We plan to bring eChai across 100 cities in India. The next eChai Startup Demo Day is on 29 August in Bengaluru and Pune. The next after that is on 26 September, all in person. 11 cities confirmed, 330 founders registered. Any city that reaches 20 interested founders is on too. See your city
Grow & market

How do I keep a community engaged instead of dead?

Community health is about members creating value for each other, so seed rituals, spotlight members, and remove friction to contributing rather than broadcasting at people. Measure participation and returning members, not raw member count. A quiet, high-signal room beats a large, dead one every time.

Go deeper

2 resources, 1 link-checked.

📄 Article
✓ Link checked Freemium Intermediate

From the founder of CMX and author of The Business of Belonging, a practical framework for deciding whether to build community and tying it to real business goals.

A Founder's Guide to Community

From Lenny's Newsletter by David Spinks ~25 min read

  • To build community you help people help each other, not build an audience.
  • Use the SPACES model to map community goals to business outcomes.
  • Start with founding members and events before scaling to a big open space.
Open lennysnewsletter.com →
📖 Book
Paid Advanced

The definitive playbook for network and community-led products, drawn from Andrew Chen's a16z experience and interviews with Slack, Uber, Tinder, Airbnb and more.

The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects

From Harper Business by Andrew Chen Book (~368 pages)

  • Build the smallest self-sustaining 'atomic network' before trying to scale.
  • Focus on the hard side of the network and give it a magic moment.
  • Networks are anti-viral until they cross a density threshold, so start narrow.
Open coldstart.com →

People also ask

What is community-led growth and is it right for my startup? 2 → How do I start a community from zero? 3 → How do I solve the cold-start / chicken-and-egg problem for a network or community? 2 → How do I tie community to real business outcomes? 2 → What does a thriving Indian startup community actually look like in practice? 2 → Should I build my community on WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, or Circle for early-stage founders in India? 3 →

Also in D2C

The same ground, over in Run paid ads, our D2C track.

What actually makes an ad creative convert in 2025? 4 → How is Google Ads different from Meta ads for my D2C brand? 3 →

Also in D2C

The same ground, over in Grow organically & retain, our D2C track.

How do I build a referral program that people actually use, not one that just sits unused in my Shopify admin? 4 → Should I be on Instagram, YouTube Shorts, and Pinterest, or just pick one? Where do I actually put my limited time? 4 →

Also in How Founders Use AI

How founders actually use AI for this, over in Ads & Performance Marketing.

How do founders use AI to generate and test ad creatives at scale? 18 → Why use AI for audience research, copy variants, and campaign analysis? 19 →

Also in GTM

The same ground, over in Let the product sell, our GTM track.

What does product-led growth actually mean, and how is it different from just having a free trial? 6 → Everyone says find your aha moment. What is it actually, and how do I find ours? 5 →

Also in GTM

The same ground, over in Keep and grow the customers you win, our GTM track.

When should I hire my first customer success person? 5 → What is net revenue retention and why does every investor keep asking me for it? 5 →
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