"Not all founding members are equal. Example: Clubhouse recruited well-known tech people in April 2020 and gave them a virtual place to hang out. Tip: your first members set the tone. Choose wisely." - Greg Isenberg

• Define your user personas - seek the ones who are most passionate about your cause.

"Don't ask "want to join", ask for specific engagement that solves a problem or gives them status "Can I feature you? Want to be a founding member?" - Erik Torenberg

• Have an onboarding form and ask the right questions to help you onboard the most relevant members and exclude those whose aspirations are not aligned with the intent of the community.

"Communities are defined by who doesn't belong. All communities exclude. The key is to exclude with intention and an awareness of bias that could cause the wrong people to be excluded. Always exclude with empathy." - David Spinks

• Don't focus on increasing the number of members in the community, instead screen them for ensuring you are onboarding the right set of users.

"Mistakes community leaders make: Scaling too fast. Don't focus on # of members as much as activity from those members & sense of community they feel." - Erik Torenberg

🛠 Resources:

Twitter Lists - discover experts based on topics.

Community List - to help you find your relevant online communities

Typeform, SurveySparrow - create an onboarding form for your members

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