David Spinks
@DavidSpinks
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Taking an indefinite Twitter break. You can reach me through my website at
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Joined July 2008
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I've been building and researching communities for two decades.
Here are the 11 pillars of my community philosophy:
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San Francisco came out in full force. This is the overflow. Dolores Park is full.
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Retailers will survive Amazon by focusing on in-person community.
GameStop is converting their stores into gaming hubs.
Barnes and Nobel opened cafes.
REI is offering classes.
People are craving real connection and experience. Physical spaces offer a massive opportunity.
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The future of startups will be:
- fully remote
- no vesting cliffs
- choose your hours
- equal parental leave
- transparent compensation
- co-owned by the community
- diverse, equitable, and inclusive
- no 90-day exercise requirements on stock
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🤝 My biggest lessons in how to build your professional network...
1. Build community. There's no better way to improve your reputation in a field than to be the one bringing people together.
Offline is key: Host events. Big or small. Conferences, meetups or dinners all work.
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The future of business is:
- remote first
- 4 day work weeks
- radically transparent
- community owned and driven
- diverse, equitable, and inclusive
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🔑 keys for building community:
1. Consistency - keep creating even if no one responds
2. Experimentation - try new things, dont stagnate
3. Humility - its not about you its about the whole
4. Transparency - be honest and admit mistakes
5. Energy - keep it high keep it positive
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Most coworking spaces sell "community" but they do nothing to create community.
They sell space to workers, and hope that people will form relationships as a result of proximity.
If they're going to sell community, they should facilitate community. A happy hour doesn't count.
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Growth hacking works in days.
Marketing works in months.
Community works in years.
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I've built online communities since I was 14, and have interviewed 100's of successful community builders and founders.
Here's what I've learned about building great communities:
🧵
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Love
@naval
’s take on micro vs macro.
Change yourself and the people around you before you try to change the world.
Feed one person before you try to fix world hunger.
Connect 10 people before you think about connecting 1000.
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Hey twitter fam,
I'm very excited to introduce you to Lucca James Spinks!!! 🥰
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Recently learned from my teammate the concept of replacing the terms "culture fit" with "culture add" when hiring, and it's completely changed how I think about growing a company.
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Normalize men talking about crying.
If you're a man who (like me) has cried in the last 30 days, drop a comment.
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More startups are moving toward:
- alternatives to VC
- remote first
- community driven
- work life balance
- full transparency
I’m excited about this future.
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What's the difference between building an audience and building a community?
Building an audience = helping people.
Building a community = helping people help each other.
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Just watched the flat earth documentary on Netflix.
Fascinating how strongly identity and community play into the movement.
Humans will believe anything if they feel isolated, and a community is willing to accept them for it.
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I’ve been dealing with high levels of anxiety recently that has started to affect my physical health.
During what has arguably been the highest point in my career!
Taking the next four days off from work and social media to rest and heal.
Sharing to normalize.
🙏❤️
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I created a spreadsheet for my team that maps out the full community career path.
It has every level that a community pro can reach, with the related competencies, skills, and experience at each level.
If I made a public version, would you want a copy of it?
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People are willing to pay for curated and moderated communities.
They’re tired of paying big social networks with their mental health.
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People want to be welcomed, not onboarded.
Onboarding is for ships and airplanes. It’s orderly. It’s transactional. It’s optimized.
Welcoming is for communities. It’s personal. It’s messy. It makes them feel included.
Welcome members, one-on-one, for as long as possible.
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Popular opinion: humans weren’t made to work 5 out of every 7 days and we'd all be a lot happier, more creative, and more productive with a 4-day work week.
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Prediction: The rise of remote companies will result in a rapid increase in the need for internal community builders.
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Twitter is the best networking tool in the world if you make a habit of replying to ppl u respect
- keep it positive (but dont always agree)
- ask good questions
- answer their questions thoughtfully
Even if they dont reply, one day youll meet and theyll know ur face and name.
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Today's the day!!!
The Business of Belonging is officially available in bookstores everywhere!
I hope it makes the path 100x easier for the next generation of community-powered businesses than when I started 13 years ago.
Grab your copy today:
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The minimum viable community (MVC) is the new minimum viable product (MVP).
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Two rules I try to follow when communicating with my team and community:
1. praise in public, criticize in private
2. attack the idea, not the person
Imagine if people on twitter followed the same rules, what a wonderful place it would be.
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Introducing Ophelia Lillian Malka Spinks, born on Jan 8 at 3:58pm.
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All big communities start small.
If you want to build a big community, you have to build a small one first.
To build a small community, you don't need a lot of time, tech or money. You just need focus, passion and action.
Dream big, start small.
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I'm designing my dream solopreneur life:
- no scheduled calls (unless I get paid)
- 3 day workweek (M-W)
- mornings are for writing
- afternoons are for clients
- evenings are for ops + tasks
- lunch break + hike in woods every day
- breakfast and dinner with family every day
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After years of second-guessing myself, I finally sent my book brief to an agent. 😁😯🤞
It's called "The Business of Belonging: A Professional Primer on Building Communities at Scale"
If there are incredible agents out there I should be talking to, please let me know!
