Welcome back to βTactical Tipsβ by Jerel and Shuo at DECODE, the largest founder community co-hosted across Berkeley and Stanford. Every week, we cover one of our foundersβ top questions on how to build, sell and operate 10x better.
Today, weβll be answering the question, βHow to start community-led growth?β and covering insights around community growth flywheels, event format, and working with city leads.
So, here is advice inspired byΒ Annie Liao, Founder at Build Club and Solaris.
And ... weβve curated a YouTube playlist featuring our best founders, operators and investors.Β
π₯ Inside this issue:
β
3 tactics to start community-led growth
β
2 traps to avoidΒ
β
1 tool to leverageΒ
πLetβs dive in.
Grab 30 mins with Jerel - Need personalized advice on building your startup or just want to talk? Happy to help and make intros if itβs the right fit.
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3 tactics to start community-led growth
π Treat communities like miniature economies
Function as a miniature economy with structure, belonging, and shared purpose:
Decentralized leadership or symbolic anchors
Playbooks and incentive systems for members
Locally autonomous, but centrally aligned
Build 3 core flywheels:
Product-led growth (PLG) flywheel: Members recruit members
Marketing β Events β Engaged Member β Lead Generation
Engaged members advocate naturally, compressing the path from awareness to revenue
Sales-led growth (SLG) flywheel: Operators become distribution
City Lead β Ambassador β Affiliate β Enterprise Revenue
Ambassadors refer enterprise deals and partnerships, and earn through affiliates when sales playbooks becomes repeatable
Partnerships flywheel: Community becomes a magnet
Onboard partners through events, ambassador networks, academy programs (e.g. fellowships etc), and enterprise enablement (e.g. onboarding guides, integrations, etc)
Each partner strengthens the flywheel, attracts more partners, and creates a revenue loop thatβs hard to replicate
π― Start narrow and master one format
Start with a hyper-specific Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to surface clear signals about needs and behaviors
Track early patterns: which users engage most, what products they actually use, and where demand grows
Find your one repeatable format and become the best in the world at it:
Iterate and test formats (e.g. co-working sessions, workshops, or meetups) until it is repeatable and high-trust, and operator-friendly
Upgrade the experience deliberately as you go (e.g. good lighting, good playlists, minimal but intentional branding)
π€ Attract and align city leads
Donβt cold-recruit city leads; let them emerge from engaged members and referralsΒ
Run this flywheel: host great events β cultivate engaged members β generate inbound city lead interest β fuel more eventsΒ
Onboard every city lead 1:1 and provide them with a community manifesto and branding playbook
Introduce a βmodel citizenβ archetype to anchor the community vision and mission
Give clear ownership, a tight playbook, and direct access to the core team
Align incentives by setting up affiliate structures, referral pathways, and partnership revenue splits
2 traps to avoid
π¨ Overspending on tech before validating engagement
Automate only where human touch isnβt critical; community is built through interaction, not software
Start with basic tools (Airtable, Notion, Google Docs) first; spending on community platforms (e.g. Circle, Skilljar, Skool) before validating engagement is procrastinationΒ
π¨ Hiring the wrong manager for your community
Donβt hire a community manager or events planner; hire a platform manager
You need an operator who:
Thinks in systems and distributionΒ
Can connect community, partnerships, product, and sales into one engine
Is an extrovert with a creative flair, magnetism and strong bias to action
Community-led growth is a system, not an events calendar
1Β tool to leverage
π Best practice on community-led growth
Aim for 30% (20% = good, 10% = average) of your customer base actively engaging in the community (forums, events, feedback channels, etc.)
Use the Community Commitment Curve as a framework to map and prioritize activities from low-commitment to high-commitment:Β
Growing an established community β Start from low-commitment to scale participation
Starting a community from scratch β Start from high-commitment activities to draw initial believers
Bonus: 1 trend to spark startup ideas
The Future of AI in Marketing. Your Shortcut to Smarter, Faster Marketing.
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