MTNHAUS: Cabin x mtndao Pop-Up Co-Living House in Salt Lake City
1. TL;DR
Cabin should sponsor a pop-up co-living house in Salt Lake City this winter in coordination with mtndao. Initial outlay is $10,000 and 800 ₡ABIN, with the goal that this is profitable and returns between $12,000 - $40,450 to the treasury.
2. Overview
The pop-up city ecosystem has grown tremendously in the past 18 months, with attendee counts growing from dozens to thousands. Every major blockchain ecosystem is investing in pop-ups as an evolution of the crypto conference circuit, and major media / sponsor / investor attention is here as well.
As a longtime member of Cabin and network city advocate now personally working in building a network of co-living hacker houses, I developed a partnership with mtndao, a bi-annual Solana co-working pop-up, to help house attendees during their February 2025 cohort. mtndao s7 will bring together 300-400 Solana developers and executives to Salt Lake City.
Our pop-up co-living house will:
- Directly house 20 participants
- Host 2 weekly events with the mtndao community
- Be a hub to foster connections between the Solana ecosystem and Cabin
This pop-up is also meant to prove out the model for Cabin, meaning that this will be run with the goal to return a profit to the treasury.
2a: The House
Hearkening to Cabin’s roots as a pathway to ‘nature out the door’, we have secured a breathtaking 10,000 sqft French Chateau-style mansion located walking distance to hikes, 20-30 minutes to the slopes, and easy access to downtown SLC where mtndao is located.
As someone currently working with about 1/2 the square feet in SF, I was blown away by the size of the grounds, the two kitchens, 7 (!) bathrooms, gym, and movie theater.
We will configure the home to have a mix of premium private bedrooms as well as shared rooms. There is also a giant fireplace in the living room / great hall and the overall setup is fantastic for events – workshops, demos, networking mixers, etc.
Note: these are summer pics. In the winter, expect snow.
2b. House Event Calendar
A draft overview of the house events schedule. These are meant to provide a social layer on top of the house, get the Cabin name injected into the Solana ecosystem, and drive sponsorships for workshops / networking.
I developed these based on my experience from Accelr8, where we have hosted 28 events since July 15, 1,800+ tickets sold. See lu.ma/accelr8 (click past events) for more details.
| Date | Event | Description | Size | Projected Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 - 1/14 | Ski Week | Cohort of Cabiners, nomads, web3 network state folks looking to ski in SLC | 10-20 | $10,000 |
| 1/14-1/31 | Ski Week | Cohort of Cabiners, nomads, web3 network state folks looking to ski in SLC | 10-20 | $10,000 |
| 2/1 | Mtndao kick-off | Housewarming party | 40 | Free / Network Building |
| 2/6 | Sponsored Event | Sponsor pays for access to house residents and venue; Cabin included in presentation topics | 40 | $2,500 |
| 2/8-2/9 | Ski Weekend | Sponsored car to the slopes for 12 people | 12 | $500 |
| 2/13 | Sponsored Event | Sponsor pays for access to house residents and venue; Cabin included in presentation topics | 40 | $2,500 |
| 2/15-2/16 | Ski Weekend | Sponsored car to the slopes for 12 people | 12 | $500 |
| 2/20 | Sponsored Event | Sponsor pays for access to house residents and venue; Cabin included in presentation topics | 40 | $2,500 |
| 2/22-2/23 | Ski Weekend | Sponsored car to the slopes for 12 people | 12 | $500 |
3. Team
Describe team members and their qualifications.
- Sponsor: @grin
- Role: Assist Daniel with one-off questions, direct to Cabin resources for specific asks, be a sounding board for ideas
- Steward: @DanielMorgan
- I have been a member of Cabin since 2021. My first IRL activation with Cabin was attending the Montaia co-living experience in the summer of 2022. This truly changed my life and led me to understand the incredible value of bringing vibe-aligned people together into intentional community. I have since co-founded the Accelr8 House in San Francisco, a Cabin-inspired co-living hacker house and startup accelerator which has housed 50+ founders since opening our doors in July 2024.
- Outside of Cabin, my experience spans real estate (multifamily and short-term rentals), startup consulting, and corporate roles in Fortune 500 tech, software private equity and advisory
- Role: I will operate the house, sign all lease paperwork and required documents, recruit attendees, create and run events, write marketing material, create a sign up page / landing page, and attend to all financial matters.
