Inside Threado’s Success: Building a Community of Champions – A Deep Dive with Sharath, Head of Community & Brand

Discover the secrets behind Threado's thriving community. Dive deep with Sharath, their Head of Community & Brand, as he unveils strategies and insights that transformed enthusiasts into champions.

Oct 05, 2023

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I've been following Sharath for quite some time and am truly impressed with how he's cultivating the "Community Champs" community. Remarkably, he has grown the community from 50+ members to over 400 in just 12 months, and he has a personal connection with each member.

Sharath's dedication to community building is evident in his extensive work:

Served as Community Programs Manager at Product Hunt.
Led Community Programs at OnDeck.
Currently leading Community and Brand initiatives at Threado.

Let's delve deeper into our conversation. We touched upon the following topics:

His background and journey in community building.
The problems Threado is addressing and an introduction to Threado AI.
Common perceptions of communities.
Reasons why communities might fail.
Challenges encountered, metrics used to measure success, and future plans.
Words of advice for founders and community builders.

Q - Sharath, What’s your background and journey as a Community Builder?

Sharath - It's been quite some time since I answered that question. To provide context, I believe I'd have to travel back about four years. Indirectly, I've always found myself involved in community spaces. Since my childhood days, I felt a pull towards them. Being an introvert, I constantly sought ways to connect with like-minded folks, those who shared my perspectives and experiences. Growing up in India, I naturally gravitated towards cricket, finding camaraderie in the sport. For me, sports was its own kind of community. Fast forwarding to the present, I've been deeply engrossed in building communities for notable startups like Product Hunt and On Deck. Currently, I'm working at Threado, crafting a community of Community Builders.

My journey didn't stop there. Over time, I've hosted a plethora of events from masterminds to Fireside Chats. Through these experiences, I realised that I had a knack for engaging conversations, which led to the inception of my personal podcast. Moreover, I also host a podcast for Threado titled 'Decoded'. My deep-rooted love for community truly blossomed when I began building an audience on Twitter. Launching products just for the fun of it, I was embraced by a kind-hearted brotherhood within the product and community space. They welcomed me warmly as a first-time maker. An instance that stood out was when I launched a small SaaS tool named 'Shout Out'. The sense of unity and the overwhelming support from complete strangers was truly heartwarming. It was in these moments that I recognized the immense power and potential of a community. When mindsets align, all other factors fade into the background. Witnessing this harmony and unity firsthand, I knew I wanted to delve deeper into this realm.

Q - What did you study? Did you always wanted to be in community building?

Sharath - Looking back at my academic choices, it's laughably irrelevant and nonlinear to my current passion. I found myself neck-deep in computer science, or something that resembles information technology during my bachelor's. And, believe me, it was all an accident - but the kind I truly relish. While there are folks who have their life's screenplay etched out from childhood, mine was, well, a tad bit improvised. As a child, my only ambition was to be involved in 'building' things. Later, I stumbled upon the realization that, "Hey, not only can you build startups, but you can also create communities and craft fun products!" This entire trajectory, it wasn’t orchestrated - it was more like stumbling in the dark and finding a light switch by accident.

Q - What are you building at Threado?

Sharath - Last July, I began my journey with Threado, marking a bit over a year now. Prior to my arrival, there were a few community activities, though nothing intense. But after I came onboard, I amplified things a bit — and by "a bit," I mean intensifying events, initiatives, and even beefing up the Slack community. We invited thought leaders and industry influencers, aiming to elevate everything by 5X to 10X. Though there were some activities at the onset, under my watch, we ramped up to hosting an event every week. The buzz was so loud, we even graced conferences like CMX, personally onboarding new members into our community. Using our own tool, Threado, we refined our onboarding flow. As they say, "Eat your own dog food," and that’s precisely what we did at Threado.

Upon my entry, our community consisted of 50 to 70 members.
Growth: Today, it boasts over 400 members in an invite-only format. But it's not about quantity; I prioritize quality.
Platform Support: Threado supports platforms like Discord, Slack, and Discourse. However, our newly launched product, Threado AI, is versatile and can train on a variety of platforms, offering a chatbot experience.
Benchmark Insights**: One surprising fact we discovered was that the most effective times for community engagement are in the morning and the afternoon. Yet, my advice for nascent communities is to focus on personal connections. Organizing high-value events can create engagement among both active and passive members. As you scale, collaborate with well-known figures and maybe even consider hosting large-scale events or awards.

My approach to community building is about intentionality, not merely chasing metrics. If done right, progress naturally follows. Yet, everything is contingent on having community building as a top priority. Otherwise, all these efforts might just wash over.

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Q - I have heard quite a lot about Threado AI. What is it about?

Sharath - At Threado, our primary aim has been to create a community management tool that empowers community builders. The goal is simple yet profound: allow community builders to focus on establishing genuine human connections, while we handle the logistical challenges. Let's be honest; when someone new joins a community, there are numerous tasks that spring up - personally welcoming the newcomer, maintaining engagement with everyone, and responding to posts, especially on platforms like Slack. All these logistical demands can become a full-time job in itself.

