Hammer + Nail

“How many more of these do we have to see today?!” I asked my wife bitterly. “I mean, none of these are close to what we want; This was supposed to be fun and exciting.” I was utterly frustrated with the process of buying a house. Was I too particular? Even if I were, this would be a major investment for me, and I should get what I want, right?

Our broker chimed in, saying, “Everyone has to make compromises.” I thought to myself, why?! Really, why can’t I get a new house that I love in a place I want to live at a price I want to pay? My inner tech guy said, “I just don’t understand why I can’t go online, click a few buttons and get my house built.” The broker laughed at me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that getting exactly what I wanted was possible.

I didn’t buy a house. Instead, I decided to jump in and build one. What started as an intellectual curiosity became my primary focus. I studied everything I could about construction, efficiencies, project management, and more. Over nine months, I built a house! My experience, however, was far more advantageous than most people: I only succeeded because I could dedicate 100% of my time and energy to the project. Most people don’t have that luxury, but everyone should have access to a new, turn-key home.

Earlier this year, I shared my learnings with Ben, Moisey, and Mitch, my co-founders from DigitalOcean. We discussed how similar the problems and logistical challenges of delivering a fantastic home at an affordable price were to what we learned while building a unicorn infrastructure company. We all had the passion to deliver what centuries of homebuilding have led us towards: the ability to go online and buy your new home, customized how you’d like, ready in just six months.

Along with my brother Marc and good friend Jesse, the DigitalOcean co-founding team quickly rallied to work together again, and we couldn’t be more excited. We are proud to announce that we’ve raised a $5.35M seed round to help accelerate our mission to turn home buyers into home builders.

Learn more about Welcome Homes or join our team to help us on our mission.