The Distill - H2: Mission, Momentum, and The Forge

Greeting Pioneers,

“Iron sharpens iron. So one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17

You are who you’re around. We want to be the best, so we pull the best in. We sharpen each other.

Our H2 2025 events are hallmarked by The Forge where you show up, put in the work, and leave better than you came. We’re looking to make Louisville better, to make the ecosystem stronger, and most importantly—drive each other further, faster.

We each have choices. We have agency. Where will we be at the end of the year?

🔭 Mission Clarity — Why KYX Exists

Tired of watching half-speed hustle get celebrated as “good enough?” Us too. We built KYX for the 0.5% who refuse to coast—the founders and operators whose default gear is all-gas-no-brakes.

That's why from here on out, every event and initiative we run is designed to serve one purpose: 

Create escape-velocity momentum for Louisville’s most dedicated builders. 

We’re talking about A-Players. The most dedicated to their craft. The most disciplined. The ones who put 80 hours a week into their dream because they know that’s what it takes to make it happen. Those who want to be the best. Taylor Swift 4 months before her tour singing a full 3.5 hour setlist while running on the treadmill—cut out alcohol, cut parties, cut media, cut out all the noise so that Era’s could be what it became. Kobe Bryant in the gym at 4 a.m. taking 500 extra shots. People at the top because they log more focused reps than everyone else. That’s who KYX is for.

🦾 What We Do

We’ve been asked this a lot—so here it is. Our value crystalized into 3 buckets that capture what we’ve done, what we’re doing now, and what we’ll do next.

1. 🎯 Identify A-players. Killers. Stallions. The best of the best. The ones who make everyone around them want to go harder—be better.
   
   We do this through initiatives like Hackkentucky, Velocity Gauntlet, and Hell Week. In the spirit of surplus value, we put in value upfront, then watch who shows up and how. We then funnel the Killers into KYX and the earlier builders & lifestyle founders into the ecosystem partner programs that can better accelerate them from their starting line.
   

2. 🚀 Accelerate A-players.
   We just started KYX Cinderblock. This is an invite-only exclusive group of elite operators in Louisville. We have a physical space where only the most intense founders and builders come to grind together.
   
   Our goal is not to get more people into entrepreneurship, not to provide fractional startup services, not to provide education, not to lead horses to water. We have one goal: Escape Velocity.
   
   We’re creating a gravitational slingshot. We're exchanging momentum. That means every person in the room has to be bringing their own momentum.
   
   Unlike other accelerators, we don’t do this through workshops or classes. We do it through sweat equity. Every startup and builder in The Block is expected to both be and benefit from a slingshot. They put in so many hours/month rolling up their sleeves for startups in The Block, and they receive the same thing back. Investor outreach, engineering sprints, and revenue ops become a team sport.
   
   Ie: Rachel from Swell might help Jack from PayFWDs build an automation to save implementation hours. Jack might help Ben from Swell build lookalikes in Apollo to EAP solicitations.
   
   Everyone in the block is committed to going hard, not making excuses, setting (and hitting) unreasonably ambitious goals. Interested in joining The Block? Reach out in Slack or respond to this email.
   

3. 🤝 Import A-players from other cities.
   
   This will be the next iteration of KYX. We’ll grow Cinderblock into a startup velocity accelerator with an all-in model. Participants agree to a 60 hour minimum work week in-person in Louisville with other A-Players. We’ll include space, housing, food, fitness, and a milestone-based startup investment with the expectation that they stay in Louisville for at least 2 years.
   
   Participants will each be vetted and auditioned into Cinderblock through Hell Week.

⚙️ How We Fit

The ecosystem is broad and there are a lot of organizations doing great things for the founder/builder community already. You can think of it as a funnel, and we’re on the tail end of the Idea → Series A founder side of that funnel.

The ESO’s in the region (like Amplify) are focused on developing entrepreneurs. That means in addition to investing in the builders KYX is looking for, they also invest in helping other would-be small business owners and founders with the basics: How to setup an LLC, unit economics & fundraising 101, networking, etc.

Then you have other accelerators in Louisville that narrow the broader audience down in different ways from minority business owners to health startups to hardware innovation.

We view all of these programs as partners who we’ll source champions from and funnel into KYX.

We view KYX as a funnel into organizations like Endeavor, and Series A+ VC Partners like Solyco Capital.

