The original Junto
Ben Franklin's Junto: The 24 Questions, and How to Run a Modern Junto
In the fall of 1727, Benjamin Franklin was 21, broke, and working as a printer in Philadelphia. He had big ideas and no network. So he built one. He gathered a small group of ambitious tradesmen, and they met every Friday night to make each other better. He called it the Junto.
What was the Junto?
The Junto was a club for "mutual improvement." Franklin put it plainly in his autobiography: "I had formed most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which we called the Junto; we met on Friday evenings." It was also known as the Leather Apron Club, a nod to the working men who filled it.
Membership was capped at 12. No old money. No famous names. The early members included a glazier and self-taught mathematician (Thomas Godfrey), a surveyor (Nicholas Scull), a shoemaker (William Parsons), a joiner (William Maugridge), a copier of deeds (Joseph Breintnall), a merchant's clerk (William Coleman), and a few printers. Builders, every one.
How a Junto meeting worked
The format was simple, and strict enough to keep it useful:
- Same people, same night. Every Friday. The rhythm did the heavy lifting.
- Everyone brings something. Each member, in turn, raised a question on morals, politics, or science for the group to discuss. Every few months, each one read an essay of his own.
- Curiosity over ego. To keep debates productive, "all expressions of positiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction" were banned, with small fines for breaking the rule.
- Help is the point. Members pledged to look out for each other's work, reputation, and plans.
The 24 questions
Franklin wrote a list of 24 standing questions that members worked through at each meeting. Some were about ideas. A lot of them were about people: who's thriving, who's new in town, who needs help. It's a networking playbook, written 300 years before the word existed. A few of our favorites:
- "Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what means?"
- "Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting?"
- "Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?"
- "Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto or any of them can procure for you?"
- "In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any of your honourable designs?"
- "Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service?"
Read them again. They're not about pitching. They're about noticing good people, making introductions, and asking for help out loud.
What came out of it
The Junto pooled its books, and that became the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731, the first subscription library in America. The ideas and the people around that table went on to shape a volunteer fire company, the American Philosophical Society, the academy that became the University of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania Hospital.
Franklin later called the Junto "the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics that then existed in the province." When demand to join outgrew the 12 seats, members started sister clubs of their own rather than make the table bigger.
Why the Junto worked (and most networking doesn't)
It wasn't the speakers. It wasn't the venue. It was three things that are still true:
- Small groups. Big enough for new ideas, small enough that nobody hides.
- A schedule. Relationships compound with reps. One great night is nice. Twenty-six a year change your circle.
- A shared reason to be there. Everyone showed up to get better and to help. Nobody showed up to sell.
How to run a modern Junto
You can start one this month. Here's the short version:
- Pick the people on purpose. Mix industries. Look for builders: founders, operators, investors, creatives, people with serious side projects.
- Put it on the calendar. Pick a night and protect it. Every other week is a good start.
- Change the setting. Dinner is great. So is a pickleball court, a run, or a boat at sunset. New settings start new conversations.
- Bring a question. Borrow one of Franklin's. "Is there anyone whose friendship you want?" opens a table up fast.
- Follow through. Start a group chat. The intros happen after.
Or skip the organizing. That's what we built Junto to do. Every other Wednesday night, we hand-match you with founders, operators, investors, and builders for a dinner or an experience in your city. We book it. You just show up.
Junto is a modern membership club named in honor of Franklin's Junto. It has no affiliation with any historical or existing organization.