Some learnings on Building a Community

Avinash Raghava
#TheBigPicture
Published in
2 min readMar 28, 2021

#Community Building is something that I’ve been doing for the past 18 years. I wasn’t able to gauge it’s true potential initially, but my journey led to a series of invaluable learnings. Posted it as a twitter thread

My fav video on how a movement starts…!

Happy to share them on this thread with an inspiration drawn from @DavidSpinks. Dive in! 👇

  • ☝️ First things first, building a #community begins with meeting people (one at a time) and forming meaningful relationships. Always try and help people first before asking for anything in return!
  • Do not unplug your GIVER switch! 🔌
    A #community is not built on the basis of expectations, so don’t really expect anything or don’t help with the objective of getting something in return.
  • Helping people make meaningful connections goes a loooong💨 way!
    However, always check before making connections and set the right context.
  • Every powerful #community which got built, always started with a purpose + someone who is passionate about the cause and wanting to make an impact. So it’s very important to articulate who doesn’t belong in the community.
  • Find the true purpose and articulate it for yourself before sharing your idea to the real stakeholders. Be very very clear on why you are doing it and what do you expect from this.
  • Magic only happens in small groups, by bringing in the right people. Curated communities are always better and allow people to open up. It’s very important to get people talking.
  • Always look for people who are genuinely interested in building the tribe. Look out for givers, be watchful of the takers, as they are always looking for something in return.
  • Building niche communities where there is a big #community, is truly possible! 💯
    In fact, try and focus on going niche, as many people are more comfortable in smaller groups.
  • As a #community builder, earn #people’s trust is of paramount importance!
    You can do that by:

✅ Helping people

✅ Building with a larger goal

✅ Making meaningful connections

✅ Being honest

✅ Being the first to apologise

  • Speed thrills, but kills! ☠️
    It takes time to build Rome. Move step by step and always focus on adding value to the #community members.
  • A true #community is always less about you and more about its people. So ensure to get the best people to do what’s really required. Trust me, it’s good to stay behind the scenes and enjoy the magic! 🙂🙃
  • While doing events ➡️ curate the people, the content, the space, and the networking. This is really key to the event. Don’t let big numbers shift your focus!
From one of the Founder’ community.

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Avinash Raghava
#TheBigPicture

Building Community at @SaaSBoomi | Past: Community @ScaleTogether @Accel_India. Co-Founded@iSPIRT(@Product_Nation), @NASSCOM