(that’s the picture I took last night when I arrived)
Yesterday, I drove 12 hours to Chamonix. Long road, long thoughts. Along the way, I discovered a few hospitality projects taking shape up there, moving quietly, seriously, with the mountains as a backdrop. And somewhere between two tunnels and too much coffee, I caught myself questioning not what people are building… but why they’re building it alone.
The past year I kept meeting the same ambitions.
Different faces. Same projects.
Same scale. Same references.
Different brand names.
And I catch myself thinking something slightly uncomfortable.
Not cynical. Just honest.
Why start this alone?
Not why start. That part makes sense.
But why carry everything on your own when someone, somewhere, is already building almost the same thing, with the same values and the same problems?
We’ve made “Starting your own brand” the ultimate proof of courage.
As if ownership was the only way to exist.
As if joining something was settling.
Sometimes starting solo is brave. Sometimes it’s just loneliness wearing a nice logo.
I don’t have a final answer.
But the more builders I meet, the more I feel something is broken.
And maybe our job at LOBBY isn’t to help people start more projects.
Maybe it’s to help them not start alone.
As I told you, I had a 12 hours drive, so no lesson here. No call to action. Just a thought from the field I wanted to share we you guys. And would love to have your thoughts on my last Linkedin post here
