Community Models for Startup Success

Everything I thought I knew about building a business was wrong. Here’s how I went from $0 in product revenue to over $100,000 a month in 10 months: Here's what I did differently. Before: • Create a grand vision • Map out the perfect strategic blueprint • Build the product and “hope” you find customers I've tried that approach before. It didn't work. After: •  Build a community first •  Listen deeply to their needs •  Build solutions and iterate constantly What this looked like in early 2025: • Daily content about real estate capital markets • Delivered value, built a community, earned trust In the Spring, we created our first product. • Community asked "How do I raise capital?" • Launched courses on capital raising fundamentals In the Summer, our product evolved to workshops. •  Feedback: "Need more truncated information" •  Pivoted to workshops: shorter, more focused In the Fall, a new pain point emerged. •  Community: "We need access to investors" •  Built database of 2,500+ family offices, RIAs, PE funds •  Added community layer when users said they needed that Currently, we’re working on our next iteration. • Users: "We have contacts, but we need warm intros and deal visibility" • Building a matching and introduction layer • Launching buy box media to help sponsors tell stories to investors The pattern is clear: Community tells you what they need (and will pay for.) You build it, they buy it. And then they tell you what’s missing. Why this drives results: • Trade guesswork for real needs • No investors, board or large overhead • Multiple revenue streams: education, data, community, media. For years I thought I needed: • A perfect 5 year vision • A rigid strategy blueprint • Everything planned before building What I actually needed: • Consistent content to build trust • Deep community engagement • Willingness to listen and iterate Now, there is a catch to this model: It only works if you’re engaged in the community. You can’t fake it or outsource conversations. The insights come from immersion, not surveys. Everything we build serves one goal: visibility into real estate innovation. But how we get there evolves based on what the community really needs. That's the beauty of this model: product-market fit is guaranteed. Are you building community-first or product-first? What's working?

Community is not a vibe. It is a distribution system you can steer and a product surface you can ship on. Tell a clear story about the future you are building, then prove it in public. Visible progress turns curiosity into allegiance. 1️⃣ Discord that ships • Design channels around jobs: intros, feedback, showcase, support, build-in-public, wins. If a channel has no job this week, archive it. • Run a biweekly we shipped thread so progress is seen and every company milestone is felt as a community milestone. • Make support public by default. Searchable pain becomes your backlog. • Collapse channels until activity concentrates, and pin what moved today so newcomers know where to lean in. 2️⃣ Founder-led onboarding • Keep doing live demos until your hair is on fire. Watch where people stall, remove those stalls, then graduate to instrumented observability. • You will be tempted to help; instead, watch them fail to get unbiased signal and expose real friction. • Give one clear win, not a menu. If they end without a carrot, your packaging is wrong. • Make time to first dollar the goal and instrument the moment that proves value. • Schedule a 24 hour check-in to ask what they are shipping next and hold them accountable. 3️⃣ Honest feedback loops • Ask the unsafe question. What felt dumb or fragile. • Run research neutrally: present a task, observe, and use open-ended questions about pain. • Ask things like: If you had a magic wand what would you change; what did you expect that you did not find; what was frustrating. • Ban opinion without evidence. What did you try, what broke, what surprised you. • Track confusion, not just bugs. • Close the loop in public. X said Y broke, we shipped Z, here is the clip. This builds long term trust and makes people part of the solution. • Keep a living roadmap with three columns only: doing, next, not now. 4️⃣ Metrics that matter • Time to first dollar; 7 day return after onboarding; median support response; percent of shipped changes from community threads; Golden Path completion without help. 5️⃣ Sanity checks • Would anyone miss your Discord if it went down for a week • Can a new person reach the Golden Path without asking for permission • Do you know who owns the loop from report to fix to thank you • Are you shipping where the community is, or forcing people to move where your process is 6️⃣ The flywheel •Community surfaces the next 10 fixes. Founder-led onboarding removes friction in real time. Honest loops convert complaints into commits. Ship the proof, not the pitch. If this feels obvious, you are not late, you are early. Most teams never make the rooms do work. #buildinpublic #communityledgrowth #founderledsales #gtm #productmarketfit #saas

