The Think Tank Is Dead. Help Us Build What Comes Next.

Become a founding member while it’s still early.

You’ve been reading and engaging with us because you think something is broken and worth fixing. Today we’re asking you to go a step further. We started Boyd because we think the institutions meant to solve America’s problems have stopped trying.

I joined the Boyd Institute last August because I saw a path to actually solve things, to build a future I want to live in, and eventually raise a family in. Jeff is a Gen-Xer raising a young child into an unsustainable future America. Will and I are 90s babies with aspirations of someday having families of our own and being leaders in our communities. We each have serious skin in the game. So do a lot of you.

One of the things wrong with American policy is that it’s largely made by people who won’t live with the consequences. When Jeff asked me to lead this thing, my reaction was exactly what you’d expect: “Let’s fucking go.”

Hence we call our audience “Let’s Fucking Go Americans” and we mean it as a term of genuine respect and endearment. Smart, frustrated people who want to engage with hard problems, who believe “you can just do things,” and who have something real to contribute. They just haven’t had a place to go.

We’re trying to build that place.

Will, Jeff, and I have been grinding this out brick by brick. Since last fall we’ve grown from roughly 600 subscribers to nearly 1,500. Our first essay contest surfaced eleven genuinely novel housing policy proposals from people entirely outside the normal think tank world. Our second contest is already drawing compelling submissions, including one that rejects the premise entirely. We’re proud of what we’ve built. And we’re just now hitting our stride.

The traditional think tank model is dead. It was built on the assumption that credentialed insiders produce the best ideas, and that change flows from Washington outward. We think that’s backwards and produces group think. The best ideas are already out there, in people who live with the problems and have thought hard about them. Our job is to find those people and pull them into the conversation. Our housing sprint didn’t surface substantive, heterodox ideas because we hired experienced analysts and consultants. It surfaced great ideas because we asked you, the reader, to engage and submit your proposals.

We want Boyd’s funding to come from core supporters who want to be part of the conversation. For that to work, we need people like you to step up now, while it’s still early.

Here’s what we’re offering:

Supporter — $10/month Access to our private Discord community, where you can talk directly with us and other members. This is where we share early thinking, debate ideas, and start building the network this space is missing. Think of it as a Boydian chat room: smart people, no nonsense.

Annual Member — $120/year Everything above, plus a monthly call with Will and me and the full annual member group. Bring questions, bring ideas, help shape where we focus next.

Founding Partner — $1,000/year Everything above, plus a quarterly one-on-one call with us. You’ll engage directly with how we’re building the organization, what’s working, what isn’t, and where we go from here. This is for people who want a real role in building Boyd from the ground up.

The Boyd Institute is a 501(c)(3). All contributions are tax-deductible. If you’re able to give through a Donor Advised Fund or make a direct donation beyond a subscription, it would meaningfully extend what we can do. Reach out to [email protected].

And if a paid subscription isn’t possible right now, the most valuable thing you can do is share this with someone who fits. You know the person: they’re always saying that no one in politics is serious, that there’s no way for someone like them to actually contribute. Send them here. Our whole bet is that people like that exist everywhere, they just need to find each other.

We believe something like Boyd is essential. Come help us build what comes next.

— Peter

P.S. I’m putting my career and future on the line — and so is Will. This is our generation’s shot at building something that matters. Help us take it.