James Edward Murray

I’m a builder at heart. For years I built companies the way a lot of people do: quietly scared, always worried about everything that could go wrong.

On the worst days, I’d call my mom. She’d listen, and then she’d say, “it’s already alright.” It took me a long time to understand she wasn’t telling me things were fine. She was telling me that no matter the outcome, I would be okay.

Most of what we hear about starting comes after the success. The fear, doubt, and uncertainty of the beginning get cut from the story. But that’s the part where most of us get stuck, and it’s the part I most needed to hear.

I wanted a room where people who started tell the truth about the beginning. Not just what they built, but who they had to become to build it. And a room full of people with an idea they’ve been sitting on, who leave believing they can start too.

A small, recurring event in Washington, DC, and eventually in other cities. A library of those conversations, free to watch. And a group of people who started anyway, and can remind you through their stories that it's already alright.