Simon Holley's First 13 Skool Members: Ten Personal Invites

Simon Holley's new Skool community displayed 13 members on 16 October 2026. In a same-day post, he says he reached that number in three days after inviting about ten people he already knew and making the first twenty places free. This is a useful first-member method, but the record does not reveal which invitation produced which signup, whether members engaged, or whether any later bought access.

His original Skoolers post, titled "Starting a new Skool from zero again: 13 members in three days", displayed 5h (edited) with 17 comments when expanded at 12:31 UTC on 16 October 2026. Skool did not show an exact publication timestamp. The sequence below is Simon's account, not an independently observed signup funnel.

Simon Holley
Original post · Creator profile
Displayed 5h at capture. Portrait credited to Simon's Skool profile.

What did Simon do before the room had members?

He says he messaged roughly ten friends and clients who fit the intended audience, or could help it get started. The ask was to help launch, not to buy. He offered free access to the first twenty, with a one-off lifetime price planned afterward. His post says 13 joined in three days. That is a founding cohort, not evidence of a paid conversion rate or a repeatable 13-in-three-days benchmark.

The context matters. Simon's profile listed several other communities, including a free course-launch group and a separate paid program. He says those rooms have around 1,000 members in total; that historical total is his claim. A creator with an established network can start a new room at zero while still having relevant people to ask.

What is the new community actually for?

The rendered Tentmaking for Pastors About page showed 13 members, private status and a Free join control at the 16 October capture. It targets pastors and ministry leaders who want to turn ministry experience into coaching income. Its copy describes offer extraction, offer building, natural sales conversations, a first-client framework, a 72-hour action plan, and workshops. The page also says "Join for $37 lifetime access" and mentions a later $37/month price after 100 members. That written pitch conflicts with the currently displayed Free join control. We did not enter checkout, so the only safe price statement for that date is that the join control displayed Free.

By 5 November 2026 the conflict was gone. The page showed 22 members, two admins and a join control of $37, described as a one-time price that rises at 100 members. Its web address had also moved to skool.com/tentmaking, and the old address redirects there.

The creator's claims about ministry tenure, personal income and student outcomes are not independently audited. More important for this story, the precise audience makes the first-member ask credible: Simon could name specific people whose work matched the offer instead of inviting an undifferentiated list.

Comments add boundaries. Wendy Getchell said her first five came from friends and family for free, but that is her own example, not independent validation of Simon's conversion. Anna Sabino described 30 signups from a 60-person summit talk, a different acquisition channel. Neither comment shows that asking ten people alone caused Simon's 13 joins.

For a new creator, the transferable experiment is to list ten relevant people, explain the room's purpose, invite help with a clearly bounded founding offer, then track join, first action and continued participation separately. Our first members guide covers outreach basics, the community ideas guide helps sharpen the audience, and the membership tiers guide explains why founding access needs explicit terms.

Frequently asked questions

How did Simon say he got his first members?

He says he asked about ten relevant friends and clients to help launch and offered free access to the first twenty members.

Did the community have 13 members when checked?

Yes. Its rendered About page showed 13 members on 16 October 2026.

Is Tentmaking for Pastors currently paid?

Yes, by the page's own display. The join control showed $37 as a one-time price on 5 November 2026. On 16 October it said Free while the About copy mentioned a $37 offer. Checkout terms were not inspected.

Do thirteen members prove the invitation strategy converts?

No. The post does not map individual invites to joins or provide a comparison group.

What is the community's niche?

It is for pastors and ministry leaders exploring coaching income from their existing experience.

What should a new creator measure next?

Record source of signup, first action, useful conversations and eventual paid conversion as separate measures.