Halfway Club

Lunch with Triangle founders, once a month, halfway between Raleigh, Durham, and Cary. No pitching. No small talk.

Apply for a seat
DURHAM RALEIGH CARY LUNCH
Your hosts
  • Michael Karnjanaprakorn

    Michael Karnjanaprakorn

    Co-founder of Skillshare. Now an angel investor, exploring what to build next.

  • Ayman Al-Abdullah

    Ayman Al-Abdullah

    Former CEO of AppSumo, where he helped scale it from $3M to $80M a year. Now he coaches founders.

Running a company is lonely. The hardest parts are the ones you can't say out loud: the round that isn't coming together, the first hire you have to let go, the number you haven't shown the board.

The Triangle is full of founders carrying the same things. They're twenty minutes apart in Raleigh, Durham, and Cary, and almost never in the same room.

So we're booking one. Once a month, a table in the middle, a small group of founders, and one rule: say what's actually going on.

If you want a seat, we'd love to hear what you're building.

Michael and Ayman

How a lunch works
  1. 11:00
    DoorsFind your seat, say your hellos. This is the only fifteen minutes of chit-chat you'll get.
  2. 11:15
    Intros, wins and asksMichael and Ayman introduce new members. Then around the table: one thing going well, one thing you need help with.
  3. 11:30–1:00
    LunchConversation prompts on the table. No small talk allowed.
Club rules
  • No pitching.If someone wants to hear more, they'll ask after lunch.
  • No small talk.Skip "so what do you do." Start with what's hard right now.
  • Any stage.Pre-revenue or a payroll of hundreds. You just need to be running a company.
  • Small room.Few enough people that everyone gets heard.
How to become a member
  1. Apply below. It takes about five minutes.
  2. We read every application and reply within about a week, either way.
  3. Once you're approved, you get an invite to every month's lunch.
  4. Buy a ticket for the lunches you can make. It's $40, all in.
Apply for a seat

Tell us what you're building.

Got it. Thanks for applying.

We read every application and reply within about a week, either way.

Questions
I hate networking.

Good. So do we. There are no name tags, no pitches, and nobody working the room. You sit down, share one win and one ask, and have lunch with people doing the same hard thing you are.

I'm early. Do I belong?

If you've started a company, yes. Halfway is for founders at any stage, from pre-revenue to a team of hundreds. It isn't for ideas that haven't become a company yet; apply once you've made the jump.

Can I pitch?

No. Share your win and your ask like everyone else. If someone wants to hear more, they'll find you after lunch.

How does approval work, and when will I hear back?

You apply once. We read every application and reply within about a week, either way. Once you're in, you get an invite to every lunch and buy a ticket for the ones you can make.

How much does it cost?

$40, all in. That covers your meal, tax, tip, everything. We don't make any money from it.

Where exactly is it?

At a restaurant near the middle of the Triangle, usually around RTP and Morrisville. The exact spot goes out with each month's invite.

Where did the idea come from?

From the Entrepreneurs' Lunch Club that Andrew Wilkinson started in Victoria, B.C. We loved the format and wanted the same room here in the Triangle. We're not affiliated with ELC. We're just fans.