August 22, 2025

this was an internal advice document I circulated to the incoming 2025-2026 gap years, right after my own

Advice

This was supposed to be a giant document but I honestly think it’s not that deep.

It really just boils down to 3 points:

1. Build the program that you care about.

This is the most important thing that will make or break your gap year. Build the programs that you wish you had growing up (read: growing up, not necessarily during your time in Hack Club). Build the ones you care about.

The best programs are the ones that are built through opinionated ideas and decisions. They change more lives and are more fulfilling to run because they have meaning to you. They will push you farther and help you grow more as a program. There will be more engagement.

It’s easy to want to launch a standard “make X for Y hours and get Z.” Dare to explore. Dare to make change.

2. Don’t be scared to fail

I think a lot of people are being too scared to spend money and/or fail in other aspects. $85 per weighted grant is actually quite a lot of money and will go a long way.

The thing to recognize is that programs can be iterated on. Nothing is set in stone ever. It is almost certain that your first few programs will have critical problems. What’s important is that you keep iterating to fix those problems as they come. Even if your 5-week program is completely broken for the first week, there’s still the other 4 weeks to run the whole show with those problems fixed.

Get the basic mechanics up and running, then put out the fires as you go.

3. You’re going to be the only one you’ve got.

The thing about doing a gap year at Hack Club is that you are left to tell your own story.

You have an immense amount of freedom, but it also means that you are responsible for anything that happens to you. Nobody is going to hold your hand and tell you all the right things to do. Nobody is going to close a deal with X company for you. Nobody is going to start that conversation that was the key to your program. Nobody is going to magically fix the issues you see in the org. You need to be the one to take the initiative and make thos events happen

Leave nothing to “upper management.” If you see an issue, be the one to make the change. Nobody else is going to.

I think this largely encapsulates everything I’m feeling. Feel free to ask me for more specific advice. I couldn’t possibly write everything I’ve learned this whole year, but I do have a lot of misc documents on various topics I’m more than happy to share.