The events we put on to identify our niche market lift everyone at each level of the ecosystem up.

🔥 H2 2025: The Forge

Tell us what events you’re interested in with our survey

💥 Velocity Gauntlet - Sign up here

Friday Sept 12th 5:02pm - 7:02pm

12 week execution gauntlet for seed founders. All startups must go from an idea or early product to a launched product, customers and revenue in 12 weeks. Who will move the furthest the fastest?

It’s not about who can pitch the best idea. It’s about who can out execute every one else.

Come watch who’s got the best vision, the sharpest plan, and the discipline to take it all the way. Or better yet, come meet them—because this room is where Louisville’s next breakout could start.

Show up. Get inspired. Maybe even get in the game.

This is a tandem event. Register for the kick-off above and the finale/demo day on Thursday December 4th here.

💻 HackKentucky II - Sign up here

Friday Oct 3rd 4pm - Sunday Oct 5th 2pm

The weekend where Kentucky’s builders show what they’re made of. 48-hour build sprint fueling real prototypes & new companies. Like our first HackKentucky but with…

More people. More demos. More all-nighters.

You’ll come in with an idea (or nothing at all) and leave with something real—shipped, tested, and pitched in front of a crowd that actually cares.

No judges telling you to make your deck prettier. Just raw building, sleepless energy, and teams chasing what’s possible in 48 hours.

If you want to see the future of this city—or build it yourself—this is where you show up.

🔥 HELL WEEK - Sign up here

Sunday Oct 12th Midnight - Sunday Oct 19th Midnight

It’s the heart of the forge.

Come together with other like-minded founders and builders for one intense week of mutual accountability. The minimum commitment is 80 hours.

We’ll bring together mentors, trainers, and three meals a day so you can lock in and focus on building everything you say you’re doing going to do.

If you want to see what you’re really made of, or need a hard reset to break through the plateau, this is it.

Join us. Build. Sweat. Repeat. Leave sharper than you came.

🏆 The LOUIES - Sign up here

Thursday Dec 4th 6pm

The LOUIES return to 2025. We celebrate Louisville’s builders—founders, co-founders, assistant to the founder, the whole crew. Awards, drinks, and just enough chaos to keep it interesting.

Come raise a glass to the people making this city move.

...And many more events

🏎 HacktheTrack Sign up here

Friday Sept 5th 5pm - Sat Sept 6th 9pm

We’re passing the torch to the next generation.

HacktheTrack is a high-octane hackathon designed for 8th–12th graders, run by student leaders Annika Chadha and Ajay Sutaria. It’s where young builders get their first taste of what it means to sprint on an idea, solve real problems, and demo in front of a crowd.

They’ll code, design, test, and push themselves—all with the sound of stallions ripping by at the racetrack. It’s tech meets adrenaline, creativity meets speed.

If you’re a student who wants to see how far you can go in 24 hours, or a parent who wants your kid to do more than sit at home on YouTube, this is the event.

🚀 Rally Innovation Road Trip - Sign up here

Wednesday Sept 24th 8am

Hop on the bus. We’re heading to Indy to see how other ecosystems move. Big energy, new connections, fresh ideas to steal and bring back to Louisville. Check out the conference here.

Spots are limited to first 20. Tickets to the conference are free as provided by the generous donors to The KYCombinator Project

🛠 BuildnChill Sign up here

Sat Nov 8th 9am - 4pm

No talks. No panels. No wasted time.

Just you, your laptop, and a room full of people chasing their own goals—startups, portfolios, side hustles, anything. You’ll feed off the energy, pick up new ideas, and most importantly: ship something by the end of the day.

If you’ve been putting it off, bring it here. Get it done.

🥊 Punch & Plunge / Fire & Ice

Sauna. Ice. Or boxing. Or all three. Reset the system, talk life and startups, then get right back to work.

🃏 Poker & Vibe Code Sign up here

The house favorite. Half of you will be coding, half will be taking each other’s money. All of you will be building bonds.

📊 Capstone, Part II Submit a project here

Doubling down with Speed School. Submit a project to Speed School and Prof. Jeffrey Squyres. More student teams tackling Louisville’s toughest problems. Maybe your startup becomes their next project.

Tell us what events you’re interested in with our survey

Know someone who should read this? Forward it, or send them this link.

That’s a wrap 🎬
Keep showing up 💪
Keep shipping 🚢
Peace pioneers ✌️