build_memphis turns a Memphian with an idea into a builder who ships — and owns — real software, with the housing, food, mentorship, and capital to make it possible. Here's the whole loop.
Sign up for the founding cohort — it's free. Tell us what you want to build, fund, host, or grow in Memphis.
At the VibeCode Hub you learn to build with AI agents (no years-long syntax ramp); the MakerSpace gives you hardware — 3D printers, tools, large-format printing, drone-delivery testing.
Not toy exercises. You ship a real app for a real Memphis business (clone & re-tenant a Building OS template), a hardware prototype, or a brand-new venture.
Deploy it live — and hold a stake in what you make. Ownership over extraction: AI's gains stay with the people who build, not only distant capital.
On-site participant housing and a communal kitchen meet the base of Maslow's hierarchy — shelter, food, safety — so your energy goes into building, not scraping by.
Your work and patronage circulate through a locally-owned ecosystem of vendors with universal loyalty rewards; the agent-governed community development fund can back promising builds.
Graduates mentor the next cohort, hire locally, and scale their ventures. Talent — and the wealth it creates — stays in Memphis.
build_memphis is the Memphis chapter of Build Cities: every city is a base unit with Hubs (the Exchange Building, the NoMa corridor), Projects, and Networks — all run on Building OS, the Memphis-built software underneath the hubs. See the ecosystem and the flywheel.
Promising builds are backed by a community development fund governed by bounded AI agents — hard spend caps, allow-listed counterparties, and human oversight (programmable settlement, not speculation). Returns are reinvested into the next cohort, and builders hold upside. It's the engine that keeps the value created downtown circulating downtown.
Learn to build with AI and ship something real. No experience required.
Coach a cohort; share your craft, network, and reps.
Back the fund and the ventures coming out of the Exchange.
List your building as a hub; host a program or a cohort.
Join the local loyalty ecosystem — accommodation, food, transportation.
Bring challenges and resources; turn them into funded projects.