The winner takes all narrative in startups? It’s broken. It’s redundant. And it’s failing founders. Mangrove wasn’t built within a single geography or a closed ecosystem. It was forged by collaborating with accelerators, investors, and operators across the UK, the US, Australia, and Africa. Nairobi Startup Club built member by member from across Africa and the globe! 𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿. If I’ve learned anything as an OpsRes practitioner, it’s that the most effective solutions emerge when we stop hoarding secrets and start sharing lessons in real time. Here is how we approach this in the industry to keep that flow moving: 💡 Ecosystem Stress Testing: Investors and founders should coidentify single points of failure across their portfolios; whether it’s a specific banking partner or a regional cloud provider. To ensure one failure doesn't trigger a domino effect (*cough cough* SVB 🥲). 💡 Standardised Resilience Metrics: We move past vague profitability talk and use shared industry benchmarks. This gives investors confidence and founders a clear roadmap for scaling safely. 💡 The Open Source Playbook: Instead of each startup building from scratch, we share modular frameworks. This allows scaleups to focus on growth while maintaining institutional grade protection. The result? We've built frameworks that actually hold up, whether you’re scaling in Kampala or London. But what if you’re a founder without a massive team or a deep local network? You can still build a resilience ecosystem. Start with these three practical moves: - Peer Incident Reviews: When something breaks, debrief with founders facing similar scaling pains. You’ll spot patterns you’d never see in a vacuum. - Shared Intelligence: Pool notes on tools and vendors. One founder’s expensive mistake becomes everyone’s saved capital. - Cross Company Collaboration: In Nairobi, we built a community that turned individual struggles into collective insights. By sharing resources, we didn't just survive; we built a buffer against market volatility. 🌱 Collaboration is a competitive advantage. The startups that endure aren’t the ones hoarding knowledge. They’re the ones building trust and capability across borders. What is one way you’re building resilience into your network?

She created a cult brand by accident. The rest was intentional. At 24, Emily Weiss was a fashion assistant in New York, asking: "What next?" While others climbed the corporate ladder,  she quietly built something else:  a platform,  a voice, and  eventually a brand. Here’s how she did it, and  what every founder can learn from her journey. In 2010 Emily founded Into The Gloss blog while working full-time. She spent four years engaging with her audience. It grew to over a million monthly readers. She was building her community, getting real feedback, and gaining their trust, all before launching Glossier. Emily turned to her blog community when she launched Glossier. She asked,  listened, and  shaped products with them. This created anticipation and loyalty before a single sale. When Glossier launched,  it was with just four products and a message:  “You’re already beautiful.” Glossier thrived through Instagram and  user-generated content, not ads. Fans felt seen and made others feel seen too. At its peak in 2021,  Glossier was valued at nearly $2 billion. Not every launch worked.  The Play makeup line flopped.  Layoffs happened. Emily adapted publicly, not defensively. She shared behind-the-scenes stories,  including missteps and hard calls like layoffs,  all helping to build trust through transparency. Emily Weiss didn’t “get lucky.” She built a community before she built a company. If you're building now,  every early decision,  from your blog post to your product drop,  shapes what comes next. Emily’s story is about starting small,  listening well, and  growing with intention. The next wave of breakout brands will be built by founders who do the same. What founders should steal from Emily’s playbook: Build an audience long before you build a product. Turn your early supporters into co-creators, not spectators. Launch small, learn loudly, and pivot publicly. Transparency builds trust faster than perfection. Community is a moat you can’t buy with ads.  If you're building something, save this. You’ll want these lessons later. 📌 Follow Sutin Yang for more founder how-dunnit stories!

13 million kilos of chocolate sold and 17,740 farmers supported. Tony's Chocolonely built all of that on the back of one thing: COMMUNITY. And they’re not the only ones. Harley-Davidson figured this out decades ago. Their Harley Owners Group has over a million members worldwide. These riders don’t just buy bikes; they ride together, show up at rallies, and wear the gear. H.O.G. members spend about 30% more than non-members. Patagonia? Same story, different playbook. They donate 1% of every sale to the planet, over $140M so far. That community of eco-conscious customers isn’t just buying jackets. They’re buying into a movement that drives $1.5B in annual revenue. That’s the thing about communities: ▶️ They’ll talk about you. ▶️ They’ll defend you online. ▶️ And they’ll stick with you for years, spending more while they’re at it. So, where do you start if you’re not Harley or Patagonia? Give your customers a space to connect (FB group, Slack, Discord). Let them be part of the product story. Put their stories at the center of your marketing. Because that’s the real flex: not a bigger ad budget, but a louder crowd cheering for you.

