Thomas Schulz

I am the founder of Solaris. We’re building a campus to help people find and build their life’s work in the Hayes neighborhood of San Francisco.

Over the last year we coordinated 25+ people to live on the same block with our people from places like OpenAI, Google Brain, Waymo, Emergent Ventures, Harvard, MIT, University of Waterloo, and more. We have also been home to startups such as Atomic Semi, Biosphere, Internet Activism, Manifold Markets, and The Worlds Fair. We’re funded by city investors Balaji Srinivasan and Eric Wu.

Our dinners have led to people starting projects, companies, and new coliving houses. Many of these projects are still in its infancy.

We’re now opening up a series of private offices and a discussion space for AI startups + researchers in Hayes Valley. More soon.

My motivation

I believe we have a chance this century to live drastically better than previous generations of mankind. We can have a future where we live near our favorite people, spend our time on only the most meaningful activities, exponentially increase the rate of progress, and live healthier than ever. Our only blocker is our neighborhoods, cities, and collective ability to coordinate.

My guiding thesis is that if we can make just one neighborhood meet the above criteria, then we’ll have a good chance at activating an entire populous to do the same where they live and affect the change needed to redesign our cities for a 21st century American Renaissance.

Other work

DirectorySF - Find sublets, coliving houses, and roommates in SF. This is still active.

Together Casa - Coliving marketplace and tool kit. We helped start 15 coliving houses in 2021. A standout one was Edyfi, led by Benjamin Laufer and Luke Piette, which got acquired by Contrary. The marketplace is no longer operating.

Fast - Yes, the one-click checkout company. I was the founding product designer. Reserve your critiques. Some incredible people worked at this company. Who do you think was world-class at getting your attention?

Similar and inspiring work

Be on the lookout, these people making great stuff

Ami Yoshimura - Verci, a tech social club in NYC

Arnaud Schenk - Polaris Fellowship, a 9mo program to incubate the brightest minds

Brooke Bowman - Vibecamp, burning man for the intellectually sharp

Dave Fontenot - HF0, an 12-wk residency for hackers

Devon Zuegel - Writes about cities, also something coming I believe

Dryden Brown - Praxis, city in the Mediterranean

Farza Majeed - Buildspace, a tournament and space to build your ideas

Garry Tan - YC and rebuilding SF, no further explanation needed

Jason Benn - The Neighborhood, a coliving campus in SF

Jon Hillis - Cabin, a network of rural neighborhoods and homes

Patri Friedman - Seasteding, cities, and investing at Pronomos

Phil Levin - The Radish, a coliving village

Priya & Andrew Rose - Fractal, a proto-university and place to live for nerds

Visakan V - Building an internet scenius