While doing an interview a few weeks ago about the importance of the new Bamboo Grand Rapids, I responded to a question with something like: “Our ecosystem needs spaces that create a density of ambitious, problem solvers. It also needs churn.”
It was a phrase I hadn’t ever used before and the interviewee gave me a blank look like I wasn’t making sense. And then just moved on. Still, “density and churn” has been kicking around my head ever since.
Why have those particular words remained so resonant? What do they have to do with Midwest House? Am I just enamored with two words that I like to say out loud? To be totally honest, I’m not really sure.
So what does one do about such a situation in the Year of Our Lord 2025?
Throws it into ChatGPT, of course:
PROMPT: “Why are the “churn” and “density” of talented and ambitious people important to a startup ecosystem?”
RESPONSE (edited for brevity): Density and churn are critical to a startup ecosystem because they fuel idea exchange, collaboration, and rapid learning. High density ensures that talented, ambitious people are constantly interacting, while high churn keeps the ecosystem dynamic — as people move between roles, startups, and ventures, they spread knowledge, take new risks, and build momentum. Together, they create a compounding cycle of innovation, talent recycling, and startup creation.
In short, density concentrates the spark; churn keeps the fire alive.
Y’all…
AI is coming for my job for real.
Everything above describes values that we’ve spent years trying to articulate.
Of course, we’re trying to create spaces where “talented, ambitious people can constantly interact.” And, yeah, when we move around and pop up in different places we’re able to “keep the ecosystem dynamic”, “spread knowledge”, etc.
So when I think about what comes next - which is probably the most ambitious 6 months in our history - I’m going to try to keep this idea in my head. Concentrate the spark. Keep the fire alive.
Did someone say “ambitious 6 months”?
I can’t stress enough how excited I am for some of the things we’ll be announcing in the next few weeks - including, but not limited to:
1) We’re announcing a second year of the Midwest Founder Exchange in partnership with World Business Chicago & the Chicago Tech Equity Working Group
2) We’ve all kinds of events still on our calendar including Reindustrialize, Tech Chicago Week, A2 Tech 360, & Rally just to name a few
3) The first (but not the last) Midwest House Summit that’ll take place in our hometown of Grand Rapids, MI
4) A move into our new headquarters at Bamboo Grand Rapids
5) And a secret something we’ve been working a bunch on lately but that we’ve sworn to secrecy about…
If all that sounds like the kind of thing you’re into - can I interest you in #6?
6) We’re finally introducing a “Midwest House Membership” to help support all the density and churn we’re working to create.
For $9/month, members will receive:
✅ VIP entry to all public Midwest House events (skip the line and such)
🎟️ Members Only events and Discounts for ticketed Midwest House experiences (i.e. the Summit)
🤖 Access to our AI-powered Member Directory (powered by Nunchi)
🎧 Exclusive members-only content on Substack—including the Midwest House podcast (coming soon :)
To keep things simple - we’re going to run the membership through our Substack for the time being. But obviously - the benefits will extend far beyond the content.
So, yeah, get in the House, and let’s discover and shape what’s next in the Midwest.
When I think of churn as it relates to Midwest House and Bamboo GR, to me it also means that startups are learning, iterating, growing up and growing out of coworking and into their own spaces. Turns out that churn isn't always a negative concept!