5 to 9 Society was inspired by a simple observation: founders are lonelier than ever. Every founder knows and dreads that 2 a.m. moment. Something’s on fire, and there’s no playbook for it.
You’re sitting there, trying to figure out what to do next, heart racing, laptop open, realizing there’s no one you can text who really gets it. Your partner doesn’t want to hear another shop talk story. Your friends don’t know what it means to carry payroll anxiety in your veins.
It’s the part of building that no one warns you about. The quiet loneliness of leadership.
For the past six years, I’ve lived inside that tension as a Chief People Officer and now as a founder. We’re the ones who keep the wheels turning, who stay composed, who find solutions. But when the pressure builds, when we need to talk through a tough decision or ask for advice, most of us don’t have a trusted network we can rely on.
We may have had those circles in the recent past. But somewhere between Zoom fatigue and shrinking calendars, the habit of showing up for each other slipped away.
Since the pandemic, we’re spending about a third less time face-to-face. Half of adults now say they feel lonely, and women, in particular, report smaller networks than before. Long before the pandemic, social time was already in decline. Then it dropped off a cliff.
And for founders, that disconnection hits harder. We’ve kept building, but we’ve been doing it in isolation.
That's why I started 5 to 9 Society.
It’s not another networking group. It’s a space to build trust and connection for founders, operators, and executives who are ambitious, self-driven, and craving real community again. It’s where the conversations you can’t have anywhere else finally have a home.
Networking looks different now. After everything we’ve been through, people aren’t looking to trade playbooks or growth hacks anymore. We’re looking for real alignment, honest conversations, and meaningful introductions that remind us we’re not the only ones figuring it out. The intent behind connection has changed, and that’s what makes this moment so powerful.
The startup playbook has changed, too. The past few years have rewritten what growth, resilience, and success look like. Founders today are navigating slower markets, leaner teams, and a different kind of pressure, one where the goal isn’t just to raise or exit, but to build something sustainable and real. That’s why we need to be around others who’ve weathered the same shifts and are redefining what thriving looks like now.
We’re all building something that matters. But it doesn’t have to be lonely. If you’ve been longing for that sense of community again, stay tuned for what’s happening at 5 to 9, and maybe we’ll see you at a dinner soon.
–Christine Song
