On Community: Success Is a Consequence of People

The company that would benefit from having a community and hasn’t started it yet, is already paying for it.

In this essay, I share insights from my experience as a builder to explore the concept of a product-based community. While this journey doesn’t cover every angle, I hope you find the discussion valuable. We’ll delve into what a community is, why it’s essential for a business, and how to effectively build its structure. Let’s dive in!

In my view, a product-based community is a group of individuals united by a shared interest in a specific product, who stay connected through a private online space. In this context, the choice of platform is less important than the collective engagement, with a co-creation flywheel driving the path to success.

A Square One Priority for the Business

A Startup Needs Growth and Profit

In the startup world, growth and profit are non-negotiable. Given that a startup’s very essence is growth, and its runway is always short, achieving product validation, traction, and revenue quickly is crucial. This is why building a community from the outset is essential.

On one hand, startup success often hinges on product-led growth. In this model, the product is continually refined through user experience and feedback, becoming the primary engine for customer acquisition, expansion, and retention. Product-led growth, however, is exponentially more powerful when fueled by a strong community. Consider the success stories of Salesforce, Notion, or Product Hunt—each propelled by a dedicated community that amplifies their growth.

On the other hand, integrating product and community growth not only drives expansion but also enhances profitability. A thriving community fosters brand loyalty and can generate revenue through subscriptions, ads, affiliates, or other channels, depending on the business model. Within this community lie the first promoters, evangelists, and ambassadors—those who spread the word and, when momentum builds, create powerful network effects. This synergy between product and community accelerates the path to product-market fit, as direct input from users helps shape a product that truly resonates with the market.

Ultimately, the community represents the intersection of users and the product. While not every user will join the community, and not every development will stem from feedback, a well-executed community strategy holds immense potential as a go-to-market approach.

Community Structures

The Minimum Viable Community (MVC)

Let’s start the journey! :-)

Building a community makes sense, but how do you actually do it? In my experience, the best approach is to “get out of the building” and gather a handful of beta testers, early adopters, and tech enthusiasts. It's crucial to identify those who are a good fit for your product, create a Minimum Viable Community (MVC) around them, and give it a spin.

To kick things off, select a platform, automate the onboarding process, launch a few initiatives, and perhaps even integrate an AI bot—but keep it simple. At this stage, the focus shouldn’t be on channels, aesthetics, or branding, but rather on delivering value from the start.

Once you’ve gathered a few trailblazers, it’s time to gradually expand the community while concentrating on meaningful conversations. This involves emails, surveys, DMs, voice and video calls, chats, one-on-ones, user interviews, members-only sessions, public webinars, in-person events—the list goes on. It’s a lot of work, but it’s essential.

At this point, it’s imperative to do things that don’t scale. Push and pull information as much as possible, and build rapport with your members. The human touch, layered on top of automation, is always a positive. Start small, build steadily, and the results will follow.

The Logic

As your MVC matures, it will thrive on conversation and human connection. But to reach the next level, you’ll need to switch to a more logical (Vulcan mode enabled 🖖), structured approach.

A community is:

1. A product in its own right
2. That accomplishes something
3. For a specific group of people
4. With the purpose of achieving a specific goal

Draft these ideas, test your assumptions with your community, and be open to change. It’s crucial to understand how your early adopters perceive the community, and exploratory conversations should help clarify points (1) through (4). Then, expand these discussions to include new and potential members. Remember, a community is a living ecosystem that constantly adapts and evolves.

Once you’ve identified the type of community your members want, prioritize expansion, refine your channels, and transform your MVC into a well-rounded, private online space. To do this effectively, focus on point (4) and understand the reasons people join.

The Why

Now it’s time to think about why someone would join your community. There are likely only three reasons:

1. To solve a problem
2. To satisfy a need
3. To gain something

Conduct 15-minute one-on-one video calls with your existing members to understand what draws them to the community and what keeps them engaged. Identify their anxieties and what might be holding them back. These insights will paint a detailed picture and provide actionable steps. To foster a sense of belonging, the community must first address (1), (2), or (3). Remember, nurturing relationships is more valuable than focusing solely on transactions. I firmly believe that a sense of belonging follows value over time.

