5th of May 2021

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

They say that all good things must come to an end. Today we’re announcing that after six wonderful years, Jam is closing down.

To this day, we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we’ve done together. Our events were fun, different, and a pleasure to organise and run. You brought them to life and we couldn't be more grateful for all the great moments we enjoyed in your company.

In this announcement, we’d like to share the rationale behind this decision.

2020 has had a disastrous impact on society and the economy as a whole. From a business standpoint, companies operating in the events industry have been hit particularly hard.

Our revenues crashed, and we lost a considerable amount of money in deposits paid to venues – including Hawker House, who we were saddened to hear, are also in the process of closing down.

We successfully ran several online events throughout the year, but it quickly became clear to us that it was going to be impossible to recreate the experiences we'd created in the past, online.

But we didn't throw in the towel. At the end of the year, we attempted a pivot, and launched – Jam Club – an online community for our most committed members.

Our vision was to build a thriving space for growth-minded product leaders, offering intimate virtual workshops every month.

Pivoting from an in-person events company to an online community has proven significantly harder than we’d originally hoped, and the losses we accumulated in 2020 have proven too significant for us to overcome. And so now we’d rather stop here, celebrate the journey, and say a proper goodbye.

What now?

We’ll keep Jam Club open for the next six months. We won’t be moderating it or running any workshops, but you'll be able to access all workshop recordings, discussions, and member profiles. We hope you’ll be able to use it to reconnect with friends made at past events.

To claim your free invite just drop us a note at hello@makingjam.io.

You can also find all past talk videos on our YouTube channel.

Thank you

A huge thank you to our amazing team of staff and volunteers; Marta, Sunil, Jessie, Maria, Francesca, Stephen, Joan, Monica, Ecem, Steve, David, Michael, Mahtab, Eva, Gizem, Antoine, Jeff and all those that helped run our events every year. We’re deeply grateful for the friendship, shared memories, and support you’ve shown us over the years. We couldn’t have achieved everything we did without you.

Thank you to Doug and Chris at Intelligent People. You supported us from day one, and have always been a pleasure to work with.

Thank you to all our speakers and workshop instructors for all the brilliant content you’ve delivered over the years.

And thank you, for the good times we created together.

Seb & Mathilde

About

About

Blog

Our mission

To unlock the potential in every maker through the power of real-life experiences.

Back in 2015, we started a small event to hear the stories behind our favourite products. Every year, it spread like wildfire. Without realising, we had invented a different type of event. A non-mainstream alternative to tech conferences.

One that brings together passionate makers who're striving to be better at their craft. That's what brought us to take JAM to new heights. We wanted to give every maker the space to thrive through the power of real-life experiences.

Years
5
We started our first conference in 2015 as a side project. A few years laters, the two of us scaled it to 600 people. And it became the community we always wanted.
Speakers
100+
From companies of every shape and size, including IDEO, Netflix, Mozilla, Uber, Monzo, Facebook, Pivotal and many more. They've shared their story at one of our events.
Makers
5000+
More international every year, our community has been growing entirely through word of mouth. Nothing makes us happier than seeing so many regulars come back every year.

Our guiding principles

We're committed to creating the best space for makers to grow together. Practically, this means doing things a little differently.

People-first

Staying true to our roots, everything we do aims to facilitate meaningful interactions between our members.

Real and candid

Just like at our events, we create a space where you can be your authentic self. There's no right and wrong, no stupid question.

Quality over quantity

We curate only the most impactful workshops, and cap attendance for the best learning experience.

Deep learning

Our sessions focus on exploring and practicing complex skills. The ones you're rarely taught online. We go beyond the basics.

Growing with you

We're committed to adapting the club to your needs, the skills you want to grow, and the challenges you need to solve.

A personal touch

As makers and curators, we will continue to put our heart and soul into crafting the experiences we need to grow.

Meet the team

We’re a fully-remote team based out of London, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Atlanta and Bali. The events we create are for ourselves as much as for the community we serve.

Mathilde Leo

Co-founder & Curator
London-based product manager turned full-time digital nomad, I can be found somewhere between Europe and Thailand. Journeying through various freelance projects and side hustles, I now focus on growing the JAM community and mentoring aspiring product managers. In my spare time, I love to eat cheese and fight Muay Thai (very rarely at the same time). I also write about remote working and career hacking for Forbes.

Seb Powell

Co-founder & Maker
Started as a product designer and somehow found myself co-founding both JAM and getagent.co.uk. I also run pro-val.co.uk and am helping event analytics startup airfinity.com ship their product. I recently moved back to Luxembourg where amongst other things I’m learning to renovate old properties.

Marta Krzeminska

Growth Lead
Five years in early-stage start-ups made Marta into a creative problem-solver. As long as the business challenge is not legal or medical, she can probably tackle it! Orientalist by education, aspiring effective altruist and rationalist by soul, she’s now on a self-learning path to becoming a data scientist. Watch out what happens when we bring machine learning to JAM!

Francesca Negro

Illustrator
Psychology graduate turned product designer. Coping mechanisms include, but not restricted to: illustrating abstract concepts, collecting random tattoos and petting strangers’ dogs. AKA for the JAM team as: Chief Illustration Officer (trying to bring that title into fashion), Playlist Maker and Mood Setter.

Antoine Sakho

Curation Lead
I’m a Product leader with 10+ years experience shipping award-winning apps to 100+ million humans. Most recently Head of Product at Busuu, where I helped turn around the business and built a team of exceptional product people. Currently on a break to roam the world, recharge, reflect and learn.

Sophie Graff

Speaker Whisperer
Data Scientist turned Product Manager, I was crowned Slack Queen whilst working at Funding Circle, where I was the all-time top Slacker globally, an accolade of which I am particularly proud. Outside of work, I can be found making new friends at exercise classes and talking to strangers on public transport. I’m putting my communication and social skills to good use as part of the JAM team, with responsibility for onboarding, supporting and taking care of the speakers in the run up to and at events.
Jam Club is where product leaders grow together. Learn the skills that matter. Get community support. And go from good to great.
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