After burning through \$88,000 in ad spend with zero results, I discovered this counterintuitive strategy that led to 7x growth in just 9 months. Here's the full story and how you can replicate it.
The Counterintuitive Truth
In community building, the best practitioners often do less, not more.
The lesson: most founders overthink this and underspend on execution. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Many common approaches to community building are flawed at the root.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
Real Talk: What Actually Matters
Here is what actually matters in community building.
First, execution speed beats perfection. Every time. Companies rarely fail because they moved too fast on community building. Many fail because they moved too slowly.
Second, measure everything. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Set up tracking from day one, even if it's basic.
Third, talk to your users. It sounds obvious, but many founders make decisions about community building in a vacuum. Get out of the building. Talk to real people.
This connects to broader themes around content marketing, product-led growth, retention strategies that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Wrapping Up
I've shared a lot here, and I know it can feel overwhelming. But you don't need to get community building right on day one. You just need to get started and keep improving.
Founders who do well at community building tend to share one trait: they're relentlessly practical. They don't chase perfection. They chase progress.
That's the mindset I'd encourage you to adopt. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And keep pushing forward.
As always, I'm rooting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
Q:What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 234 startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
Q:What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
Q:Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.