Community Building 101

As a part of the Geeks and Experts' interview series, we’d love to share more about Kristen Marumoto and her journey of community building as a founder. You can book a 1:1 free session with Kristen on G&E and get first-hand insights on customer discovery, idea validation, and more. Limited free spots!

​What are the 3 essentials that every community builder should know?
My single most important rule to community building is being genuine and authentic. Nobody’s got time to navigate fluff and insincere connections, they don’t last and there’s no real depth there. You’ve got to be open to collaboration, and taking a piece of ownership to help move things forward.

It’s easy for people to say, ‘I would love to get involved…’ and it never goes anywhere. Continuously showing up, showing kindness, and being open to helping those that share a genuine interest is not only validating but truly helps in building a rich network.

What would you do differently if you could start all over again?
I’m a co-founder of an online alternative to a traditional incubator/accelerator for early-stage entrepreneurs. The single thing I wish I did differently was to start sooner, build faster, and spread the word better. We can all suffer from imposter syndrome, and I think that played a part in terms of my making the decision of wanting to move forward with actually diving in and just starting our business.

I wish I would have just gone for it sooner, waiting for ‘the right time’ doesn’t exist in this case, and I feel if I started sooner it would mean we’d have helped more founders to date.

How did you get started with being a community builder?
Being a community builder is really just about being open to making connections outside of your immediate set of co-workers, friends, and family.

Meeting new people, doing different things and again wanting to make those genuine connections is really all that matters. Consider this your call to action to join a club or hobby group, and don’t be afraid to introduce yourself.

What were the scrappiest things you did to build your community?
Putting in the time. You can meet person after person without getting a cheque, or seemingly getting nothing out of it. But the value of building a community comes when people start to approach you and say ‘I have this problem…’

Ten years ago I would have said ‘hmmm, that’s too bad’ now I can say ‘I think I know the perfect person to help you with this…’ or even better, ‘I know exactly what kind of resource you need, and let me provide a warm introduction.’ You never know who you’ll meet, and what industry and experience they have, but putting in the time and effort to just build up your Rolodex is an underrated exercise.

What advice would you give to founders who are just starting out?
There’s a fine balance between thinking things through from different facets in order to come to the conclusion that your idea is worth quitting your day job for and being comfortable operating in the realm of the unknown. You can make all the plans you want, and almost all of them at one point or another won’t go 100% your way.

Be open to being hardcore on the vision, but flexible on the steps and stages of what it will take to get there. If you’re unsure if your idea could become a viable business opportunity, we at Insights can help you with that.

What are the 3 best resources that helped you along the way to network or land a job/gig?
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It, a book by Chris Voss reading really helped me feel confident in not only talking to people but how to form my ‘ask’ when needing to draw upon my network. Local boards of trade or economic development folks are a great resource to draw upon especially when building a small business/startup. Sometimes being uncomfortable with a room full of strangers is seemingly the most intimidating exercise.

Still, I find that in this environment once I get over the initial ‘what do I say?’ it makes me feel like I can feel more and more comfortable in whatever future events I attend. This winter I’m joining a dodgeball league, I don’t know anyone, and I honestly look forward to meeting people, working as a team, and throwing with all I’ve got.