About 9-ON

Our purpose

Real people. Real connection.

9-ON.LIVE is your place to discover small, facilitated virtual discussion groups—we call them Parlors—that meet around a topic worth exploring with the same people across one or more scheduled video sessions. The format favors depth and continuity: a host holds the thread, the circle stays small enough for real participation, and each Parlor sets its own pace. It is intentionally designed to fuel your curiosity and to build connections with others. If you are new here, you can start by browsing what is open and applying to join when something feels like a fit.

Browse and join

Open Parlors are listed on the 9-ON hub. Read the description, see who else is already signed up to participate, and apply if it is a fit. The host reviews applications and builds the group from there.

Host a Parlor

When you are signed in, you can create a Parlor of your own: set the topic, schedule, and group size. You host the conversation, manage applications, and run the sessions—so the group stays coherent and on track.

Curious where the idea came from? Read Why 9-ON.

Team

Andrew Mann

Founder

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur with the unfortunate habit of asking “Wouldn’t it be great if…” The spark for 9-ON came from two experiences that never left him: Harkness-table discussions in high school featuring small groups around an oval table where everyone could see everyone else and really engage with each other peer to peer—and, during the pandemic, Dr. Greg Salyer’s extraordinary open-invitation philosophy salon, where a small gathering of previously strangers met online biweekly, and over time were drawn together in real connection. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an enormous online directory of reading and discussion groups just as compelling as this one was—and always on so that you can find a group whenever you wanted from the comfort of your own home? Before 9-ON, Andrew founded DentBetty, an online consumer marketplace for car repair, and Common Object, a B2B SaaS platform. He also previously co-managed Eureka Capital Management, a hedge fund and venture firm investing in leaders of emerging trends; and began his career as a research associate at Fidelity Capital Management. He holds a CFA, and a BA in Government from Harvard.

Greg Salyer, Ph.D.

Learning & Community Advisor

Educator, learning scientist, and public intellectual with 30+ years in higher education. Greg has spent his career designing small-group discussion experiences and scaling online humanities programs at Rutgers University and University of Maryland Global Campus, and served as President of the Philosophical Research Society and Chief Academic Officer at the Holmes Institute. During the pandemic, on a whim, he launched The President’s Class on Zoom—an open-invitation philosophy salon that met biweekly for 18 months, built a loyal returning cohort, and became the living proof of concept for 9-ON’s host-led, nine-person Parlor format.

Andy Kim

Board of Directors

Andy Kim joins the 9-ON board bringing three decades of experience building software that connects people. As CEO of Proxy Networks for nearly 20 years, he leads a company built entirely on remote support and collaboration—the same live, screen-to-screen technology that makes 9-ON’s Parlors possible—giving him rare, practical insight into the product challenges of bringing people together online. His career before Proxy Networks centered on product management and marketing roles at Symphony Technology Group, Tandem Computers (now part of HPE), and Silicon Graphics, where his focus was always on using technology to create experiences to make people more productive and efficient. That instinct—for product that fosters real connection—maps directly to 9-ON’s mission of building small, engaged groups where everyone participates. Andy holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Economics from Harvard.