✏️ The Private Network Rejecting 92% of Applicants

Exclusive. Aspirational. Vetted. Rejected.

Hampton is a private network for high-growth founders launched by the already successful entrepreneurs, Sam Parr & Joe Speiser.

Sam Parr founded The Hustle and co-hosts My First Million with Shaan Puri. Joe Speiser has built and sold several companies but doesn’t need a podcast and personal brand for outside validation (it’s a joke Sam, take it easy).

I have exactly zero days of experience in this industry but one thing is clear: this is a tough business to build and requires a delicate touch.

Most businesses follow a simple model: marketing and sales try to grow the company as fast as possible whilst every other department tries to keep the ship steady. Selling a private community to high-net-worth individuals requires more nuance.

You need to be selling and marketing. But too much promotion and you dilute the brand value. Too little promotion and you don’t have a community. You need to sound enticing and welcoming yet also exclusive and in-demand.

Thankfully, Sam Parr knows how to write copy that converts. This was a really fun one to write and there’s some absolute gold on the Hampton website which you should steal.

Let’s get into it.

Enjoy,
— Robbie

Hampton follows a tried-and-tested framework for the hero section: bold headline, context in the subheading and a clear call-to-action (CTA).

The Headline: “If you’re a founder…Stop making $50M decisions alone” is a near-perfect headline for Hampton. And I say near-perfect because there’s one change I’d make: drop “If you’re a founder…”.

It dilutes the message. The founder-requirement is clearly defined in the subheading. Allow the audience to self-select their relevance based on the headline.

They either handle $50M decisions or they don’t. Those who do will keep reading. The shortened headline is a gut punch and a pattern interrupt.

Real Community: we can picture our “personal board” of advisors. It’s visual and uses in-group terminology. It feels like a support network. And the follow-up line drives home the value proposition.

My suggestion would be to flip the second sentence: “Show up with your hardest challenges at noon, leave with a clear plan by dinner”. This gives the sentence a parrallel structure: verb + prepositional noun + time.

The copy also uses the imperative mood with commands like “show up” and “leave”. This is common in conversion-focused copy. It creates immediacy and tells the reader exactly what action to take.

Exclusive CTA: “Apply” is the obvious choice. It’s more exclusive. You can apply to become a member but that doesn’t mean you can join. They’ve also included the “Explore Memberships” option below (which leads to a killer landing page, but more on that later). I’d remove the question beforehand. Exploring memberships implies you want to learn more—feels like they both have the same meaning.

A company’s messaging should focus around one big idea, especially in the early days. Basecamp do this beautifully: they bring clarity to chaos. All of their messaging is centred on this core idea. Hampton also do this incredibly well. Their messaging is centred around having nobody to lean on: the cost of trying to build alone.

The Big Idea: “Lonely decisions are expensive. Stop paying that tax.” The sentiment is there and the idea is clear. But I hate “that” in headlines. I’m just spitballing ideas here but I’d replace this with something like:

I’m not sure any of these are right but it’s worth playing around with it. The use of the word “tax” is perfect because it suggests it’s avoidable and something you can find a way around. Costs are fixed. Tax? Less so.

Objections, handled: the second screenshot is a great example of objection handling. Instead of defining the characteristics or credentials you must have, they simply break down those who are already members. This is a double-edged sword as it also provides social proof: I’m like them AND if they’re in the community it must be valuable.

The easiest way to know if somebody actually studied copywriting: they have a sales letter on their website. Firstly, sales letters are objectively a baller move. Secondly, they print money if done correctly.

Credibility & Community: given the business model of Hampton, a sales letter is an absolute no-brainer. This business lives and dies on the quality of the members and the experience of the founders.

The copy starts by immediately providing credibility and proof. It explains who Sam and Joe are and that Hampton was built to solve a problem they both faced. They’ve been in your shoes. They are not young hustlers building a community so they can be around people significantly more successful than them. That’s an important distinction.

Sam attaching his signature and photo further reinforces this. We love public-facing founders and it reassures prospects.

PAS Framework: define the problem, agitate it, provide the solution. This is one of the oldest tricks of the trade and it absolutely works. What they do exceptionally well here is the agitation stage. This is where you twist the knife. Make the problem painful and immediate. The better you do this the more prospects you’ll convert.

Exclusivity: we’ll consider you if you’re interested. Accepting less than 8% of applicants is a killer stat and it makes you want a seat at the table. When coupled with the scarcity of limited seats in each city, this is a real motivator to click that CTA.

One final point on this section: please, please change the copy on the nav-bar from “About Us” to “The Backstory”. Nobody reads the “About Us” section because they always suck. But everybody reads the backstory behind an exclusive, members-only private community. And I’m only saying this because I nearly missed this section and it turned out to be absolute gold.

One thing Sam has talked about on podcasts and in his writing is finding the balance between informal yet professional. That tone-of-voice (TOV) is plastered all over Hampton. It reads like a friendly, reliable and trusted mentor.

Misaligned Hook: this is the only change I would make to this section. Hampton’s big idea is all about support and not making decisions alone. The issue is not speed of decisions. The headline “Hampton helps you solve problems, faster” is misaligned.

And the example questions are very personal. They cover divorce, personal fulfilment and navigating life both in your business and at home. I’d go for something more like:

These might not be right but I’d move away from speed. It’s not the big idea. Unless Hampton members join because they want to make decisions faster, then ignore me.

Share Your Vision: prospects want to care about your business, so let them in. We love transparency and building a community requires honesty and openness. Nobody would join if the founders weren’t willing to share. Your vision is also a filter: the people aligned with you will opt-in and those who don’t will opt-out.

Don’t Join: sometimes it’s just easier to say what you don’t do. Draw a hard line in the sand. This is a great opportunity to reinforce your values and explain why you follow them. Again, the audience will opt themselves in or out. If a DTC founder wants a community exclusively of DTC founders, they’ll look elsewhere.

There’s two final points to make:

The “Wall of Fame” isn’t covered but it’s a standout feature. Basecamp have a similar testimonials page. This is one of the simplest ways to provide unquestionable social proof: dedicate one page to every testimonial you have and make is so long it’s pointless reading because we’re already sold.

And I think Hampton bury the lede on their website. The landing page you visit when you click “Explore Memberships” is phenomenal. But I don’t think enough people see it. Seriously, go check it out.

TL;DR

PS. Sam and Joe only accept 8% of applications so it’s very possible all of this is completely irrelevant to them. But hopefully you find it useful, whoever you are.

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