Serial founders are abandoning software for connection. Instead they are building game tables, trade schools, and mystery dinners. The shift reflects a growing bet that human connection, not technology, has become the investment opportunity, and the data backing this trend cuts across health, spending, and education.
Brynn Putnam, who sold the connected-fitness company Mirror to Lululemon for $500 million, launched Board in 2023. The 24-inch touchscreen table recognizes physical game pieces and gestures, built explicitly for groups rather than individuals. Tristan Walker, whose grooming brand sold to Procter & Gamble, started Heirloom, scaling fine-craft trade schools beginning with a leatherworking studio in San Francisco.
Both companies address measurable problems driven by measurable shifts. The UK National Loneliness Study 2025 projects that over one in three Britons will experience a significant decline in physical or mental health, be diagnosed with a chronic illness, or face a higher risk of premature death, with chronic social isolation identified as the primary contributing factor.
Meanwhile, consumer behavior has pivoted. Research from Escalent’s 2026 consumer analysis found that experience-led value is outpacing product-led value, as consumers increasingly prioritize memorable and emotionally resonant spending over material goods. Gen Z’s travel spending rose 8.5% year-over-year through June 2026, outpacing every other generation’s roughly 7% growth.
The timing matters for Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. The country has 1,114 tracked startups but no unicorn exit yet. Pakistan’s young population, with a median age of 22 and 110 million broadband subscribers, faces significant employment challenges. However, the education pathway shift creates local advantage. Nearly 8 in 10 Gen Z adults say they can build careers without a four-year degree, according to an Aceable study in December 2025. As of January 2022, only 51% of Gen Z teens are interested in pursuing a four-year degree, down from 71% in May 2020, and over two years there was a 6.6% decline in total undergraduate enrollment between fall 2019 and fall 2021.
Walker said Heirloom emerged from anxiety about AI displacing knowledge work. He argued America broke the master-apprentice chain fifty years ago, stripping prestige from manual skills. Half of Gen Z and Gen Alpha now reject four-year degrees entirely. More than half of capacity at Heirloom’s first location is filled by young tech workers seeking what Walker calls a “phones-down creative outlet.”
Board raised $35 million from venture capital. Pie, Andy Dunn’s social-network-turned-“social-life-operating-system,” raised $24 million. Adam Neumann’s Flow, a residential real estate venture solving loneliness through physical space, raised over $450 million.
But whether togetherness becomes a sizable investment category remains unclear. Shipping software scales faster than bringing strangers together. What stands out is founder profile: Putnam, Walker, Dunn, and Gelman have each built a recognizable brand once before. That track record makes capital easier to raise.