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A simple engagement strategy for a new community:
- be passionate
- welcome every member
- create 2 weekly rituals
- post once per day with "in the moment" discussion starters
- organize one meetup/month in your biggest city
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
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Marketing is about motivating people to consume.
Community is about motivating people to create.
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THREAD
Remote companies are still *struggling* to build belonging without the serendipity and proximity of the office.
I thought I'd share some proven community-building techniques you can use to meaningfully connect your remote team members... 🧵
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I get asked this question a lot so:
Here's the exact process I would follow if I just got hired to lead community for a new company...🧵
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I entered quarantine an extrovert and will exit it an introvert.
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Big news to share! I've signed a deal with
@wileyglobal
to publish my book, "The Business of Belonging"! 📖🤗🎉
I'll be sharing everything I've learned about how to build thriving communities with massive business impact.
DM me if you'd like to be on the preorder list!
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I can't believe I finally get to announce that... 🥁🥁🥁
The Business of Belonging is officially available for preorder!
...and will be released by Wiley on March 23rd.
You can learn more about the book, preorder deals, and place your orders here:
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Most people don't join communities for belonging.
They join to solve a problem or achieve a goal.
It's only once they form relationships that they'll cite belonging as their motivation.
Lesson: to grow your community promote benefits, not belonging.
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It’s weird that we buy houses without knowing anything about the people who will be our neighbors for decades.
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The era of building community on large social platforms is fading.
Facebook is boring, Discord & Slack are overwhelming, Twitter is toxic.*
The next wave of community will come in three forms:
1. indie
2. small group
3. in-person
*Reddit is the exception. It still feels indie
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To get a community off the ground, do things that don’t scale.
Want 100 people at your event? Personally email 200 people.
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To successfully run communities you need to...
- set a vision, values and rules
- set goals and metrics
- acquire members
- onboard and keep them engaged
- manage volunteers
- optimize content/SEO
- manage conflict
- stay level headed
Community pros are CEOs in training.
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Building community around your brand is a long-term play.
If you can’t commit to it for at least 12 months, don’t even start.
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Don’t write your own bio.
Ask someone who respects you to write it for you.
They won’t be modest.
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We’ve seen physical fitness and mental fitness become mainstream concepts in western society.
The next wave will be social fitness: how we build and maintain relationships.
There will be books, exercises, apps, classes, coaches, and events all to help you stay socially fit.
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Stop using "helping others" as a reason to overwork yourself.
If you burn out, you can't help anyone.
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A mistake I see DAO's making is asking for too big of a contribution, too early.
Most bounties are too overwhelming for a new member.
Instead, give members small ways (micro bounties?) to contribute and earn, and ease them into bigger commitments over time.
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What do you think is harder, starting a community or scaling a community?
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I have to say, it's only been 3 months since the acquisition, but being an employee and not a CEO is *very* nice. I feel a lot less stressed and I've been able to focus 100% on impactful work.
@bryce
warned me this would happen...
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7 years ago I slipped on some ice and accidentally got engaged.
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Data without storytelling makes the data hard to believe.
Storytelling without data makes the story hard to believe.
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10 years ago all my conversations were explaining what community is.
5 years ago all my conversations were convincing people that community is important.
This year all my conversations are teaching businesses how to build community.
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🤔 Why do you think people on hikes always say hi to each other?
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3 weeks until the baby is due 😬
Hit me with your best advice for new parents.
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You don't build community by getting people to care about you or your product.
You build community by caring about them.
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Five ways to make your community onboarding better:
1. Send a very personalized welcome email
2. Add a unique ritual that all new members do
3. Invite to an initiation event for new members
4. Create a welcome committee
5. Assign them a buddy or mentor
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After years of dreaming of this moment, I finally get to announce the launch of 🥁🥁🥁
*-._ The Masters of Community Podcast _.-*
Every episode is a deep dive with an incredible community expert.
Listen to the first 3 episodes now!
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In my 20s my dream was to be the founder of a big startup.
Thank god I didn’t succeed.
Now I just want to work for myself, go on hikes, and hang out with my kids.
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Met a VC at SxSW.
VC: Are you fundraising?
Me: No, we decided to bootstrap.
VC: Oh... so you tried to fundraise but couldn't?
Me:
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We're starting a college fund for the baby and based on projections, we'll be paying over $50k per year for an in-state, public college by the time he's 18.
It's absurd. I can't imagine the college system doesn't get totally disrupted before that.
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Community building is often such a thankless job.
You have no idea how good it feels when a member reaches out and shares the impact the community has had for them.
It keeps us going.
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Big lesson in building businesses that I’ve become more aware of recently is just how long things take.
So much stress comes from feeling like you need results right now. We’re constantly fed stories of overnight success.
Patience and perseverance solves a lot of problems.
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This is my first time hearing of “The Cozy Web” and I’m obsessed.
Source:
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I feel depressed, uninspired, and directionless today.
