Communities are the backbone of the internet.

It's how we make meaningful connections with other humans.

But I've studied 100s of communities in 2021 — most STILL struggle w/ engagement.

Here's 7 ways I've learned to boost engagement overnight 🧵
1/ Ask human questions that create conversation 🤔

Boring: "who are you" & "why'd you join" 😴

Instead, ask something that starts a convo by default. My favorites:
• What's the best meal you've ever eaten?
• Your coolest celebrity encounter?
• Fav pic on your phone?
2/ Obsess over the onboarding experience

Members are the most likely to drop off in their first 7 days of joining the community.

Use every tool at your disposal here:
• Email onboarding sequences
• Live onboarding events
• Handwritten notes

h/t @FutureFounders
@FutureFounders 3/ Don't comment first on every post ❌

It's hard to write a good response after the community leader drops their thoughts in. Even with good intentions, admins often kill convos.

Give space for other members first. Tag them if you need to 💡
@FutureFounders 4/ Ask members to post questions publicly 💬

As the community creator, you'll have a ton of people DM or email you questions.

Just ask "Are you open to posting this in the #questions channel?"

Aim to convert private DMs into public convos (where appropriate)
@FutureFounders 5/ Use live events & breakout rooms 🎬

Live events create energy + breakout rooms let members build 1:1 relationships in a community.

Use this. Plan events with 1-2 breakout sessions baked in (max of 4 per room). Engagement will skyrocket!

Example from my time at @gtcreatex
@FutureFounders @gtcreatex 6/ Give more opportunities for members to learn from each other 😇

• Have specific members lead relaxed conversations on their fav topics.
• Spotlight members doing cool stuff (bonus points for video highlights)
• Post great questions anonymously (@lolitataub is 👑 here)
@FutureFounders @gtcreatex @lolitataub 7/ Create weekly recaps

Not everyone will always be active on the platform & that's okay. Engage through email, twitter, and other channels to bring engagement back to the community. It's low effort, but INSANELY high-value.

Good platforms have this baked in ❤️
@FutureFounders @gtcreatex @lolitataub That's it for today!

If you enjoyed this...
• consider dropping a follow (@murtazabambot) 😇
• RT the first tweet for others that are building communities 🙌

I tweet about community & building @HeartbeatChat 2-3 times/week.
TL;DR
1/ Ask q's the create convos by default
2/ Obsess over onboarding
3/ Don't be the first comment on posts
4/ Push for public convos over private ones
5/ Capture energy from live events
6/ Give members the chance to learn from each other
7/ Leverage weekly recaps

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Murtaza Bambot ❤️

Murtaza Bambot ❤️ Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MurtazaBambot

16 Dec 21
How to run the perfect investor meeting...

a short framework ⬇️
Your goal in meetings? Drive FOMO

Investors are terrified of missing the next Airbnb. Your need to come off as a founder who's...

• Super smart
• Building something massive
• Already got a ton of other VCs interested

Here's how you start the call & give that impression ⬇️
1/ Start with small talk & take over.

Common stuff like "how's weather ☀️" or "love your puppy 🐶" first

About 2-3 min, there's an awk pause. This is when small talk is over — you HAVE to take control.

"Glad we could make this work, my schedule's been crazy. Let's dive in."
Read 11 tweets
14 Dec 21
Most common question investors ask during a pitch:

🚨 How are you going to use this money?🚨

Getting this wrong kills your whole pitch.
And 90% of startup founders answer it poorly.

Here’s how you nail it 🧵
First off — this is trick question!

What investors DON’T want to hear:
❌ “Here’s a breakdown of our expenses over the next year”
❌ “We’re going to pay ourselves a salary & work on this full-time”
❌ “It’s all going to a dev agency”

Instead, they're looking for 2 things ⬇️
What investors DO want to hear:
1/ How you're turning $1 of investment into $5 tomorrow
2/ The "fundable milestones" you're hitting

Let's break these down...
Read 9 tweets
16 Nov 21
I pitched 100s of VCs during @HeartbeatChat's last round

There are unspoken, hidden rules in the VC world you're expected to figure out.

Learn them & fundraising becomes MUCH easier.

Use these 5 hidden rules to raise 10x faster 🧵
1/ VCs are looking for good stories

Investors have chances to offload shares 1-2 rounds later in private sales. They just need to be sure your story is good enough to attract follow-on investors.

You can craft a really strong story through trends:
2/ Investors usually care about 1 of 4 things...

• Product
• Overall Vision
• Team
• Who else is in the round (round dynamics)

Just ask what they care about to get to the meat of the convo faster.
(Skip round dynamics question if needed)

Here's how I frame this question:
Read 7 tweets
8 Nov 21
Most startups pitch like this...
• Problem
• Solution
• Market Size
• Competition
• Biz Model
• Projections
• Team

But, this is the WORST way to tell your story.

Instead, here's how you craft a BILLION dollar story that always hits the mark 🧵
The standard problem-solution pitch treats fundraising conversations like a checklist ☑️

It has the right pieces... but it's not a memorable story 😩

Investors have to sell you to the rest of their partners. All you've given them is a list of facts.

You need a better flow...
Instead, start your pitch with TRENDS 📈

Trends are macro market conditions that affect your startup.

Good trends make your startup inevitable. They make it impossible to fail.

(@businessbarista's last episode on Founder's Journal covers this)

Some relatable examples: Image
Read 14 tweets
2 Nov 21
I've coached 250+ founders over the last year.

Some never raise & struggle for years.

Others raise MILLIONS & build massive companies.

Here are 4 things the best founders do insanely well 🧵
1/ Build a community around you

Incredible founders build an entire ecosystem to support their efforts — customers, investors, hires, influencers

The easiest way to do this is through consistent, honest updates.

Our first investors came right off our update list: Image
2/ Focus on revenue from day 1

This isn't about the money. It's about the learnings you pick up while trying to get someone to swipe a credit card.

You'll...
• Identify real problems faster
• Storytell better with investors, customers, & hires

Read 7 tweets
25 Oct 21
I used to STRUGGLE to raise money.

But in the last year, I've:
• Raised $700,000
• Turned down $1.1MM
• Helped other founders raise $20MM

Here's what I changed 🧵
Part of how you convince people is through your story.

The other part is SIGNALING

It's the subtle things you do over email & during meetings that make you seem more in demand.

Yes, you need a good story.

But story + great signaling can get you fully funded in 30 days.
1/ Only take meetings via intro

VCs value meetings from intros 100x more than cold emails.

Intros kick off your meetings with a stamp of approval from someone the VC trusts. It gets them to lean in.

Getting intros is easier than you'd expect:
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(