,500 joining fee | A group of 8 to 10 that meets three hours a month, with a paid moderator |
| Vistage | $5M+ revenue; call with a representative | Not published; one member reported $1,380 a month plus $2,500 to join in 2024 | One full day a month with 12 to 16 CEOs, plus one-to-one coaching |
| YPO | Under 45; $16M+ revenue and 50 staff, or similar size; member interview | $4,790 a year, $4,790 to join, plus chapter dues and a chapter joining fee | A confidential group that meets monthly, plus chapter events |
how to get in
Every group except ambient starts with a form and then a conversation: with Hampton's membership team, with members at EO and YPO, with a regional representative at Vistage, and with staff at South Park Commons. Before you apply, talk to a current member. They can tell you what you can't see on the website. A message you can copy:
Hi [name], I run [company], which [one line on what it does]. We're at about [revenue or funding]. I'm thinking of joining [group] and saw you're a member. Could I ask how long your group has been together, how many people actually show up, how much time it really takes, and what you would change? Happy to send my background first.
sources
Company pages read 2 November 2026.
- Hampton: https://joinhampton.com/faq, https://joinhampton.com/hampton-vs-eo, https://joinhampton.com/refunds, https://joinhampton.com/download-thank-you
- YPO: https://ypo.org/membership-requirements, https://ypo.org/become-a-member, https://ypochicago.org/membership-application-faqs
- EO: https://eonetwork.org/one/join-eo, member.eonetwork.org/why-join/forum, https://eonetwork.org/one/eo-accelerator, https://eonetwork.org/accelerator/faqs, https://eonetwork.org/one/eo-vs-ypo
- Vistage: https://vistage.com/membership/programs/chief-executive-program
- South Park Commons: https://southparkcommons.com/faq, https://southparkcommons.com/apply
- Jing Cai and Adam Szeidl, "Interfirm Relationships and Business Performance", Quarterly Journal of Economics 133(3), 2018; NBER working paper 22951. https://nber.org/papers/w22951
- Evan Bailyn, "Is Vistage Worth It? An Honest Review", First Page Sage, July 2024. https://firstpagesage.com/uncategorized/vistage-worth-honest-review/
- Dennis Vorobyov, "Hampton Review: Is It Worth It?", August 2026. https://vorobyov.me/hampton-review
- Andreas Pettersson, "Is EO Worth It in 2026?", Leaders ADAPT, July 2026. https://leadersadapt.com/is-eo-worth-it
- Fast Company Executive Board, "35 leaders on building a professional community", 26 October 2026. https://fastcompany.com/91628420/35-leaders-on-building-a-professional-community
[a]mbient
where what you give is who you are
Free, for verified founders, entirely by text. > access opens a text to ambient with your code. Send it, sign in with LinkedIn, and name one bottleneck and one skill. A founder check follows, usually within 24 hours.
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