I Was Trying to End Aging, But Accidentally Built a Commune in Berkeley, California

Inside one of the the wildest things I’ve ever done—and why you need to be in Berkeley next week.

Let me start with something I wasn’t expecting to say this year:

“We need 10 people right now to push a 15-person Finnish sauna bus. The engine is dead. If we get it over that little hill, we’ll make it.”

Somewhere between sourcing a cold plunge, coordinating with 200 high-profile speakers, unjamming a DEXA scanner, and finding someone—anyone—who could operate an LED wall, it hit me:

There is a reason people don’t organize 8 conferences in 8 weeks.

They’re sane.

The Question That Started It All

A few months ago, I found myself asking:

What’s the craziest thing I could do to try to get the highest leverage, highest agency people in the world activated to solve aging NOW?

Not just inspire. Not just research. Not just talk.

But mobilize the best minds of our generation by creating a Schelling point from which we can spark an Apollo Program to solve aging. Longevity’s New Capital.

That idea became Vitalist Bay, an eight-week living experiment where 60 full time residents live in a Longevity Zone in Berkeley California and welcome thousands of the greatest minds in the world in 8 conferences over 8 weeks.

Not 20 years from now. Not someday. Now.

And next week is the apex of Vitalist Bay!

🚨 VITALIST BAY SUMMIT — APRIL 25–27 🚨

The flagship weekend. The great convergence. Our moon landing moment.

🎟️ You can grab your ticket here with the code VBS-ADAM in the next 24 hours for 50% off, as well as a free DEXA scan and a free CGM!

If you’re interested in longevity, biotech, healthspan, or a better way to be human, this is the one. Or if you just want to meet Bryan Johnson, Tim Urban, Kristen Fortney and other people charting our common future. But more on that later.

How the Hell Did We Pull This Off?

This was not an accident; it was a full-body yes to bringing people together for longevity in the biggest way possible:

• ✈️ We rented a full campus in Berkeley for nearly $500,000

• 🤝 Coordinated 200+ high profile speakers like Tim Urban, Bryan Johnson, Kristen Fortney, Jason Kelly, Peter Diamandis, Joe Betts-LaCroix, Emil Kendziorra, Matt Kaeberlein and ARPA-H leaders Jean Hebert and Andrew Brack, across 8 themed weeks

• 📅 Scheduled hundreds of talks, panels, firesides, activities, and workshops

• 🤯 Recruited 50 volunteers and a team of 10 in 4 weeks.

• 🏠 Built a longevity spa+clinic on campus: cold plunge, sauna, DEXA, mobility scanner, IVs, genome sequencing, CGMs, labs, 15-person sauna, meditation dome, 24/7 Japan-style Karaoke and more

All while battling last minute cancellations, logistical issues, a 15 ft LED wall, and the madness of programming eight distinct conferences across eight weeks with no playbook.

But through hustle, community, and something that feels like divine luck—it’s working.

What People Are Saying (And Feeling)

“What struck me most wasn’t just the science—it was the fire in the room. You felt the weight of mission-driven people actually believing we could change the story of aging. The vibe? Think Apollo-era ambition meets biohacker retreat meets deep intellectual salon.”

🔥 Andrea Cipriano, Stanford Faculty:

“This isn’t a conference. It’s a cultural artifact in the making.”
👨‍👩‍👧 Aykut Karaalioglu, Founder & Speaker

“We had DEXA scans in buses, sauna rituals in converted trucks, and whole-genome sequencing stations with zero bureaucracy. But what I’ll remember most? 3 a.m. chats with stem cell scientists over mushroom coffee, trading notes on Russia’s peptide scene vs. California’s tech stacks.”

🏗️ Anna Vakhrusheva, Biotech Founder:

“The location felt like a think tank spilled into an art installation. Sunlight on notebooks. Conversations in hammocks. Biomarker panels under the trees. The science was rigorous, but the setting? It let your mind breathe.”

🎓 Keshav Singh, Professor of Genetics:

“This is the future—alive and weird and brilliant and absolutely necessary. We soft-launched our company on-site. Connected with the exact angels we needed. It wasn’t networking—it was cross-pollination.”

🧪 Kevin Yar, Startup Founder:

“I saw people cry, meditate, ice plunge, and rewire their nervous systems before lunch. From blood work to cryonics, from genomics to nervous system healing, this isn’t a summit. It’s a diagnostic clinic + a startup incubator + a spiritual dojo.”
🌿 Virginia Gambardella, Mindfulness Researcher & Speaker

“The first event I’ve been to where people leave literally transformed—scientifically, emotionally, physically.”

🧬 Ashish Bhatnagar, Longevity Coach

“You’re watching a world form in real time. A new field, new incentives, new language. From Bryan Johnson to the kid who just sequenced their genome for the first time—this is where longevity culture is being born.”

🌍 Yan Yan, AI Entrepreneur:

So, What Is Vitalist Bay Summit (Apr 25-27)?

It’s our Apollo launchpad, a 3-day flagship summit where science meets systems thinking, where optimism gets practical, and where the brightest minds in biotech, wellness, data, medicine, AI, and human potential converge in one living ecosystem.

Expect:

• ✨ Talks that shift your worldview

  • Tim Urban on utopia and high-stakes decisions

  • Bryan Johnson on Don’t Die

  • Kristen Fortney on taking longevity public

  • Jean Hebert on what ARPA-H is really doing

  • Ronjon Nag on AI & aging

  • Matt Kaeberlein on the path to Medicine 4.0

  • Emil Kendziorra on why cryopreservation is already here

  • Amy Killen on sexual longevity (yes, really)

• 📊 Workshops + Panels on:

  • Polygenic scoring for kids

  • Biopreservation

  • Aging clocks & data

  • Regenerative therapies

  • Clinical trial innovation

  • Nutrition, brain health, and lifestyle levers

• ⚖️ Direct contact with people you’ll never find on Twitter or Zoom

  • Company founders

  • Academic legends

  • Next-gen wellness operators

  • VCs who are actually writing checks

• 🏋️‍♂️ Onsite optimization and activities

  • Full genome sequencing

  • Biological age testing

  • IV drips, peptide consults, supplements

  • Nervous system recalibration sessions

  • Yoga, Krav Maga, sauna + cold plunges

  • Ecstatic Dance

  • Wim Hoff Breathing

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You don’t get many of these in a lifetime.

A gathering where you know the people in the room will go on to build the future—and that you were there when key ideas first got conceived.

I’ve run startups. I’ve raised capital. I’ve gone deep into neuroscience and parenting and nomadic life.

But I’ve never felt anything like this. Come be part of a new gravity.

Experience the moment where we stopped talking about solving aging and started doing it.

🎟️ Join me at Vitalist Bay Summit and use the code VBS-ADAM in the next 24 hours for 50% off, as well as a free DEXA scan and a free CGM!

See you alongside Rie, Maya and Ellie in Berkeley!

6:30am Crew Meditating Daily!

Bus on the outside, Finnish Sauna on the inside.

Even the Family went all in - there’s Maya pushing the Sauna Bus!

With biohacker Siim Land

Sauna needs wood!

But the chimney got clogged!

We built a stage from scratch.