Key Takeaways

  • Most tech founders confuse passive consumption or lifestyle maintenance with an actual craft.
  • A genuine hobby requires zero financial upside, such as a corporate lawyer building ships in bottles during their evenings.
  • Casual leisure, like logging five to ten hours of scuba diving on an annual vacation, does not make you a hobbyist.
  • An authentic obsession requires physical retail trips, specialized tools, and obsessive technical iteration.
  • John Coogan evaluates personal pursuits through the Home Depot Test for Hobbies.

The Home Depot Test for Hobbies

On TBPN, John Coogan and Jordi Hays tackled a quiet problem among founders: almost nobody has an authentic hobby anymore. Executives list dining out, watching movies, or going to the gym on their resumes, but those activities are either consumer entertainment or biological upkeep. Hays noted the formal boundary: “So the technical definition, it can't be primarily for financial gain or professional obligation.” (play from 24:41)

Coogan took it further, arguing that real hobbies demand an obsessive tactile craft. “You have to nerd out for it to be a hobby,” (play from 26:03) Coogan said, adding, “The guy knows your name at the store that sells the stuff for the hobby. Then it's a hobby. Otherwise, you're a casual.” (play from 31:12)

To separate real pursuits from casual lifestyle habits, Coogan introduced four strict rules:

  • The Specialty Store / Home Depot Requirement: You must visit Home Depot or an equivalent specialty hobby retail store (such as a vitamin shop, dirt bike shop, or hobby supply shop) at least once a quarter, to the point where the staff knows your name.
  • Strict Non-Monetization and Zero Commercial Bleed-Over: The pursuit cannot be performed primarily for financial gain, business obligation, or disguised networking; it must be completely disconnected from your professional livelihood (e.g., a corporate lawyer building ships in bottles).
  • Active Craft and Nerding Out: You must actively nerd out, constantly tweak, build, and innovate within the discipline rather than engaging in passive consumption or a static, unchanging routine.
  • Substantial Time Commitment Threshold: You must log meaningful hours across the year; engaging in an activity for only 5 to 10 hours annually (such as occasional scuba diving or an annual festival visit) classifies you as a casual participant on vacation rather than an active hobbyist.

When This Works (and When It Doesn't)

This framework applies when evaluating whether an executive or founder has a legitimate outside hobby, as opposed to passive relaxation, ordinary lifestyle maintenance, or professional networking disguised as leisure.

The test works because it exposes vanity hobbies. Founders love to claim they are into endurance sports, wine tasting, or contemporary art, yet those pursuits frequently double as covert pitch meetings with angel investors. The Home Depot test clears away social signaling. If you cannot explain the mechanical friction points of your gear to a retail clerk who sees you every ninety days, you are buying an identity, not practicing a discipline.

The framework breaks down for purely intellectual or zero-cost pursuits. Coogan and Hays cited examples like Tyler memorizing passages of Homer or competitive speedcubing. Neither requires a quarterly visit to a brick-and-mortar hardware store, yet both demand intense technical obsession and complete commercial isolation. Do not discard an obsession simply because you buy your replacement parts online or store your materials inside your head.

What to Do With This

Take five minutes this week to audit your calendar and credit card statements from the last twelve months. Pick the personal activity you tell peers you enjoy outside of your company.

First, check your transaction history. Did you purchase specialized physical parts or raw materials from an independent vendor or local shop this quarter? If every purchase arrived as a finished luxury good, you are consuming, not building.

Second, test your motive. If you spent your time playing golf exclusively with prospective seed investors or fellow tech operators, strike it from your list. That is business development disguised as sport.

Third, total your hours. If your log shows twenty minutes a month, demote the label to occasional entertainment. To restore it as a hobby, commit two uninterrupted hours this Saturday to an activity where you produce nothing you can sell, showcase to clients, or write off on your taxes.