There's no hot take in this tweet, and I'm not sharing it for sympathy.
I just wanted you all to know I have days like this, and if you're having one too, I'm here with you.
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A FOUNDERS GUIDE TO COMMUNITY
Should your startup invest in building community?
It's a big question... one that deserves a thorough answer.
I worked with
@lennysan
for the last 3 months on a 6,400-word guide published today in his newsletter.
Here are the highlights... 🧵
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Prediction: we’re going to see a lot more independent communities build their own platform vs using out of the box solutions in the next year.
Related: There’s a big opportunity for someone to build the Wordpress for communities so that every space looks completely unique.
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Imagine being the twitter community manager who got to hit the ban button on Trump.
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It feels like we are entering a phase of online community fatigue.
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One year ago,
@mkobach
tweeted that he "wanted to take what he knew about community building and apply it to his personal Twitter."
Well, it worked. Today hes become a "lighthouse" for 100k people on Twitter.
I asked him what that cmty building model was. Here's what he said...
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Airbnb reports that ✨building a community✨ is their primary differentiating factor from its competitors and lists it as their top two core strengths (host and guest communities).
The word community appears 166 times in the IPO prospectus.
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The
#1
networking mistake people make: Trying to connect w people who are already successful.
Deep relationships are built when someone is at a low point and you help them even though there's no "value".
One day they'll be successful, and they'll remember.
#100DaysOfCommunity
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If you’re stressed at work, try writing down everything new that you’re learning right now.
You might find that you’re doing a lot of really hard things for the first time.
It’s helped me reframe from “stress=bad” to “stress=growth”.
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Coworking spaces are going to absolutely explode in the next 12 months.
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Surround yourself with people who want to help you achieve your goals.
And be the kind of person who helps the people around them achieve their goals.
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When you have an office, connections happen serendipitously.
Now that companies are fully remote, connections won’t just happen. You have to make them happen.
And it’s a full time job.
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My family just sent me this from Israel:
Boys are at home but are scared. Unfortunately I cant tell you things are ok. We are under a terrifying massacre.
We have so many direct or indirect people we know either killed or kidnapped to Gaza. The brother-in-law of my admin…
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Alrighty! Here is a free, public version of the spreadsheet I created for my team that maps out the full community career path.
It has every level that a community pro can reach with the related competencies, skills, and experience.
Grab it here 👉
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Does your community have✨VIBES✨?
1. Velocity: members joining & participating
2. Inclusion: members feel welcome, safe & included
3. Benefits: members get explicit value
4. Evangelism: members are advocating externally
5. Sustainability: members are in it for the long run
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A mistake ive often made in 10 yrs as a founder: relying on advice from “successful” people.
All advice is biased by their own experiences, fears, and privileges.
All advice has a logical alternative.
Learn from others, but don’t let anyone choose your path for you.
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Just got introduced to a new Chief Community Officer where the role was just created at a unicorn SaaS company.
They'll announce it at the end of April.
I need to start keeping a list of Chief Community Officers!
It's happening 🔥🔥🔥
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LinkedIn is your resume.
Twitter is your brand.
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Attended my first DAO meetup yesterday (FWB).
In my 13 years in tech, an event has never felt like this one did.
People weren't there to talk about themselves. The conversation almost entirely revolved around how to improve the community.
This is the power of shared ownership.
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The idea that communities happen organically is a myth.
Whenever you see a thriving community, you can be sure there’s a team working furiously behind the scenes to make it happen.
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Most conference’s attendees don’t want a Ted style talk, they want tactics, numbers, specifics.
If you’re a well known leader, or a closing keynote, then give a Ted talk.
Otherwise, get in the weeds and help attendees get better at something.
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Back from my 5-week sabbatical and very eager to get back to work.
That's the most valuable lesson I got from this vacation. The dream of "never having to work again" is flawed. You will miss building things & creating value.
Very grateful to my team for giving me this space.
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You don’t need to be an expert in a topic to start a community around it.
In fact, it’s better if you aren’t.
Your genuine curiosity will make it easy to start conversations, and your members will have the opportunity to be the experts.
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There are two ways to create content that people will love:
1. Show the simplicity in a complex topic
2. Show the complexity in a simple topic
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We're thinking about organizing a
@cmx
event focused on:
- teaching community pros about web3 (DAO's, NFTs, etc)
- teaching web3 pros about community (community design, governance, moderation, etc)
Like/comment if you'd be interested in an event like that!
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Community: A group of people who feel a shared sense of belonging.
Audience: A group of people who follow/admire an artist, brand, or performer.
Network: An extended group of people who remain in informal contact.
Ecosystem: A system of interconnecting and interacting groups.
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Community hiring is broken.
I’ve spoken to dozens of community professionals and companies who all describe a process that’s inefficient and exhausting.
That's why today I'm announcing a new Talent Collective for the community industry!
🧵...
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Did you know that
@NotionHQ
has a subreddit for their users with over 140k members?
The community was founded and continues to be run by users. The company is supportive and active, but they don't actually run the community.
Incredible example of a community-led business!
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