Building a Community in the 21st Century
•
1 like•259 views
Matt Brimer co-founded General Assembly, a global education startup, in 2011 with $200,000 in seed funding. Now, just 3 years later, they have 14 campuses across four continents, $50m in funding, and 500 employees. Hustle Con is a badass conference where the best non-technical founders (aka hustlers) teach how they got started and give practical advice on growing your startup. If you’ve heard of a hacker, well a hustler is its counterpart. Basically, it’s like a rock n’ roll version of TED, except not as hoity-toity. The catch? None of our speakers know how to code. See Matt's talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnhhH19dQhg
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (16)
Similar to Building a Community in the 21st Century
Similar to Building a Community in the 21st Century (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (14)
Building a Community in the 21st Century
- 1. Community building in the 21st century The people-powered origins of General Assembly Matthew Brimer GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- 2. About Me ■ Graduated from Yale, moved to NYC ■ Previous startup failed, never had real “job” ■ Founded General Assembly Now: $50MM in funding, 500+ employees, campuses in 14 cities globally ■ Started (very large) side project — DAYBREAKER Now: 9 cities globally and counting. For a separate talk! @brimer #hustlecon
- 3. The Problem
- 4. The Problem ■ Rewind to 2009: Recession hit NYC, tech was transforming every industry ■ The New York tech scene was burgeoning but disjointed and ad hoc ■ People were seeking new career paths, new skills, new inspiration @brimer #hustlecon
- 5. The Solution
- 6. The Solution @brimer #hustlecon Let’s create a community nucleus for the startup ecosystem in NYC - housed in a real, physical place!
- 7. How we did it #hustlecon 1. Activate the core 2. Give karma, get karma 3. Establish clear norms and values 4. Create meaningful offline experiences 5. Balance curation with openness 6. Be authentic and live your mission @brimer
- 8. 1 / 6 Activate the core
- 9. Activate the core #hustlecon@brimer ■ Focus your early efforts on building a powerful core of true believers ■ Examples: ○ 1:1 coffees ○ Group dinners ○ Space tours ○ Manually building email list ○ Pre-sold memberships before launch ■ Early adopters you cultivate become evangelists
- 10. 2 / 6 Give karma, get karma
- 11. Give karma, get karma #hustlecon Give! Be as useful as possible. Connect, inspire, support. @brimer ■ Well-placed intros add value to the ecosystem — everyone benefits ■ The karma you send out inevitably comes back to you
- 12. 3 / 6 Establish clear norms and values
- 13. Establish clear norms and value #hustlecon Codify the founding principles of the brand early to shape the community’s ethos @brimer ■ We encouraged a culture of reciprocity through a “I’m offering / I need” offline bulletin board and online email list
- 14. Establish clear norms and value #hustlecon@brimer 1. People before the machine 2. Learning by doing 3. Journey over destination 4. Passion + purpose 5. Curiosity over apathy 6. Own your path We chose these values to inspire and drive our community:
- 15. Create meaningful offline experiences 4 / 6
- 16. Create meaningful offline experiences #hustlecon@brimer ■ Think offline UX design! Create experiences that are magical and memorable. Engage people IRL. ■ Examples: ○ Live bands + dance parties instead of boring happy hours ○ Heart Beats (social event with no work-talk allowed) ○ Intimate fireside chats with amazing people ■ People connect far more deeply offline than online
- 17. Balance curation with openness 5 / 6
- 18. Balance curation with openness #hustlecon@brimer ■ A tightly-curated membership yields quality people and interaction, yet can be unwelcoming / too “clubby” to those on the outside ■ Example: ○ We balanced the two with multiple levels of engagement: classes/workshops/events open to the public, but membership & courses were selective
- 19. Be authentic and live your mission 6 / 6
- 20. Be authentic and live your mission #hustlecon@brimer ■ Be earnest, be authentic, care about your people. The spirit of your community should flow from within you. Live your community’s values. ■ Examples: ○ It should feel like a grassroots political campaign! ■ As the community builder, you are a convener, a facilitator, and a public servant — not a celebrity!
- 21. A “nucleus” of the startup ecosystem
- 22. A “nucleus” of the startup ecosystem #hustlecon@brimer ■ Within 6 months of launch, people were telling us that GA was the central nucleus of the NYC startup ecosystem ■ 10x the number of applicants that we could physically accept into the space and almost every night we were running a sold-out class, workshop, or event ■ Our community + brand became well-known and respected in the industry, and we realized we had a much bigger vision on our hands
- 24. The Future
- 25. The Future #hustlecon@brimer ■ Helping people transform their lives for the better and empowering them to pursue their calling ■ Building a long-term educational institution (to last for decades!) ■ Growing our community to become indispensable, personally and professionally, for our alumni ■ Continue to expand around the globe, both online and offline
- 26. http://ga.co @GA MATTHEW BRIMER CO-FOUNDER #hustlecon@brimer Twitter: @brimer Facebook: /brimer Instagram: /brimer