How will you turn a community into a product?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39417113

4 12 2 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I run a tight founder investor network called Pirates. We have 1000 members active on WhatsApp and Telegram. Wonder how to evolve this community into a product. The goal is to help each other succeed. TIA

haebom• 2 years ago

I run my community in a similar way. If you can continue to create meaningful content, a paid newsletter approach is the fastest way to go, and if you feel that participants are getting something out of joining the group, you can design a simple BM by requiring them to sign up for a membership, such as a flat monthly fee. Later, you can create a community site or feature product.

deepakravindran3• 2 years ago

Thanks. We recently launched an NFT- https://opensea.io/collection/1001pirates

farseer• 2 years ago

This does not convey confidence or seriousness at all.

jbjbjbjb• 2 years ago

Given the type of community you could arrange in-person events like networking or investor introduction events.

deepakravindran3• 2 years ago

That’s a great idea. Currently we launched an NFT with the following utilities: 1)Access to our online community 2)Access to IRL/Offline events 3)Access to our Networking app(coming soon)

Here is the link to the NFT - https://opensea.io/collection/1001pirates

wiwoworld2• 2 years ago

Do you have a link to the community? An invitation? What kind of stuff is discussed there? That could be your starting point.

deepakravindran3• 2 years ago

Yes. Here is the registration link- https://tally.so/r/wbxlee

We discuss anything around tech and startup world.

wiwoworld2• 2 years ago

The first thing that comes to mind is charging for access to your community members for promotions. For example: "Have you seen the new software XYZ that helps founders to ___"

celdon25• 2 years ago

Shouldn’t the community itself be able to answer this question given your description of it? Maybe work on the elevator pitch too.

And get off of Telegram if you care about privacy. They recently started requiring premium subscriptions to enable some of the privacy settings, a move I’d expect to see from a D-list social networking website in the mid 2000s, not a modern messaging app. It’s also a haven for grifters who will likely find their way into your community.

joshestroud• 2 years ago

I would say start a Twitch stream :)

twitch.tv

nicbou• 2 years ago

Ask the community. They might have an opinion about being turned into a product.

gnicholas• 2 years ago

What's the value prop for founders and for investors? Is it strategy, funding, sales, something else?

Check out other similar networks. I was part of Founders Network for a while. See what their business model looks like to get a sense of what the market will bear (I think it's hundreds a year, plus more for events). And consider taking a very different approach, since the world is a very different place than when they launched over a decade ago.

How will you turn a community into a product?

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