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"Working with Bri was a game-changer for our agency. Her structured and well-documented approach allowed us to trust the process fully, which freed up our time significantly. During our eight-week engagement, we spent half the time we anticipated on the project, which enabled us to close two new clients - something we definitely couldn’t have done if we were stuck in the day-to-day grind. The quality of her work speaks for itself, and her ability to handle both strategy and execution without needing much oversight was a huge plus. I highly recommend Bri to anyone looking to elevate their business through community-led strategies."
Sumeru Chatterjee, Founder of LaunchMob
When Sumeru Chatterjee from LaunchMob, a marketing agency specializing in early-stage founders, reached out to me, I knew this project would be both challenging and rewarding. Sumeru’s agency is dedicated to helping founders, especially those with technical backgrounds, launch their products and secure their first customers.
Given the diversity of industries they work with, from healthcare to deep tech, LaunchMob tailors its approach to each client's unique needs. This means they often need to collaborate with experts who can deliver specialized services. For this particular project, Sumeru’s intuition led him to me, recognizing the potential value of a community-led approach for his client, Deep Origin, a healthcare tech company.
The Challenge
Sumeru’s client, Deep Origin, is on a 10-year mission to revolutionize medicine. With a long-term vision that wasn’t centered on immediate product sales, the team suspected that a community-led strategy would be the best fit. However, they needed clarity on whether this was the right path and what it would entail.
That’s where I came in.
Sumeru had encountered my work through the customer community for Heartbeat (get the full tour of the Heartbeat community)The community, designed for community managers, was particularly complex due to its meta nature, but it had left a lasting impression on Sumeru. So, when the Deep Origin project came up, he didn’t hesitate to reach out to me directly, confident that I was the right person to help.
The Approach
The scope of our collaboration was clearly defined from the start.
The primary objective was to conduct thorough research to determine if Deep Origin should build a community and, if so, what that community should look like.
Working closely with the company’s CMO, Henk, I knew it was crucial to get very clear on the outcomes from the outset.
Over the course of eight weeks, I focused on understanding Deep Origin’s goals, their audience, and the potential impact of a community-led model.
My process was 3-part, including:
Competitor research to assess the landscape of competitor communities
Customer interviews to determine the temperature of interest from potential members
Internal team education + brainstorm to determine the level of buy-in for the project from the team internally
The Results
At the end of our collaboration, I delivered a comprehensive analysis that answered two critical questions:
Should Deep Origin build a community?
And if so, what would that community look like?
The answer was a resounding yes.
To bring our Community Discovery Project to a close, I prepared a presentation with the summary of data that was collected (qualitatively and quantitatively) and provided 3 scenarios with strengths and challenges the team could use to deliberate their ultimate decision to build a community for their customers.
Throughout the course of the project, we looked at 3 components:
1) the temperature of the team internally towards a community,
2) the c-level support for a community, and
3) customer interest and value in a community.
I provided concepts, capacity planning, and a roadmap that educated the executive team on what it would take to build and sustain a successful community.
One of the most gratifying aspects of this project was hearing from Sumeru how working together had:
Freed up his time to focus on what he loves most—growing his business.
With the project in capable hands, Sumeru and his team were able to secure two new clients during the eight weeks we worked together, something that wouldn’t have been possible if they had been bogged down in the details of the community project.
Key Insights and Takeaways
Sumeru’s feedback highlighted several key aspects of our collaboration.
He appreciated the diligence with which I conducted customer interviews—a step that is often overlooked but is crucial for truly understanding the needs and desires of the community.
He also valued the structure and clarity I brought to the project, which he noted was different from his experiences with other subcontractors.
One area for growth that Sumeru pointed out was in the presentation and visualization of ideas. As someone in the ideas business, he emphasized the importance of not only generating high-quality ideas but also presenting them in a way that is memorable and easy to understand. This insight was incredibly valuable to me and has inspired me to refine how I communicate my ideas in future projects.
Conclusion
Working with Sumeru and LaunchMob was a rewarding experience that reinforced the importance of clear communication, diligent research, and strategic thinking in community building.
The project was a success, not just in terms of the deliverables, but in how it allowed Sumeru to focus on growing his business while trusting that the community aspect was in good hands.
As I continue to evolve in my work, I’ll carry forward the lessons learned from this collaboration, striving to blend research-driven insights with compelling presentations that resonate with my clients and their audiences.
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