Balaji Srinivasan, a prominent Indian-origin American entrepreneur and investor, is making headlines with his bold vision to build a new kind of nation—one that starts online and eventually secures real-world territory. Through his latest venture, The Network School, Srinivasan has taken a step closer to this futuristic dream on a private island near Singapore.

Launched in September 2024, the Network School is a three-month residential program designed for startup founders, tech innovators, and fitness enthusiasts. It serves as a pilot project for Balaji Srinivasan’s idea of a “Network State”, a decentralised, digital-first community that begins online and aspires to achieve real-world legitimacy.

Srinivasan, who holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, is best known for his roles as co-founder of Counsyl, former CTO of Coinbase, and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Born to parents from Tamil Nadu, he has long advocated for rethinking how societies are formed and governed in the digital age.

In August 2024, he revealed in a Substack post that he had acquired an island near Singapore to serve as the physical foundation of his Network State prototype. “We got an island. That’s right. Through the power of Bitcoin, we now have a beautiful island near Singapore where we’re building the Network School,” Srinivasan wrote.

Instagram user and participant Nick Peterson, who offered a virtual tour of the facility, described the experience as “an oasis for gym rats and startup founders.” He added, “I’ve been living in this real-life experiment called the Network School, run by Balaji Srinivasan, where we are kind of testing what creating a new nation would feel like.”

In his book The Network State: How to Start a New Country, Balaji Srinivasan outlines his vision of digital citizenship and the move beyond traditional, geography-bound governments. The book presents the idea of a "network state", a community formed online that pools resources through crowdfunding to establish self-governing cities and states.