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What is a digital residency for founders?
4 min read
A digital residency for founders is a paid membership where you work alongside the same peers online: you post progress, join workshops and challenges, and stay accountable on a schedule. Camp Zero’s version is E-Residence, built for ambitious professionals who are building startups and side hustles without quitting their jobs.
Residency, in the old sense, means you live with the work for a while, around other people doing the same. A digital residency keeps that idea and drops the requirement to move cities. You join a house online. The expectation is that you show the work, not that you finish a syllabus and disappear.
What residents actually do
In a given week, a resident might post a build log, watch a workshop, join a challenge sprint, meet someone through matching, or use a partner perk. The tools matter because they share one roster of people. Your update is seen by the same builders who will see next week’s update.
- A private feed and build logs for wins, misses, and launches.
- Workshops and a resource library.
- Challenges and sprints with a start and an end.
- Events, meetups, and member pricing on in-person programmes such as the Founders Retreat when a discount is stated.
- Matching, rooms, and collaboration: feedback, co-builders, customers, and referrals.
Who it is for
Camp Zero is for ambitious professionals building after work and on weekends. That includes people launching startups or side hustles, indie hackers, AI builders, creators, freelancers growing into a product or an agency, and early founders. You do not need to have quit. You do need to make progress and put it where others can see it. The longer version is on who it’s for.
What it costs and how you enter
Founding membership is $50, paid once, for lifetime founding access while founding seats remain. There are 100 founding seats. When those seats are taken, new residents join at $97 per year. Founding members stay on the lifetime rate they already paid. After online payment you enter immediately: profile, payment, then the residence. Details live on the pricing page.
A residency earns its fee when you would otherwise spend the month collecting bookmarks. If you want a curriculum you finish alone, buy a course. If you want peers on the same clock, join Camp Zero or read the full benefits first.
Questions people ask
Is a digital residency the same as an accelerator?
Accelerators are usually fixed cohorts, often with a demo day and sometimes with investment. A digital residency is an ongoing membership. You can stay while you are still employed and keep shipping in public with the same house.
Do you have to post every day?
No. Camp Zero expects visible progress. A weekly build log is a healthy default. Lurking without posting work is a poor fit.
Can students join?
Yes. Camp Zero also runs a student path with a membership scholarship. Start at the [for students](/for-students) page if that is you. The residency itself is the same house.