With your MVC in place, logic established, and the “why” understood, your product is gaining traction, and you’re continuously improving it based on community feedback. Members are finding value and sharing their experiences. You’re onto something big, but it’s essential to keep the momentum going.

The Roman Forum

When the Romans built a forum, it was designed as a space for the exchange of ideas and views. Crafting a community should achieve the same goal. You want to encourage people to interact, engage, discuss the product, connect with peers, learn from one another, and become promoters. These elements give members a sense of ownership and help build trust between users and the product team.

You can foster this through Community Town Halls, DMs, announcements, emails, one-on-ones, and more. Create a shared backlog where the product team can communicate what has been delivered, the current state of the business, upcoming priorities, and gather suggestions from the community.

However, remember that engagement is value-neutral. While interaction might seem like an ideal KPI, it can be misleading. Engagement can be high due to a frustrating bug or low when everything is running smoothly. So, it’s crucial to measure only what truly creates value.

To recap, community is vital for business because it drives growth and profit. You started with an MVC and, together with your members, have built a dynamic structure. Now, it’s time to explore even further.

The Co-Creation Flywheel

When a community is thriving, a powerful flywheel of ideas begins to spin. Users share their feedback, see it reflected in the product, and are more likely to remain engaged for the long term. They become more forgiving of bugs, issues, malfunctions, or even downtime when there's an ongoing dialogue, transparency, and openness. This dynamic fuels the co-creation process, which should be actively nurtured.

Here's a snapshot of how the flywheel operates:

1. Product Appeal: You start with a product that resonates with people, drawing them into the community.
2. Feedback Loop: Users provide feedback, and the team actively listens, gathers insights, and builds a backlog.
3. Development Cycle: The development team prioritizes, builds, and releases new features based on this feedback.
4. User Experience: Users experience the enhanced product and return to the community to share their thoughts.
5. Network Effects: Satisfied users bring their peers into the community, amplifying the network effects.

This cycle not only improves the product but also strengthens the community, creating a continuous loop of engagement and enhancement.

The goal is to consistently refine our understanding of user needs and how to deliver value. By fostering an environment of open dialogue and transparency, we not only learn what users love about the product but also uncover their pain points. Understanding and addressing these issues is crucial, often more so than knowing what users enjoy. Fine-tuning the product to resolve these challenges drives effective development and solidifies the synergy between the community and the product team. This synergy is the backbone of a successful business.

Success Is a Consequence of People

A Transformational Initiative

A thriving community adds value by evolving newcomers into power users and power users into ambassadors. To achieve this, the community team must proactively manage information flow through an engaging onboarding process, regular demos, and frequent announcements. One of the most effective ways to facilitate interaction is by hosting Community Town Halls.

Here’s how to structure this approach:

• Push Information: Develop a comprehensive onboarding flow, host regular demos, and post announcements frequently to keep members informed.
• Pull Feedback: Encourage open dialogues through written conversations, one-on-ones, and feedback collection to understand and address user concerns.
• Facilitate Adoption: Use these interactions to help users overcome bottlenecks, reduce anxiety, and ease the adoption process.
• Community Town Halls: Regularly update the community on the state of the business—planned initiatives, ongoing projects, completed tasks, and suggestions for improvement.
• Promote Co-Creation: Collect feedback and relay it to the product team to drive improvements and empower users to contribute content.
• Referral & Affiliate Programs: Provide users with tools to monetize their involvement, enhancing their engagement and commitment.
• Partner Relations: Collaborate closely with community partners to build strong relationships and explore new opportunities.
• Global Expansion: Establish local communities in regions such as the USA, Asia, South America, Africa, and Europe to broaden your reach and impact.

Conclusion

By starting with a Minimum Viable Community (MVC), expanding from a core group of dedicated users to a larger, engaged tribe, and fostering network effects, we co-create a product that achieves market fit and drives business growth. Success is ultimately driven by the people involved—both the team that builds the product and the community that supports and informs them.

In the startup world, the will to succeed is less crucial than the will to prepare. This means investing time, effort, and resources into thorough planning, building, and strategizing. Starting with a strong community foundation is the best way to set the stage for sustained success.

"We had grace. We had style. We had conversation. Not this...[ mimics text message sound ]. Art, films, books were all better. Originality mattered!" The Merovingian (The Matrix)