Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt, and David Spinks, CEO of CMX Media, dive deep into community building. They explore the differences between online and offline communities, discussing pitfalls and successes. Intriguingly, they highlight the paradox of connectivity in the digital age leading to loneliness. Strategies for creating authentic online spaces that stand out against giants like Reddit are emphasized, including the need for community market fit and mutual support. Their insights on redefining startup success through community-focused models are both timely and thought-provoking.
50:15
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Community Replication
The best communities grow organically and authentically, reflecting the team's vision.
Replicating successful communities like Reddit requires finding a unique angle or leveraging new technologies.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Investing in Communities
Invest in community-driven products for defensibility against large platforms.
Communities add value and are difficult to replicate, unlike features that can be easily copied.
insights INSIGHT
Community vs. Utility
Strong communities boost businesses like Airbnb or Salesforce, but differ from community-first platforms.
Platforms like Hacker News or Product Hunt begin as communities but evolve into utilities with scale.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
In 'Ready Player One', Ernest Cline introduces Wade Watts, an 18-year-old living in a dystopian future where people escape their harsh reality through the OASIS, a vast virtual reality world. The story revolves around Wade's quest to find an Easter egg hidden by the OASIS's creator, James Halliday, which would grant the finder immense wealth and control over the OASIS. Wade, known as Parzival in the OASIS, must compete against other 'gunters' and the corporate-sponsored Sixers to achieve this goal. The novel is filled with 1980s pop culture references, adventure, and social commentary, making it a deeply engaging and nostalgic read.
Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
This book surveys the history of humankind from the Stone Age to the 21st century, focusing on Homo sapiens. It divides human history into four major parts: the Cognitive Revolution, the Agricultural Revolution, the Unification of Humankind, and the Scientific Revolution. Harari argues that Homo sapiens dominate the world due to their unique ability to cooperate in large numbers through beliefs in imagined realities such as gods, nations, money, and human rights. The book also examines the impact of human activities on the global ecosystem and speculates on the future of humanity, including the potential for genetic engineering and non-organic life.
Ryan Hoover, CEO and founder of Product Hunt and David Spinks, CEO and founder of CMX Media talk all things community with Village co-founder and partner, host Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg). They talk about creating a business around a community, the differences between communities online and in real life, the pitfalls that have befallen some online communities and how to keep a company focused on its community as it expands.
Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover) is founder of Product Hunt (sold to AngelList) and investor at Weekend Fund. He was formerly an EIR at Tradecraft and has also written over 150 essays, many of which have been featured in TechCrunch, Forbes, Pando, Fast Company and The Next Web.
David Spinks (@davidspinks) is founder and CEO of CMX Media and above all else, seeks to help and empower community builders. He's been studying and building online communities since he was 13 years old. Before CMX, David co-founded an online cooking school called Feast (part of 500 Startups) and BlogDash, a platform to help businesses with blogger outreach.
Village Global Podcast 
