Meeting Seth Godin and Becoming One with the Tribe
This is for the people who are starting something new, making a change and standing up for something meaningful.
On December 10th I had the pleasure of attending Seth Godin’s Tribal Gathering in NYC. It was life-changing. Here’s what I learned:
“You want the weirdos.”
Johnson and Johnson makes products for average people. They have that luxury because they own shelves in physical stores with limited space. You’re not J&J and don’t have the luxury of selling to the masses. Luckily, there is infinite space on the shelves of the internet. It’s a blessing that anyone can have an online store, but the curse is that everyone does. The masses will never find you on the internet because there’s too much out there. You have to target the weirdos who hang out in some small corner of the web.
So who is it for? Maybe they’re techies who are interested in farm-to-table cat food. Or perhaps they’re stay at home moms with kids aged 2–5 living in apartments and want fun meals to cook with their children. Get clear on the “who.”
There aren’t many weirdos out there. That’s why they’re different. But weirdos are rarely weird in isolation. They’re usually a part of a tribe. That’s why we still stand a chance.
“People like us do things like this.”
This was repeated countless times throughout the day. It’s a top three takeaway from the event.
It was on the table clothes, it was said dozens of times and most importantly, we felt it in that room. People in the tribe do certain things. For example:
“The Ironman costs $15,000 and everyone but one person will lose, so why go? Is it because there are no roads where these people are from? Is it because there’s no water? No, it’s because you want to be with the tribe.”
Before you start, you have to get clear on two things: Who is it for? And what stories do they tell themselves?
Once you understand these things, you can start to lead a tribe of people like this who do things like that. Maybe you’ve recognized a small tribe, but you’re not sure how to grow it. That leads us to the next point. This one is counterintuitive, so listen closely.
I actually asked this question because I couldn’t figure it out and this answer was worth the cost of admission alone.
My question: Where is the line between changing people’s minds and nurturing those who already see the world like you do?
His answer:
“98% of the time should be spent on the people who already get the joke.”
Focus on the people you have. Going out to try to find new people is a waste of your time. You should make your product so good that people have to talk about it to their friends.
Seth’s example: Tony Robbins puts hot coals on the ground and everyone walks across them. When you come to work the next Monday, you HAVE to tell you friends about what happened over the weekend. That’s how you grow. Make the product more remarkable.
We got this wrong at the Entrepreneurship Club for a while. We were trying to find new people to bring in, new organizations to partner with and new events to run. In reality, we needed to make our existing events better and our members would inevitably tell their friends! This is what we started doing over the past year and we now have more members than ever before.
Crossing the chasm
Geoffrey Moore’s 1991 book “Crossing the Chasm” is about how you get technology products to the mainstream market. There are a lot of early adopters willing to try new things, but there are many more people in the early and late majorities. Crossing the chasm is a step towards sustainability and rapid growth.
In our context, the early adopters are your tribe. There’s a big gap between your tribe and the masses. It’s possible to make a living off a small tribe. You usually don’t need more people, you need better people. But regardless, many of us desire to cross the chasm and the way to do it is to create something that people have to tell their friends about. 98% of your time should be spent on making your product more remarkable.
Being part of Seth’s tribe
I’ve been to many networking events, but none felt as special as this day. Here’s why:
Full respect
People at the Tribal Gathering were actively listening no matter what your age or accomplishments. There’s no worse feeling than someone discounting your personal worth when they find out you don’t work for a cool startup. Unfortunately at many “networking” events, this is exactly what happens. When I thought back to Saturday, this NEVER happened! The connections were amazing.
Never once did someone lose interest when they learned I was a student.
Every conversation went somewhere deeper and more meaningful. I connected with Australians, Brazilians, high schoolers, parents, and everything in between. The only thing they all had in common was that they all stood for something. They all cared enough about their work that they were willing to put themselves out there and do the emotional labor.
Seeing through Seth’s eyes
After hearing Seth do Q&A and tell dozens of powerful stories, for the rest of the night, we gave each other feedback based on his perspective. When I was at dinner with people from the event, we listened to each other’s stories and responded through Seth’s lens. We gave feedback as we imagined Seth would give feedback.
This was powerful. Think about what’s going on here. Seth has been writing, thinking and working on projects for decades. We were able to harness his wisdom to form guiding questions for each other. We all became better.
Seth created a tribe of mini-Seth’s that can go forth and help those around them be better.
Meeting Seth
Talking to so many people at the event made me realize just how generous Seth Godin has been in supporting people that want to make a difference. He has touched thousands of lives, including mine. I cannot thank him enough for the work he does each and every day.
I was honored to shake his hand, give him a card I had written and say “thank you” in person.
I had a quiet belief that this day would come, but I thought it would take years and years. That’s what made it so magical.
Until next time.
Thank you all for reading. If you’re working on projects and want to know how these ideas apply, please reach out! I’d love to help.
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