Building for Believers: A Playbook for Crypto Community Development

Building for Believers: A Playbook for Crypto Community Development

In the world of community building, one key principle holds true: as a member's commitment goes up, they make larger contributions to the community. This concept of "Building for Believers" is crucial for creating a thriving and engaged community. By gradually ramping up the commitment curve with incrementally harder asks, you can generate more commitment and reward from your members.

To effectively implement this strategy, it's important to lower the barrier to entry with low barrier asks. For example, at Meetup, they don't immediately ask a new member to host a meetup. Instead, they first ask them to read a blog post and attend an event. Similarly, at Airbnb, they don't immediately ask a new member to post a listing. They first ask them to watch a video about how Airbnb works and then try booking a stay. By starting with smaller asks and gradually increasing the level of commitment, you increase the likelihood of members saying yes to your requests.

But where do you find these highly committed members? The key is to focus on finding Community-Member-Fit (CMF), which is the point at which members are consistently providing meaningful value to each other without being asked. Don't copy how an established community works today; instead, copy how it started. Meetup and Airbnb started by focusing on actions at the top of the commitment curve and targeting the biggest believers in the world: themselves.

To find CMF, start with the people who need little convincing. Ideally, they're already trying, unsuccessfully, to do the thing that your community offers. Your only hurdle should be convincing them to do it with you. Remember, you don't need a thousand people to start a community; you need 10 true believers. Look for the small organizers who still need help and have the motivation but haven't been successful yet. They need your support to achieve their goals.

Now, let's shift our focus to the realm of crypto applications and progressive decentralization. In this context, building a community with ownership is crucial, but launching a token too early could be risky. Without a working product, ownership is worthless, and the community won't stick. Launching a token at this stage may also lead to compliance issues.

In the early stages of building a crypto application, it's important to focus on product/market fit, community participation, and sufficient decentralization. These three components are essential for the success of any application running on a blockchain computer. User-owned networks can benefit from a cooperative economic model that helps ensure crypto services remain better aligned with their users as they scale.