Sharing HSR Founders Club revenue publicly for the first time. A couple hours ago, on our co-founders WhatsApp group, I said: "What if we shared our #revenue numbers publicly? Help other community builders?" The response? "Let's do it. The ecosystem needs this transparency." So here it goes: ₹20+ lakhs. No membership fees. 1000+ members. This may not be a big number for the cynics but for a group of people that run this part-time, I'm pretty proud of how far we have come. I'll break the numbers down further but before that here's why we think transparency matters: → 90% of communities fail in year 1 (no business model) → 5% survive but barely (founder burnout) → 5% figure out sustainable monetization If our story helps other builders avoid that, it's worth sharing. Back to the revenue streams. We primarily have 3 revenue streams 💸 1. Strategic Partnerships – 60% Not logo dumps. Just co-created value. Example: Microsoft for Startups doesn't just sponsor our events. They provide Azure credits, technical workshops, and direct access to their startup program team. Our founders get real value, Microsoft gets qualified leads. Same for Mixpanel, SOCLY.io, RevRag.AI, Payoneer and many more. 👉 Learning: The best partnerships don't feel like "sponsorships" - they feel like collaborations. 2. Premium Events – 25% Brand enabled mixers build the tribe. Flagship conferences (₹3–5K tickets, 1:1 mentor sessions) fund the engine. Our 2 flagship conferences #GTMWEEK and #PRODUCTWEEK (100+ attendees each) Structure: - Workshops with industry experts - 1:1 mentor sessions during conferences - Startup pitch competitions with cash prizes - Entry fees + sponsor contributions 👉 Key learning: Founders will invest in experiences that directly impact their business growth. 3. Business Development – 15% Introductions that led to funding, deals, and partnerships. We just made it easier → and charged a fair fee. Revenue model: - Success fees for introductions that lead to partnerships - Small facilitation fees for deal-making support - Revenue sharing on collaborative projects between members 👉 Important note: We're very careful about this. Community trust matters more than any single transaction. What did we do with this revenue? - 60% reinvested into community - 40% operational sustainability We are a true story of slow and steady because we think urgency is a scam. Routinely, one of us gets caught in the urgency scam but because our dynamic is about transparency and patience - building sustainably - we will continue to do this slowly, part-time, and with honesty. A huge shoutout to my co-founders *Rejoe, Akshay, Sandeep (and Nikhil)* for being as passionate about transparency as I am. Having said that, there's scope for much to be done and we will do it. Some solid stuff coming up from #HSRFC - stay tuned!

Most people build the “perfect” product in silence. Then launch. Then hear crickets. The default sequence is: Product → launch → discounts → disappointment. I flipped that when I built Productized OS. Inspired by community-led models like Notion and Skool, I decided the community comes first, the product serves it. My sequence looks like this: Audience → conversations → community → co-created curriculum → product. Practically, that means: - I talk to people stuck in demanding jobs who want a sellable business on the side - We test ideas together before we build anything - The framework only ships once it solves their specific bottlenecks One example: Early on, my curriculum started with “Build your product”. The community pushed back. They were stuck much earlier. So we reordered everything around validation: Founder DNA → Idea → Strategy → Build → Conversion → Scale/Exit. We added more templates and live working sessions just on validation. That single shift made the entire system more practical for someone still employed. If you’re a solopreneur, you can start a micro-community this week: - Curated WhatsApp/Slack group of 10 people with the same problem. Time-box: 30 days. - Weekly live office hour on Zoom. 45 minutes, same time every week. - Theme-based 3-week cohort (eg: “Validate one offer in 21 days”). Simple rule: schedule it, cap it, show up. The “product” can follow. Right now, what does “community” look like for you? A newsletter, a group chat, nothing yet? And what do you want it to become in the next 90 days? #productizedOS #communitybuilding #productstrategy #solopreneur #productizedservices

