The independent guide to Network School
Thinking about
Network School?
Loch in.
An honest walkthrough of what Network School actually is, who it is for, what it costs, what a day looks like, and how to apply. Written by a member, not the marketing team.
Loch in opens the official application via a member invite link.
What
A residential network-state program: meet online, build in person.
Where
Forest City, Johor, Malaysia. A short drive from Singapore.
Who
Founders, engineers, writers, investors. People who ship.
How
Apply, get reviewed, pick a cohort, show up.
Start here
What Network School actually is
Network School is a residential program founded by Balaji Srinivasan. The premise is simple: communities now form online first, then gain real power when they gather in person. So it takes people who already share a worldview on technology, startups, health, and the network state, and puts them under one roof for a focused stretch of time.
In practice it is part startup colony, part gym, part school. People work on companies, train hard, attend talks, and build the kind of dense relationships that are hard to manufacture over a screen.
Fit
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for people whose output compounds around other ambitious people: founders mid-build, engineers who want sharper peers, writers and investors who think in public. The common trait is not a job title. It is that you show up and contribute.
It is not for someone looking only for a cheap place to work alone, or a vacation with good wifi. The network is the product. If you are not going to plug into it, you are paying for something you will not use.
Money
What it costs
Pricing changes with time and length of stay, so any specific number in a guide is stale the moment it is written. Check the current figure on the official page rather than trusting a screenshot.
Budget separately for flights and daily spending. The honest way to think about cost: if a month around the right hundred people changes what you build, the program is cheap. If it does not, no price is low enough.
Daily life
A day, roughly
Mornings skew toward training and deep work. Afternoons are build time and meetings. Evenings are talks, dinners, and the unscheduled conversations that end up mattering most. The schedule is a scaffold; the value is in who you sit next to.
Forest City itself is quiet and contained, which is the point. Fewer distractions, a short walk between your apartment, the gym, and the coworking space, and a peer group you keep running into on purpose.
How to join
Applying, step by step
- Open the application from the official page.
- Write the application like you mean it. Specific beats polished.
- Get reviewed. Admission is selective, not automatic.
- If accepted, pick a cohort and lock travel and housing early.
- Show up ready to contribute, not just attend.
No spin
The honest take
What is genuinely good: the people. The filtering works, the density is real, and the in-person compounding is hard to get anywhere else right now.
What to go in clear-eyed about: it is remote, it is selective, and you get out what you put in. People who treat it like a coworking space leave underwhelmed. People who treat it like a network leave with companies, collaborators, and friends.
That is the whole pitch. No countdown timer, no urgency theatre. If it fits, loch in. If it does not, do not.
FAQ
Straight answers.
What is Network School?
Network School is a residential program founded by Balaji Srinivasan, built around the idea of a network state: people who meet online, then gather in person to build companies, get fit, and learn together. It runs as cohorts in Forest City, Johor, Malaysia, a short drive from Singapore.
Where is Network School located?
Forest City in Johor, Malaysia, near the Singapore border. It is a coastal development with apartments, a gym, coworking space, and event areas used by the program.
Who is Network School for?
Founders, engineers, writers, investors, and independent builders who do their best work around other ambitious people. It rewards people who show up, ship, and contribute to the community rather than passively consume it.
How do you join Network School?
Admission is application-based. You apply, get reviewed, and if accepted you pick a cohort and arrange travel and housing. Start your application from the official page.
What does Network School cost?
Pricing changes over time and by length of stay, so check the official page for the current numbers rather than trusting a figure you read in a guide. Budget separately for flights and day-to-day spending.
Is Network School worth it?
It depends on what you want. If you are isolated and your work would compound around high-output peers, the network is the product and it can pay for itself. If you mostly want a cheap place to work alone, it is the wrong tool.
Decision time
You have done the research.
Loch in.
The application takes one focused sitting. The worst case is you learn it is not for you. The best case is the next chapter starts in Forest City.
Independent guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by Network School. The Loch in links use a member invite (ns.com/adam/invite). It costs you nothing and the guide stays honest either way: the goal is that you make the right call for you, not that you click.