Baby Bathwater Event Series

After 13 years of building separate direct response internet marketing companies, Hollis Carter and Michael Lubbidge realized something crucial: their biggest business breakthroughs happened offline, at conferences where they'd make one or two key relationships each month. But they got tired of attending mediocre shows. Instead of complaining, they decided to create the event they wished existed. They took an eight-month hiatus from attending any other conferences to lay down the model for Baby Bathwater.

The genesis story is telling. At a large Boulder event that didn't align with their vision, they rescued their group by chartering a van and hosting them at a small hotel restaurant in a mining town outside Boulder for the weekend. The response was electric—attendees loved the curated people, the paleo food, the vibe. They said: "We want to do more of this." That weekend became the blueprint.

What started as community investment evolved into a structured event. Hollis negotiated early with Elliott (the Powder Mountain/Summit Series team) to secure favorable rates for hosting multiple events annually. This gave them a premium "canvas to paint on"—crucial for the luxury positioning but also a significant cost center.

Their first attendees came directly from their existing network of entrepreneurs and internet marketers they'd worked with for over a decade. Word-of-mouth did the heavy lifting. By their second official event at Powder Mountain in Utah, they had 110 attendees. Within one event cycle, they built a waiting list of 200 people—all of whom had been exposed to the event in person at least once.

The core insight: "People are the product." They ruthlessly curated attendees, ensuring everyone shared common threads—whether bootstrapped, fully funded, or something in between. They didn't chase attendance numbers; they prioritized fit. This meant turning people away, even repeat attendees who didn't engage. Michael Lubbidge developed a reputation for direct conversations: "Hey, I see you sitting on your laptop the whole time. You paid to be here. Jump in the game."

They also discovered a formula: always maintain 50% returning attendees and 50% new people to keep conversations fresh and community commitment strong. They reduced capacity from 110 to 100 to maintain intimacy. Speakers pay to attend, just like everyone else—flipping the traditional conference model.

Their second event generated approximately $330,000 in conservative topline revenue (110 people × average $3,000). But profit, in their own words, "doesn't really even exist." Everything is reinvested into the next event and community building. They're dedicated to this for two years before expecting lifestyle income.

Hollis and Michael are now exploring backend revenue opportunities so they can eventually host events without charging, maintaining even higher quality standards. Their vision: a self-sustaining community of 100 hand-picked people rotating with new talent, powered by derivative revenue streams rather than ticket sales. They're not building a business to maximize cash flow; they're building infrastructure for a community that happens to generate significant revenue as a byproduct.