Today, we officially opened 20 spots to @elevendunbar. You previously registered to be notified for the early bird round opening - today is the Exactly three months ago, we announced 11D and called for founding members. After one month, we exceeded our target number and spent the last two months working with them to refine the mission, vision, values, programming & content, as well as both digital and IRL experiences. It's been such a joy getting to know the founding members and watching them evolve in this unique environment where curiosity, play, imagination, vulnerability, and bringing ideas to life intersect. Really great people in the right space quickly develop genuine comfort & vulnerability with one another. That comfort plants the necessary conditions for creativity, play and imagination to flourish. ...And community interdependence & reinforcement of the above helps us increase confidence. If this resonates with you, come check us out and apply while this round is still open. We're excited to bring in the first wave of non-founding members to 11D and see where it goes from here 👾 🚀

What's something you used to do as a kid, that you no longer do today? I would use a blanket as a cape, grab a sword looking stick, and wander around in the woods behind our house using my imagination to manifest all sorts of trials, monsters, allies, magic and more. Wander and....wonder. If I did that today, I'd probably raise a few eyebrows at the park. Maybe go viral on the Internet for a day. An authentic Florida Man story. I caught up with a friend that I hadn't seen in a couple years yesterday... we discussed his recent separation from his wife of 15 years. The thing that stood out to me was his desire to find himself again, to re-establish his sense of self after living a life where his social calendar and hobbies were influenced by his long time partner. He asked me, "How do even I begin to figure out who I am again in my 40s?" And I always respond with to this with the same question, a southern Confucius, what did you do and who were you as a kid probably between 4-10 years old? What did that version of you enjoy doing? How did they use their imagination? You know what he said? Putting on a cape and wandering around the woods as a kid using his imagination. Now he and I aren't going to go adventuring slaying dragons in the park anytime soon, but now that we've connected over a shared desire to do things that bring forth a feeling of peace, joy, and creativity, the seed is planted and what happens next will be the fun part(s): Sharing moments of cognitive awe with friends. None of us have all the answers. We're all in a constant state of transition and transformation, and sometimes, all you need is a little reminder and a hand on the shoulder to remind you that it's ok to be a kid again. Go play.

Lack of creativity isn't a talent problem, it's an environment problem. People don’t lack ideas. They lack the conditions that allow ideas and connections to flourish. Here are a few of the biggest blockers I keep hearing from folks that reach out to us at @elevendunbar: 🧠 Optimization Brain We’ve trained ourselves to focus on efficiency, output, and utility. Creativity requires wandering, play, curiosity, and room for the unexpected. Most adults haven’t felt psychologically free enough to explore in years. 👨‍⚖️ Fear of Judgment People are terrified of sounding naive, weird, unfinished, or wrong. So instead of sharing early ideas, they polish them into lifelessness or never share them at all. 🤑 Transactional Relationships Most modern networking feels extractive. People enter conversations asking: “What can this person do for me?” Real creativity and collaboration emerge from trust, resonance, and genuine curiosity instead. ‼️ Fragmented Attention Constant notifications, feeds, and algorithmic stimulation leave almost no room for depth. Creativity often arrives after stillness, reflection, boredom, or deep conversation which are all things modern life actively disrupts. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Lack of Belonging People become more imaginative when they feel emotionally safe. When someone feels accepted, seen, and valued, they take more creative risks and show more of themselves. This is a huge part of why we’re building @ElevenDunbar. A human only internet intentionally designed to help people reconnect with curiosity, imagination, and each other.

We're building the Human Only Internet. So what does this mean, exactly? Well first let's take stock of what today's Internet facilitates, promotes, and the impact it has on us. Shallow processing, cognitive offloading, and the attention economy has many of us consuming more than we create, exposes us to harmful content & behavioral loops, and makes us more anxious than nourished. It's not all bad of course, but it's clear with AI that there's an opportunity to carve out a pocket of this digital world that is only for humans, and is shielded from the toxicity, the comparing, and the hollow social graph dynamics. A place for genuine connection, creativity, and authenticity. This is @elevendunbar. An adult Roblox if you will. A place where we can come together for unique experiences with other like minded individuals looking to laugh, play, build, and grow. A Human Only Internet is designed to be free of likes, toxicity, and self promotion. We'll be talking more about what we've built to facilitate this in the coming weeks, where we going, and the experiences our members are designing and enjoying together to just have fun, learn, grow and be little kids again. And of course this helps bring our folks together IRL, too. And it's an instant familiarity when we do. Come join us before we hit the cap of 150 people. It's full of founders, creators, deep-thinkers, digital nomads, executives, etc who just want to connect and create together.

I started playing the handpan about 9 months ago during my sabbatical year. It transformed the way I think about creative expression, getting into flow state beyond work, and helped me better connect to myself and others. I've been fortunate to play for friends, breath work sessions, and even an hour long set at a creative retreat. Upon reflecting, I realized that every few years since high school, I've picked up a new hobby or interest. In my 20s - it was HIIT classes, playing guitar, and snowboarding. In my 30s - it was muay thai training (even became an instructor) and reconnecting with video games In my 40s - it's been playing the handpan, padel, meditation & breathwork, creating with AI What's consistent across all of these - are the many hours of practice, frustration, hitting & subsequently breaking through the wall (OH YEAHHH), and the joy each gives me in their respective ways. Now... am I a muay thai fighter? A handpan musician? A founder & CEO? I don't really put a label on myself anymore because none of those things define me. And when they did, I found that my sanity, peace of mind, and happiness would rise and fall along with the successes and failures of any given one of those buckets. If anything, the labels that really matter are the ones I wrote in my grandmother's eulogy many years ago - she was a mother, a wife, a friend, confident, space holder, visitor, and Nana. Everyone's Nana. What labels define you? (And don't worry, the video rotates after a few seconds 😅)

Enter the expert generalist - the "adaptivist." I sure feel like I've been adapting lately. Left Miami to explore nature and possible other places to live. Only to return to South Beach last week after spending almost two months away. I still see it as moving forward, even if the trip did include two 14hr roadtrips, falling down some stairs, and deciding to leave early from an Airbnb and eat the cost. In part 3 of the @elevendunbar manifesto, we name the type of person that is emerging in this new era - the adaptivist. Many of you know these folks already... you likely know them as the best sales people, executives, founders or your favorite friends and/or family members. They are exceptional conversationalists who just happen to know a little bit about everything in a way that helps them connect better with the world around them & other people, creative expression, and giving life to new ideas. With AI, knowing a little bit about all parts of the tech stack, operations, GTM, eng, etc will help you better orchestrate all of these new tools, become a systems thinker. In life, these adaptivists are typically highly curious people who thrive on learning new things from other like minded individuals. Check out part 3 below and within you can find the first two parts as well if you missed those. Eleven Dunbar will only ever be 150 people, apply within to meet & connect with more fellow adaptivsts.

11D Part 1 / Read: howtounreasonable.com/p/the-… 11D Part 2 / Read: howtounreasonable.com/p/what… 11D / Apply: elevendunbar.com