- Members: In-process of recruiting a placemaker (ideally experienced and from the Cabin community) to assist with house ops
- Role: Assist Daniel with house operations, event planning, and Cabin vibe-alignment
4. Goals
Objective 1: Create a pipeline of new Cabin members
- KR1: Onboard at least 20 new participants through direct residency in the pop-up house.
- KR2: Introduce at least 50 mtndao attendees to Cabin through co-branded events and marketing efforts.
- KR3: Secure applications from at least five participants to join future Cabin activations or network initiatives. Could also be achieved if 5 new members are active in discord.
Objective 2: Run the pop-up at a profit, and create a playbook for IRL Cabin activations in the pop-up city ecosystem
- KR1: Generate returns exceeding the $10,000 initial partnership outlay.
- KR2: Create written documentation of the playbook (Google Doc / Google Sheet).
- KR3: Hold a post-mortem live in Cabin Discord in March going through the results
Objective 3: Develop new relationships in the Solana ecosystem for Cabin to leverage as blockchain becomes a global priority in 2025
- KR1: Hold at least 8 events during February with 100+ attendees total
- KR2: Secure at least two sponsors to contribute to event programming and funding, with the goal of building long-term partnerships for future pop-ups
5. Risks and Mitigants
Risk: There is no demand for the pop-up house
Mitigant: mtndao has committed to co-marketing the pop-up with us, telling mtndao attendees about us in their onboarding process, and allowing us to be an official mtndao housing provider (the only one, in fact). Given that they are expecting 300-400 attendees, the house’s capacity of 20 should be vastly oversubscribed.
Risk: Protecting the Cabin brand and resident safety
Mitigant: Following the process we have developed at the Accelr8 house, each potential resident will be vetted on a live interview video call, required to complete an application, and social checks to ensure alignment with Cabin values and culture. We also implement two-deep leadership. We will also provide each resident with a clear list of rules in the lease they must comply with, including a zero-drug tolerance policy, safety guidelines, and a code of conduct. Finally, we will also leverage the experience of a dedicated placemaker / house manager to provide day-to-day support and ensure a great and safe resident experience.
Risk: Cabin loses money on this
Mitigant: Cabin is not liable for any of the lease costs (Daniel is signing the lease, and covering the rent and security deposit) or anything beyond the initial partnership outlay. Cabin’s upside is a 50:50 split of the profits in exchange for co-marketing / co-branding, assisting with sponsor introductions where appropriate, and providing marketing materials for events. The specific ask is a 1.) couple of calls with Jon and others in Cabin who have potential routes to sponsors in the Solana ecosystem 2.) sharing marketing posts to mirror like this example 3.) promoting posts on twitter / other social channels
6. Proposed Budget
How much are you requesting and what is the intended use of funds?
- 10,000 USDC
- 800 ₡ABIN
In exchange for operating the pop-up, taking on the contractual lease risk, and securing additional sponsors and partners, I am taking all initial compensation in the form of ₡ABIN token. I am also asking for an allocation to hire a placemaker to assist with stamping the Cabin vibe onto the house culture and day-to-day ops / event assistance.
After the conclusion of the pop-up, in exchange for Cabin assisting in marketing and branding, the profits will be split with Cabin 50:50. The goal is to return more than the initial $10,000 contribution.
The models below reflect different return scenarios, the optimistic scenarios reflect:
1.) More than 10 folks come to live in the house in January (max capacity is 20)
2.) Sponsor demand is higher than modeled here (could be $50k or higher)
3.) House expenses are lower than expected – right now I am showing the highest possible costs, but it’s possible that I am able to source certain things (additional mattresses, furniture) from much cheaper sources like FB Marketplace or Craigslist
7. Timeline and Deliverables
12/9 – 12/12: Proposal draft shared and iterated
12/13: Daniel will schedule 1 hour of office hours in the Cabin discord to discuss the proposal
12/19: Proposal officially posted
12/26: Proposal passes
1/1: Lease begins; first batch of residents move in
1/31: First batch moves out
2/1: mtndao batch moves in
2/28: Pop-up concludes
3/15: Post-mortem held in Discord
8. Edit History and Feedback
- Changed requested ₡ABIN to 800 from Grin’s feedback that normal contribution is 200 ₡ABIN per person per month (2x people / 2x months)
- Added upside and heavy upside cases to show different scenarios for upside - if we are more successful than initially expected per feedback from Jon
- Adjusted cleaning expenses from feedback from Eileen
- Added a draft event calendar in response to feedback from Dahveed
