Builders Club of Waterloo

Take talented and ambitious people, give them a space to connect, and watch magic happen. That’s what Builders Club is all about. Join us and let’s build!

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Adi Patel killed a product with 50,000 users because it wasn't defensible.
We sat down with him. Worth your time:

https://t.co/euvB8G0iGG

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Canada's best founders get found young and build in SF. The data is brutal.
We're building the room that keeps them close, here.
Read The Conveyor:

https://t.co/wjvyE4Cnfe

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

What happens if the ground beneath the next ten Gauravs is solid before they have to leave?

Why Canada's $750M debate is the wrong fight - and what foundational work actually means:

https://t.co/dVwasbSQEr

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

S26 Founder Dinner Series.

Six Tuesday dinners. One speaker per session who's built something real.

Applications close soon.

https://t.co/DgglUmDdkf

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

210 founders in the Builders Club network are above Barn's investment threshold.

Most haven't started a formal raise.

Barn sees them before the pitch deck exists.

How it works:

https://t.co/DesEEChuy3

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

"The builders most worth finding don't look like builders yet."

Why every organized ecosystem is calibrated to the moment after the interesting part:

https://t.co/lIAVVSzZm6

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Hongwei Liu. Co-founder of Mappedin. 10+ years. Same company. Same problem.

6 consecutive record quarters.

What playing the long game actually looks like in Waterloo:

https://t.co/fOu0fPVULs

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Last push for S26 applications.

Six Tuesday dinners starting in May.

For early-stage technical founders who are actively building and willing to engage:

https://t.co/DgglUmDdkf

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Barn Ventures writes the first cheque.

Before traction. Before the pitch deck. Before the rest of the market notices.

Rooted in the Builders Club ecosystem.

https://t.co/7ixIGezhY4

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

715 builders. 29 sectors.

AI dropped from 36% to 23% of the room in H2 2025.

Hardware, logistics, SaaS picked up the share.

210 founders above Barn's investment threshold.

Proximity matters:

https://t.co/dCtDL6xNrG

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Every speaker in the W26 series was Waterloo-connected.

Some grew up here. Some chose to come back. Some never left.

The pattern isn't nostalgia. It's compounding:

https://t.co/nNXDe49Dch

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

We built a guide for anyone thinking about coming to Waterloo.

Where to work. When to visit. Where to eat. How to plug in.

For visiting founders and builders from afar:

https://t.co/d67gJR5igX

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

We treat the earliest, riskiest support as grants.

Non-dilutive. No cap table. No compounding ownership.

The upside leaves the country.

Why early support should be investment, not charity:

https://t.co/dVwasbSQEr

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Still building in Waterloo this spring?

The S26 Founder Dinner Series is open.

Small group. Home-cooked meal. Founders who've done the reps.

Apply:

https://t.co/DgglUmDdkf

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Builders Club is a place, not a program.

715 builders. 29 sectors. Everyone applied to be here.

$200/month professional. $100/term student. Remote members same price.

https://t.co/DesEEChuy3

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Six dinners. Seven founders. One winter.

The W26 Founder Dinner Series wrapped in March.

Five patterns across every dinner. What carried through - and why S26 is open:

https://t.co/nNXDe49Dch

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Builders Club. 715 builders. 29 sectors. Everyone applied to be here.

$200/month professional. $100/term student. Remote members same price.

A place, not a program.

https://t.co/DesEEChuy3

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Canada is debating a $750M venture envelope.

Afore Capital, co-founded by a Waterloo alum, manages more than that in pre-seed capital alone.

We're solving the wrong problem at the wrong stage:

https://t.co/dVwasbSQEr

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

Jim Murphy closed the W26 series.

Boltmade. Shopify. Elora Brewing. 25 years in.

His observation: all his wealth creation happened during the stretches when he wasn't chasing investors.

The full recap:

https://t.co/MLOH0TsHuE

[Builders Club of Waterloo @TheBarnWaterloo]

W26 wrapped in March. Seven speakers. Six dinners. Three months.

S26 starts in May. Applications are open now.

For early-stage technical founders actively building:

https://t.co/DgglUmDdkf