Half dayProduct & Craft
Working sessions on shipping better product, faster. Framing, taste, and the details that separate good from great.
Members only
Newport Beach · California
Where Builders Build.
A private workshop for founders, operators and creators — gathered in a historic California building to trade craft, share the work, and move companies forward together.
Est.
Newport Beach
Format
Invitation only
Focus
Founders & operators
Cadence
Workshops & events
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Build.Ship.Refine.Together.In person.At the workshop.Build.Ship.Refine.Together.In person.At the workshop.Build.Ship.Refine.Together.In person.At the workshop.
The Mission
A place for people
who actually build.
who actually build.
Ticket 500 exists to bring together the entrepreneurs, operators and creators who prefer craft over noise — and to give them a room where real work gets done.
We host workshops, gatherings and long-table conversations that focus on the practical side of building a company: product, brand, distribution, hiring, and the discipline of execution. No panels for their own sake. No performative networking. Just serious builders, in the room, working on the work.
What Makes It Different
Not a conference.
Not a coworking space.
A workshop.
01
Small by design
Every room is intentionally sized. Fewer people, deeper conversation, better work.
02
Founders in the room
Membership favors people currently building — not spectators or side-liners.
03
Craft over content
Sessions produce artifacts, decisions and next steps — not slide decks.
04
One physical home
A historic California workshop we can walk into. Rooted, tangible, real.
Builder Philosophy
We believe great companies are built in small rooms.
That craft compounds. That the room shapes the work.
That the founders who show up become the peers you keep for decades.
Workshops
Long-table sessions.
Real work.
Small, hands-on gatherings organized around the disciplines founders actually spend their weeks on.
Half day
Half dayBrand & Story
Sharpening how a company shows up. Positioning, voice, and the visual system that carries the work.
Members only
Full dayDistribution
How real customers are found, kept and grown. Channels, systems and the discipline of measurement.
Members only
Events
What happens
at the workshop.
A calendar built around the rhythms of building — not around a stage.
Membership
By invitation.
By intention.
Ticket 500 is a private community. Members are entrepreneurs, operators and builders who show up for the work, and for each other. Access is extended by invitation and referral.
- Access to the Ticket 500 workshop in Newport Beach
- Invitations to members-only workshops and gatherings
- A room of builders committed to craft and execution
- Opportunities to host, teach and be taught
Don DiCostanzo · Founder
Founder
The founder behind
the vision.
Don DiCostanzo is an entrepreneur, investor, brand builder and community architect with decades of experience launching and scaling businesses across multiple industries.
Known for bringing people together and creating momentum around ambitious ideas, he founded Ticket 500 as a place for entrepreneurial growth, collaboration and practical business education.
His work spans product development, marketing, manufacturing and strategic partnerships — with a focus on helping founders turn vision into execution.
The Space
A historic workshop.
Reimagined for builders.
Vaulted beams, warm light, long tables. A room built for the work — and for the conversations that happen around it.
Community
Rooms of people
you keep for decades.
01
Founders
People currently building companies, at every stage.
02
Operators
The leaders inside great teams who make things run.
03
Investors & Builders
The capital, craft and taste that surrounds serious work.