On shutting down abruptly

On shutting down abruptly 

After School, at least in its current form, is no more. We’re shutting down abruptly. 

Lights off, furniture sold, wires stripped to sell on the black market and we’ve locked ourselves out (metaphorically, we don’t have an office). 

October 28th, 2025 will be the last club meeting at all locations.

You can still join here. If you are registered for a future date you will be issued a refund or you can reply to this email if you’d like to be moved to the 28th.

I’m going to share why I’m making this decision, but first, like any ego maniac, I’m going to drag it out to make my failures look good. 

I’d love to hear your feedback on anything below, just reply to this email.

After School launched in New York City and Toronto in January 2025, since then we have held events every single Tuesday for a total of 41 weeks. 

Over the course of the 41 weeks After School had 1,269 people participate for a total of 1,671 event attendees. 

We spent $43,898.48 and collected $33,988.47 in revenue, resulting in a loss of $9,910.01.

After School came from the idea of there being a culture around books (clubs, criticism etc), but not in the same way around short fiction and long form journalism. Something for the did you read it, crowd.  In addition to this, I had been looking to do something offline both in my personal time and as a business. It’s not a novel idea that people need to disconnect from the internet and connect with each other, but opportunities are still limited.

I was heavily inspired by the order of the birds and misogi, but the challenges to building a community and/or business around either of these are many. But, when I heard a podcast about Timeleft’s journey and model  it clicked that ripping them off - dinner with strangers vs. a bite-sized book club with strangers - was the obvious path for me. 

In fact, I thought that my take on the “meet new people in person” business was stronger than Timeleft’s. In their case the value prop was binary: meet new people over dinner. If you failed to click with your group or make a new friend then what was the point of signing up again. 

In the case of the bite-sized book club, attendees had two complimentary goals: meeting new people and reading something interesting and having an intellectual conversation. Even if you didn’t make a new best friend or fall in love, there was still a pretty good chance you’d have an interesting chat. And the best part, there’s repeat business for an interesting activity that gets you out of your apartment. 

At the outset we hosted in a single area in both cities, East Village in New York, and Yorkville/Annex Toronto, before expanding to three areas in each city adding Midtown West and Downtown Brooklyn in NYC and in Toronto Yonge and Eg along with Liberty Village. 

People had a really good time! 

There were people who left with new friends and had already made plans to meet up again. 

One group decided to form their own discussion group so they could all stick together. 

And all of the people who joined on the recommendation of their therapists - there were lots and that was certainly special. 

Ok, now it’s time to get into what went wrong. 

No Shows

The most frustrating issue I encountered were the no-shows. The average weekly no-show/cancelation rate sat at an eye watering 25%. I tried every trick in the book to change this: reminders, confirmation requests, lots of guilt but the needle didn’t move. 

No shows are particularly damaging to small group activities, especially when the 25% is not evenly distributed. This could result in only 2-3 people showing up for a club meeting - no bueno. I attempted to adjust by assigning groups of 10 to have wiggle room, but of course there would be times when everyone showed up and there were too many people in the group. 

Venue Problems 

Suitable venues were a challenge. In order for After School to operate profitably (not that we got there), the venue would have to be free. Going off of Timeleft’s playbook it was easy:  book a reservation at a bar. Not only does this provide a free venue, but it’s a mechanism for attendees to easily find each other without having to have an After School rep on site. 

Here’s where paths began to diverge. TimeLeft’s core activity is explicitly dinner. Attendees are asked about their dining preferences, price point etc and assigned to groups and restaurants. After School’s core activity is discussion of the reading, therefore the venue had to be one size fit-all. 

I looked for venues in each area that took reservations, offered separate checks, and could be classified as spots that were appropriate to only order drinks, no meal. Unfortunately, bars that fit this criteria were limited, especially ones that took reservations, and as you might imagine, these types of bars tend to be loud. Loud doesn’t lend itself well to nuanced conversation. 

On top of that, there would often be reservation mix-ups. Many venues didn’t want to or it would confuse their technology to make a reservation under a group name “After School Group 1” especially if there were multiple groups. Leading to folks showing up to confused restaurant staff, struggling to find their group. Not the experience you want when you’re already pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to meet strangers. 

Venue Issues Part 2 

Could I lean on the bars who were thankful for me sending them business? No. Because the business was thin. 

The host bars reached out to tell me that attendees weren’t spending money. Like in many instances none at all. I don’t believe it’s because After School members are cheap, but that there is a social barrier, nobody wants to be the first person to order a cocktail, let alone a second, or eat in front of strangers when they aren’t sure if they’ll also be eating. 

Timeleft attendees are primed to order a meal, After School attendees not so much. 

In an attempt to increase the average spend I included in every lead up email something along the lines of “most After Schoolers budget $20-25 to grab a drink or a bite at the bar where we’re meeting. It’s also a great way to support your local venue.” 

I saw some increase in attendee spend but not enough to believe that I would resolve what I consider an existential issue to the model. 

Article Selection 

Choosing the articles and short stories was hardly an existential issue, but it's worth sharing a few thoughts. Generally, I read more non-fiction articles than short stories but I found conversations about fiction pieces much more free flowing. Short stories hold so many layers to dissect from authorial choices to character motivations. I gained a much deeper appreciation of fiction through After School. 

Non-Fiction, on the other hand, could be complicated. Nothing political, but there needed to be multiple perspectives. Even some of the most talked about long form pieces didn’t necessarily generate a ton of conversation. That said, I do think I had a pretty good track record of selecting strong pieces even though there were some swings and misses.

But what really drove me crazy is when people complain about the actual writing. Look, I was mostly choosing pieces from The New Yorker, The Atlantic or Harper’s, the writing is good! C’mon folks! 

I wasn’t satisfied with the work

I was passionate about After School because I was aligned with the purpose: getting away from screens and having interesting conversations in real life. It’s the type of activity that leaves you feeling genuinely good. 

Unfortunately, the work of running After School was just like most jobs I’ve had: sitting in front of a computer alone. 

For my next act I want to put myself in a situation where I’m around people everyday, where I have real responsibilities and accountability. Maybe I’ll open an art gallery or coffee shop, somewhere where I need to open the door each day. 

What’s Next for After School

I’m not ruling out re-launching After School in a slightly different format in the future. Perhaps in a more structured cohort class type model.  

Or maybe the same model once I have a eureka moment that solves everything! 

In the meantime, not immediately, I think I’ll write a newsletter compiling my favourite articles and short stories. Maybe add a subscriber only edition that includes a deep dive into a single piece along with discussion questions so you can organize your own group or take your reading deeper on your own. 

Another After School pivot that I’m considering is a Letterboxd for books, articles, and short stories (yes I know Goodreads exists). 

See You After School,

Alex

P.S. Check out some of the other things I do…

The Peak Daily Podcast

Other People’s Treasure Bingo

Reframe