Josh Abbotoy：網路社群為何還需要一個地方？

0:00開場

0:00好。大家午安。哇，回音真嚴重。非常感謝今天來到現場。謝謝 Balaji 和 Network State 辦了這麼棒的 conference。我叫 Josh Abbotoy，是房地產開發商，RidgeRunner 的 CEO 兼創辦人。我們在 Tennessee 和 Kentucky 打造真實、有抱負、面向未來的 neighborhood。我為什麼在這？有趣的問題。All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Ooh, that echo is brutal. Thank you so much for coming out today. Thank you, Balaji and Network State, for putting on a wonderful conference. My name is Josh Abbotoy. I'm a real estate developer. I'm the CEO and founder of RidgeRunner. We are developing authentic, aspirational, future-oriented neighborhoods in Tennessee and Kentucky. Why am I here? Interesting question.

0:30過去一兩年某個時候，有人跟我說我們在做的事很像 startup society。過去這一年我多少認識了這個圈子，聊了很多有意思的對話，很高興今天跟大家在一起。At some point in the last year or two, somebody told me that what we're building looks a lot like a startup society. And so over the last year, I've gotten to know this scene to some degree, enjoyed very interesting conversations, and happy to be with you today.

0:47根本上，我們和 startup society 的世界是相鄰的，因為我們是 internet-first 品牌。我們在網路上聚合需求，把人吸引到一種 ethos，以及美國某個特定機會；數位環境讓人更流動，也讓人更有興趣搬到鄉村。Fundamentally, we are adjacent to the startup society world because we are an internet-first brand. We are aggregating demand on the internet, attracting them to an ethos and a particular opportunity in America where digital conditions are making people mobile and making them interested in moving to rural parts of the country.

1:11但今天我主要想做的，為了讓內容有趣一點，是聊聊我們在開發房地產時，在地面上看到什麼，以及這在哪些方面需要稍微重新框定你對 startup society 的想像，那種飄在雲端的理論，以及你以為需要的技術框架。But primarily, what I want to do today, I think, for the sake of being interesting, is talk a little bit about what we're seeing on the ground as we develop a real estate play, and how in some ways that actually requires a subtle reframing from the way that you can think of a startup society theoretically in the ether, thinking about the technological framework that you would need for this.

1:35數位時代地利仍重要

1:35我要強調的第一點很簡單，就像簡報標題說的：Place Still Matters。在數位條件下，我們面對幾乎無邊的可能性，也面對極大的便利。但在 disruption、創新（往往很好）發生的同時，也累積一種心理債，人們想要生活裡有錨點，連到不變、耐久的事物。And so the first way that I'll highlight is simply, as my presentation is entitled, Place Still Matters. Under digital conditions, we're faced with unbounded possibility. We're faced with tremendous convenience. But while that happens, this disruption, innovation, often very good, is creating a psychological debt where people want things in their lives that are anchored to unchanging and durable things.

2:04我認為土地所有權大概是達成這件事、償還那種心理債最有力的方式之一。稍等一下。好。第二點，我們做法的另一個差異是，我們鎖定的 early adopter 可能和 stereotypical startup society 不太一樣。And I would submit that land ownership is perhaps one of the most powerful ways that you can achieve that and pay off that psychological debt. Just a second here. All right. Secondarily, another differentiating factor in our approach is we focus on perhaps a different set of early adopters than a stereotypical startup society might.

2:32我們真正要的是家庭，是要傳承思維的個人。這些人有正在運轉的事業，很難說服他們 relocate。孩子在上學，生意在運作，公民參與度高，社會資本也多。We're really after families. We're after legacy-minded individuals. These are people who have going concerns. These are people that are hard to get to relocate. They have kids in schools. They have operating businesses, they have high degrees of civic engagement, and they have a lot of social capital.

2:51要把他們拉進開發案很難，但若能成功，他們會帶來長期複利價值。這是我們聚焦的地方。很多 startup society 專注吸引 digital nomad，那種很容易來的人，但容易來也容易走。They're very difficult to lure into a development, but at the same time, if you can do it, they bring significant long-term compounding value. So that's where we focus. When it comes to, you know, I think it's very understandable, a lot of startup societies focus on attracting the digital nomad, the person who can come easily, but those who come easily leave easily as well.

3:15長期建設者與主權體驗

3:15所以我認為，吸引一個長期思維的 builder，值得抵過吸引 20 個來去匆匆的人。好。另一個差異是我們從稍微不同的角度看待主權問題。我們首先想的是：怎麼給客戶、給居民一種可 lived 的主權與自治體驗？And so I would submit that attracting one long-term-minded builder is worth attracting, you know, 20 people who are going to be ephemeral. All right. Another differentiator is that we really approach these questions of sovereignty from a slightly different angle. We really think, first and foremost, how can we deliver to our customers, to our residents, a lived experience of sovereignty and self-governance?

3:44從那裡再抽象到更高層次。但這連到：根本上，擁有土地是實踐自治的一種方式。當然也影響選址：你要在哪裡蓋？And then from there, you can abstract to higher levels of generality. But this plays into, well, fundamentally, owning land is a means of practicing self-government. And then, of course, plays into your site selection: where do you choose to build?

4:01選在自由的地方、地方治理穩固、能快速 scale 且摩擦很低的地方。來看目前 traction。Relocation 是終極的 skin in the game。我們做了約兩年，第一年收地、開發。Choose to build in places that are free, that have solid, stable local governments, where there's very low friction to scaling quickly. So let's go to traction so far. Relocation is the ultimate skin in the game. We've been at it for about two years. First year, acquiring property and developing things.

4:21但截至今天，大約 100 戶已 relocate 或採取實質 relocate 步驟，也就是向我公司買地。我們預估透過招到社區的雇主，將創造超過 360 個工作。But as of today, we've got approximately 100 households that have relocated or taken real steps to relocate. This is buying land from my company. We forecast over 360 jobs created through the various employers that we've been able to recruit out to our communities.

4:39有五個 community 在進行中，總共創立了 15 家企業。好。最後，我們對模式驗證感到樂觀，正在 scale。我想說，我們的 thesis 是：美國未來 20 年會經歷顯著的鄉村振興。We have five communities underway. And in total, 15 businesses have been created. All right. Finally, in closing, we feel good about the validation of our model. We're scaling right now. I want to say that fundamentally, our thesis is that America is going to experience significant rural revitalization over the next 20 years.

5:05美國鄉村振興願景

5:05我們非常在意那會如何發生。我們想像的美國未來是：經濟可能陷入困境的小鎮，能振興而不失去 soul。鄉村地區可以科技化而不失去鄉村 charm。最後，我們希望看到的是提升既有事物，而不是 displacement 式的振興。And we care deeply about the way that plays out. We envision a future for America where small towns that are perhaps economically distressed can experience revitalization without losing their soul. We envision countryside, rural areas technologizing without losing their rural charm. And finally, we— We hope to see a sort of revitalization that elevates what's already there rather than displacing it.

5:38以上就是我們在做的事。非常感謝各位的注意力。So that's what we have going on. Thank you so much for your attention.