During the MovieLaLa days, we learned something about 5 community building mistakes most founders make that I still apply to every investment I make.
After burning through $30,000 in ad spend with zero results, I discovered this counterintuitive strategy that led to 19x growth in just 9 months. Here's the full story and how you can replicate it.
What I've Learned From 49 Companies
After investing in 200+ startups and running two companies to successful exits, I've developed a pretty clear picture of what works with 5 community building mistakes most founders make.
The biggest misconception is that you need to you should focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well. That's backwards. The companies that win are the ones that the market doesn't care about your roadmap.
I remember sitting with the Anthropic team early on and discussing how they thought about 5 community building mistakes most founders make. Their approach was counterintuitive but brilliant.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to 5 community building mistakes most founders make are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
The Reality Nobody Talks About
Most people approach 5 community building mistakes most founders make with assumptions that made sense five years ago. The world has moved on. When I look at my portfolio companies, the ones that succeed are doing something fundamentally different.
The first thing to understand is that most founders overthink this and underspend on execution. I've seen this play out across dozens of companies. The pattern is unmistakable.
At RemoteTeam, we learned this the hard way. We spent months going down the wrong path before realizing that simplicity beats complexity every time. Once we made the switch, everything changed.
What I Tell Founders
When a founder in my portfolio asks me about 5 community building mistakes most founders make, I usually start with three questions:
- What's your timeline? Because the right approach for a company with 6 months of runway is very different from one with 3 years.
- What have you already tried? Most founders have tried something. Understanding what didn't work is often more valuable than knowing what might.
- Who on your team owns this? If the answer is "everyone" or "no one," that's your first problem to solve.
These questions seem simple but they reveal a lot about where a company actually stands.
This connects to broader themes around content marketing, retention strategies, referral programs that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Wrapping Up
I've shared a lot here, and I know it can feel overwhelming. But here's the thing about 5 community building mistakes most founders make: you don't need to get everything right on day one. You just need to get started and keep improving.
The founders in my portfolio who excel at 5 community building mistakes most founders make share one trait: they're relentlessly practical. They don't chase perfection. They chase progress.
That's the mindset I'd encourage you to adopt. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And keep pushing forward.
As always, I'm rooting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which item on this list has the highest impact?
It depends on your stage and context, but in my experience, the items near the top of the list tend to have the broadest applicability. That said, sometimes the less obvious items create the biggest breakthroughs for specific situations.
How were these items selected?
Each item on this list comes from direct experience, either from building my own companies or from patterns I've observed across the 200+ startups I've invested in. I prioritize practical, actionable items over theoretical concepts.
Are these recommendations still relevant in 2026?
Absolutely. While specific tools and tactics change, the underlying principles remain consistent. I update my thinking regularly based on what I'm seeing in the market and across my portfolio companies.
How do I know which items apply to my situation?
Start by honestly assessing where your biggest bottleneck is right now. The items that address that specific constraint will give you the highest return on your time and energy.