How Karisma Selekt was born by accident

Kreator Letter #8. The founder letter I write for our Karisma community. The raw journey and the learnings.

This already feels like another lifetime.

Not so long ago,
I was deep in a very different world — the world of coliving.

For the first few years of Karisma, coliving was all I thought about.

The industry was new, exciting, and I was right in the thick of it.

Even though I had only hosted four pop-up colivings and launched a small 5-bedroom space in 2022,
Karisma stood out because of our community.

We were exclusive.

We had to be.

With only a handful of rooms,
I interviewed every single person to create a tight-knit group of high-achievers.

To be honest, I was just playing the cards I had.
Limited rooms meant I could afford to be picky.

But then something clicked.

I realized that what I cared about most wasn’t the coliving—it was the people.

So, we pivoted into a social club.

At first, we kept the same exclusivity, interviewing everyone.

But as we grew, that just wasn’t sustainable.

We needed more members, more diversity, and more connections.

The value we could provide for early-stage founders was off the charts.

So, we opened the doors wide.

Our community grew fast,

but we hit a challenge:

Connecting early-stage founders with more established ones wasn’t easy.

Their journeys were just different.

That’s how Karisma Selekt was born.

This wasn’t part of the original plan.
But the need was clear—experienced founders wanted a space where they could connect with peers who truly understood their challenges.

A tight, intimate, and impactful circle.

And the response?

Mind-blowing. Overwhelming.

Over 30% of applicants run businesses generating between 1M and 10M. 🤯

I’ve spent the last few days doing back-to-back interviews, and now we have just 5 spots left out of the original 16.

Selekt is going to bring in incredible entrepreneurs who will enrich the entire Karisma community.

I’m so excited for what’s next.

Much love,

Marc