The Black Hills Experience
Three Days That Change Everything
We don't chase capital. We invite it. Investors apply to visit, not the other way around. Three days on our 15-acre campus in the Black Hills — seeing the flywheel in person, meeting the team, and understanding why this works.
The Three-Day Itinerary
Every detail is intentional. Every moment demonstrates why the flywheel compounds.
Arrival + Northern Hills
Scenic Arrival
Pickup in our Bronco fleet at Rapid City Regional Airport. Drive through the Badlands — 60 miles of otherworldly geology that no pitch deck can replicate.
James Beard-Level Dinner
Dinner at a curated Black Hills restaurant where the chef knows your name, the elk was harvested locally, and the conversation is unscripted.
Campus Guest Housing
Stay on the 15-acre campus. Deer watch from the porch. Zero light pollution means the Milky Way is visible overhead. No hotel. This is how we live.
Campus Deep Dive
THE BARN Studio Tour
Walk through our production studio where 9 channels and 32 shows are produced with a 3-person team and AI. See the VTuber rigs, the podcast booth, the editing pipeline.
Meet the Team + HQ Walkthrough
Tour the new headquarters campus. Meet employees who chose the Black Hills over Austin, Denver, and New York. Understand why the talent is here.
Lunch with Seed Academy Students
Eat lunch with K-12 students learning vibe coding, AI agent development, and remote work skills. These are the future operators, founders, and employees of the ecosystem.
Auric Labs Pitch Session
Sit in on an Auric Labs accelerator pitch session. Watch startups with 7% equity stakes present their cannabis-tech products built on GrowWise infrastructure.
Product Demo + Culture Immersion
Full GrowWise product demo. Then informal time at THE OP cafe — see the community anchor, meet locals, feel the flywheel in physical space.
The Pitch + Podcast
Investors Pitch to Luke
The model is reversed. You don't pitch us — you pitch why your capital and network are the right fit for what we're building. Cultural alignment matters more than check size.
Required Podcast Appearance
Every investor records an episode on The Session. This is mandatory — not optional. Your investment thesis becomes permanent content that demonstrates conviction.
Donation Discussion
We discuss contribution to Seed Foundation (501c3) or BHC Consortium (501c6). Investing in BHC means investing in rural America — the mission is non-negotiable.
See the Scale in Person
No pitch deck compares to walking the campus.
9 Partner Communities
Tour the towns where the flywheel turns. Each city has been enriched with real business data and local leadership mapping.
Requirements to Invest
Capital is necessary but not sufficient. We select investors who make the ecosystem stronger.
Cultural Fit
Mission alignment with rural America and community-first values. We screen for investors who believe small towns are worth saving — not just profiting from.
Required Podcast Appearance
Every investor records an episode on The Session. This is mandatory. It demonstrates conviction, creates permanent content, and builds the media flywheel.
Foundation Contribution
A donation to Seed Foundation (501c3) or BHC Consortium (501c6) is expected. Investing here means investing in the mission — education, community, and opportunity.
No Pure Financial Plays
We do not accept capital from investors who see BHC as a spreadsheet exercise. You must believe that AI can transform rural communities — or this is not for you.
13 Interconnected Entities
Tour every company in the ecosystem during your visit. Each entity operates its own pipeline from the same community base.
Why the Reversed Model Works
Traditional fundraising is broken. Founders spend 6 months on Sand Hill Road, pitching to partners who have never seen their product in context, never met their team, and never understood the community they serve.
BHC inverts the model. We bring investors to the Black Hills — to our campus, our community, our team. After three days, there is no ambiguity. Investors see the deer outside the window, eat lunch with K-12 students, watch the AI agents work in real time, and feel the flywheel turning.
The podcast requirement ensures every investor has skin in the game beyond capital. Their thesis becomes content. Their conviction becomes social proof. Their participation feeds the media engine that makes the next investor say yes.
This is not gatekeeping. It is quality control. The investors who thrive in this model are the ones who become long-term partners, open doors, and compound the flywheel. The ones who balk at a podcast appearance or a foundation donation were never the right fit.