Your community already has what it takes to back its entrepreneurs. I've worked with dozens of accelerators, universities, and economic developers who want to launch their own investment funds. The ones who succeed share something in common: they stop waiting for outside validation and start building the infrastructure their founders need. Here's what that looks like in practice: Capital creates commitment. When you can write checks (even small ones), you signal to founders that you're a serious partner in their growth. That changes the relationship entirely. Your best founders have options. Communities that can deploy capital keep their talent local. The ones that can't often watch their entrepreneurs leave for ecosystems that will invest in them. You don't need a perfect setup to start. The most effective funds I've seen began modestly with $500K, $1M, sometimes less, and learned as they deployed. They got scrappy, found creative capital sources, and built momentum. There's already proof this works. Across the country, community-led funds are filling the funding gap. The gap where founders need growth capital but can't satisfy debt service requirements and aren't the rocket ships that venture capital targets. These funds are built by people who know their entrepreneurs and their markets. The question isn't whether your community can do this. It's whether you're ready to. If you're already mentoring founders, you're more than halfway there. Adding capital is the next natural step, and it's more accessible than most people think. What would change in your ecosystem if you could invest in your own entrepreneurs?

“I’d been lied to.” "I did everything the #startup playbook told me to do. I lived on planes pitching #investors. I hired a prestigious consultancy to build the tech. I went to every conference to chase sales meetings." "A year in, I realized the playbook was bull$h*t.The people who actually succeeded built the product with their own network, funded it with their own capital, and sold it through their own relationships." "Once I immersed myself in THAT community, everything started to take off.” This is what a Punks & Pinstripes member brought to the group recently. She spent decades rising through the ranks at a global insurance giant. At a certain point she exhausted her tolerance for politics, risk aversion, and complacency. So she left to build something on her own. And that’s when the real trouble started. Once she was out, an army of fake friends besieged her with bad advice, bad investor introductions, and bad sales tactics. THE TRUTH ABOUT STARTUPS (That No One on #LinkedIn Will Admit) There is no winning formula. (Yes, I realize that invalidates the entire business model of every “expert” on LinkedIn. But it’s true.) The people selling expertise without experience and advice without accountability are everywhere. And they almost never build anything real. The truth? The community you immerse yourself in has a much bigger impact on your success than any formula you follow. There are two types of #founder communities: Community 1: The “Crush It” Summit - They worship founder mythology and the people who sell it. - They spend a fortune on conferences, courses, and retreats to feel like they’re “living the dream.” - Everyone is struggling, but they perform invincibility and momentum. Community 2: The Survivors - They admit it’s f**ing hard and lonely. - They don’t give “advice”—they share what actually worked for them. - They offer compassion and solidarity, not posturing. Punks & Pinstripes is Community 2. If you’re done with bullsh*t formulas, fake momentum, and startup theater, you know where to find us.

Are we building ventures in Africa and the Caribbean all wrong? For my 4th deep dive as an Included VC Africa Fellow, I'm asking the tough questions: - Why do so many African and Caribbean startups fail to secure follow-on funding, even after graduating from top accelerators? - Are we simply replicating Silicon Valley models that are fundamentally misaligned with the realities of African and Caribbean markets? - What if the answer isn't just more capital, but a completely different kind of capital? After analyzing 10 different venture building models, from incubators to venture studios to corporate venture building, a clear pattern emerges... The most successful approaches are those that provide deep, hands-on support and are aligned with the long-term success of the venture and its community. This isn't a new idea. It's a return to the origins of venture capital itself. In this research paper, I explore: - A comprehensive taxonomy of venture building models with African examples - A five-dimensional framework for evaluating their effectiveness - Three pathways to scale that go beyond simple replication And introduce a powerful emerging model that I believe holds the key to unlocking Africa and Caribbean's potentials: The Community-Based Venture Building (CBVB), a concept we've been developping at EOG - Entrepreneurs Of Greatness. This is a critical conversation for anyone commited to building a thriving and equitable venture ecosystem in Africa and the Caribbean. I'd love to hear your thoughts! Read the full deep dive here: https://lnkd.in/gQjp4DjX #VentureCapital #ImpactInvesting #Africa #Agribusiness #VentureBuilding #DFI #IncludedVC #CBVB FSD Africa IFC - International Finance Corporation African Development Bank Group U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Proparco British International Investment FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank AfricArena Persistent Village Capital Partech Africa Eats Co-creation HUB (CcHUB) Limited (RC 918335) Safaricom PLC Soros Economic Development Fund Nordic Development Fund (NDF) European Investment Bank (EIB) KfW Swedfund International Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH