Meet the Guy Building an App for Chambers of Commerce

Chris has found a niche that most people don’t think about.

But he started with something much more normal. A brick and mortar kids fitness franchise in Colorado Springs. He joined his local chamber because that’s what you do when you open a local business.

And then he realized something.

The chamber world is full of amazing people and strong communities. But the tech stack is stuck in the past. And the “member experience” is usually an afterthought.

So Christopher built Chaymber. It’s a member to member engagement platform for chambers of commerce. He publicly launched it about 12 weeks ago, and he’s already seeing a niche that’s starving for something better.

1. Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Christopher Patton.

I started a business called Chaymber. That’s Chamber with a Y.

We’ve built a member-to-member engagement platform for chambers of commerce.

2. What’s your backstory? How did you get here?

I’ve worked in tech for a while.

I managed operations for a company in the healthcare and fitness space. We went through M&A and I got a lot of experience from that.

Then I opened a KidStrong franchise in Colorado Springs in May of 2022. That was my first business.

When I opened that brick and mortar business, I wanted the ribbon cutting and all that. So I joined my local chamber.

I was hoping for something like Tribe. Real connections with other business owners. More community specific, but still valuable relationships.

Instead, I started to understand how chambers operate and what tools they use.

And it was obvious the industry is behind the times from a tech perspective. Which is ironic, because chambers represent so many businesses and they exist to drive more business in their communities.

So I matched my tech background with what I was learning inside the chamber world.

I framed out the idea, launched it with my local chamber, and used that as my testing ground.

3. How did you get your first customer?

The first “customer” was really my local chamber.

I was already a member, so I went to them and said, can I run an idea by you?

I met with their executive team, walked through the wireframes, and explained the pain points I thought they had. I was accurate.

So I said, alright, I’m going to build this. Let’s sign an agreement that says when it’s built, you’ll use it. They did.

The first paying customer beyond that came from founder led sales, aka: a LinkedIn message. Just me doing outreach as a solo founder.

4. What’s worked for attracting and retaining customers so far?

For attracting customers, I’m doing the basics.

Emails. LinkedIn messages. And I’m about to start LinkedIn ads.

But the chamber of commerce space is an ecosystem. A lot of them know each other.

Introductions are going to be huge.

I already had a situation where someone introduced me to a chamber, and that person also reached out to another chamber that had given me a testimonial.

So before they even replied, they had two points of validation.

I’m also trying to show up in multiple places. I’ve already been on a podcast in the space and it was received well.

On retention and usage, this is a B2B2C product.

I sell to chambers, and the chambers need their members to actually use the app.

So we’ve built automations that drive member adoption.

We also create some exclusivity inside the app, where members can do certain things and get more out of their membership that they can’t do without it.

That’s the current version.

But the bigger retention lever is what’s next.

Almost every client references the same two major players in the space. They own CRMs. And they are loathed.

When every prospect tells you the same pain point, you listen. So our next iteration is scoping out a full CRM. But not a boring admin tool.

5. What do you want the future of the business to look like?

I want to stay lean.

The big players are heavy on staff. That cost gets passed to the customer, and chambers have budgets, and they stick to them. 

I think we can deliver a better product with a leaner team.

That means better pricing for the customer.

And it means we can use AI and automations instead of defaulting to hiring every time we hit friction.

The mission stays simple.

6. Any “oh sh*t” moments?

Yes.

You think you understand the space, then you meet someone and learn something that punches you in the face.

For me, it was finding out that the two biggest players already had an app.

Which was my initial value add... We have an app.

Then I realized, it’s not 2008 anymore, and an app isn’t enough.

So I went from “oh sh*t” to “oh, their product is sh*t”.

Because their tools solve pain points for the chamber, not for the members who are supposed to use the app.

Now when I find a competitor, I just dig in. What do they do? What do they miss? Where is the opportunity?

7. What do outsiders not understand about this industry?

Most people don’t understand how much impact a chamber of commerce can have on a local business economy.

It depends on the chamber and the staff. Some are better than others.

But in general, there’s a lack of understanding of what chambers can actually do for a community.

8. Favorite tools?

Google Suite. Slack to communicate with my engineering team.

And I use Gemini every day.

I built my own business advisor by feeding it call transcripts and product thoughts.

Because it sees the transcripts, it knows the pain points of my prospects and customers.

So I always have ‘something’ to talk things through with.

I also use Replit.

I’ve been building “ChamberLabs” AI assessments as lead magnets.

Stuff like an SEO score for how their directory is set up. Or how well they use LinkedIn to attract and engage members.

These are lead forms for me, but they’re also genuinely useful tools.

And it helps differentiate us because we’re giving value away instead of gating everything.

9. Favorite books and content?

Hormozi is great.

I love his mentality. I’ve gotten more intense about how I approach business over time, and that content fits where I’m at.

I’ll also listen to My First Million sometimes, but less as I get busier.

An early book that stuck with me was Failing Forward.

The core message is simple. You’re going to fail. Keep going.

Entrepreneurship can put you in dark places, especially in brick-and-mortar. That book helped me normalize the grind.

10. If you had to start another business today, what would it be?

Probably these AI assessments with AI.

Find industry specific pain points and crank out tools that solve them.

They don’t take that long to build. You just need someone who understands the industry well enough to know what actually matters.

11. Best advice for entrepreneurs?

Go for it.

But go in knowing it’s going to be harder than you expect.

Some people hit home runs right away. That’s awesome. I’m jealous.

But most people don’t.

It might work, it might not, but you have to take the step. And you have to get over the fear of it not working.

Final Takeaways

• The best startups start with firsthand pain. Christopher joined a chamber and immediately saw the gap.

• In niche markets, introductions matter more than ads. The ecosystem validates you faster than any landing page.

• Having an “App” is not a differentiator. The strategy is making users actually want to use what you make and get value from it.

• If the incumbents are hated, there’s an opportunity.