Our primary mission is to remove these barriers, enabling community builders to engage more deeply, have one-on-one calls, truly understand their members, and cater to their unique needs and desires.
Threado AI: We've recently identified a significant gap in delivering effective community and customer support. Addressing this, we launched a new product named Threado AI. The idea is straightforward: train this tool with your help docs, PDFs, URLs or any content that holds a wealth of information. Once trained, Threado AI offers a chatbot experience, answering community or customer queries instantly, allowing you more freedom to concentrate on the aspects of community or product building that truly matter.
Currently, we support platforms like Discord, Slack, and Discourse, but the beauty of our bot is its versatility. You can train it according to your needs and integrate it anywhere - be it on a website or any community platform. The bot's main function is to learn from past community interactions and provide real-time solutions, minimizing repetitive tasks.
The Big Picture: Building and scaling a community is contingent on various factors - your team, your intent, and how much priority founders give to community-building. Our recent benchmark report offers incredible insights into community building, and I genuinely believe it's a must-read for everyone in this space.

Community-building is an art, one that requires a fine balance between technology and human touch. At Threado, we're here to provide you with the tools, but always remember, it's the human connections that truly matter.

Q - Can you help us with few selected benchmarks from your Threado Report - “Community Benchmark Report-23”?

Sharath - Yes sure, let me share some of them below…

Q - After having more than 100 interactions with founders in the last 6 months, I have realised that Community Building and Community led Growth is least understood. Have you identified the same?

Sharath - Ayush, community building, in my opinion, is far from being mainstream, even though it's frequently discussed. Today, the majority of startups seem to approach community building because it's a trend or because their peers are doing it. This approach often results in transactional relationships, lacking genuine human connection. Instead of chasing quarterly KPIs, startups need to realize that there's no default community structure. Currently, communities in startups are either housed under marketing or report directly to the founders, which I believe is a flawed approach. Creators, in my experience, often have a better grasp of community-building compared to startup founders.

The approach to community-building should be intentional and not based on chasing short-term goals or numbers. Communities shouldn't be started merely because others are doing it. There are numerous successful startups out there that don't have communities. The goal should always be to build with patience and passion, focusing on real human interactions and avoiding transactional conversations. Building a community is akin to building a highway; you have to carve out your path, move at your own pace, and believe that, with time, others will join in their lanes and at their speeds. I used to think preaching and educating about the importance of communities was the way forward, but I've since realized that it needs to come from within individuals. Just like creating content on social platforms is now the norm, I believe community building will eventually become a default too.

As for the idea of micro-communities or, as I prefer to call them, sub-communities, I think they're essential. Take Product Hunt, for instance. With its vast user base, it's challenging to connect with everyone, making sub-communities vital. When a community grows, it naturally spawns smaller groups or sub-communities that function under the umbrella of the main community. These smaller groups can be more intimate, focused, and effective. For example, a large church congregation might have smaller groups that meet for specific activities or discussions. The same logic applies to tech and online spaces. These sub-communities will have their own leaders and identity, forming a crucial part of the larger community's ecosystem.

Summary
- Community building is not yet mainstream and should be approached with intention.
- Current structures in startups for communities are flawed.
- Creators often have a better grasp on community-building than startup founders.
- Communities shouldn't be built just for the sake of it.
- Sub-communities or micro-communities are essential for effective and intimate interactions within a larger community.

Q - Gartner has mentioned in a report "70% of Communities are destined to fail". What do you think?

Sharath - I'm not surprised to hear that 70% of business communities are destined to fail. This mirrors the startup landscape where many ventures don't make it. A significant reason for this failure rate in communities is that many don't truly understand what they're doing. Take Notion's ambassador program as an example. It immensely boosted their user base, increased their revenue, and amplified their brand presence. Yet, many miss the real genesis of such programs. When I spoke to the individual behind Notion's community growth, I learned it wasn't a structured plan but rather an outcome of curiosity and experimentation. Before implementing the ambassador program, he didn't even recognize a clear need for it. His approach stemmed from personal experience and understanding of the effectiveness of in-person meetups and events. He pursued a methodology he believed in, not a generic KPI-driven approach.

Unfortunately, many mistake community building for replicating successful models, like Notion's ambassador program or Product Hunt's meetups, without tailoring these strategies to their own community's unique needs and characteristics. This "copy-paste" approach often results in failure. Community building should arise from personal curiosity and prior experiences. It's crucial to introspect and determine what genuinely suits one's community, be it mastermind sessions, podcasts, content creation, or any other strategy. These decisions should be intrinsic, not influenced by others. Most fail because they're mimicking others without playing the long game, giving up when immediate results aren't visible. This leads to startups prematurely dismantling their community teams due to impatience. An effective community strategy requires understanding the member persona, not just in terms of functional needs but also their social, emotional, and psychological requirements. As you rightly pointed out, what works for one community may not necessarily work for another. Essentially, one shouldn't adopt strategies just because someone else found success with them.

Summary:
- 70% of business communities fail, mirroring the startup scenario.
- Notion's ambassador program was born out of curiosity and experimentation, not structured planning.
- Many adopt a "copy-paste" approach, leading to failure in community building.
- Strategies should be intrinsic and based on personal experiences and community needs.
- It's essential to understand member personas holistically, considering functional, social, emotional, and psychological needs.

Q - What were the challenges that you faced? What's next now?

Sharath - Ayush, the foremost challenge I encountered was establishing genuine one-on-one connections with community members. For me, the crux of community building wasn't about engagement metrics that might momentarily satisfy the ego; it was about deeply connecting with individuals. If I were to give an example, consider a Slack community where public interaction is only 10%, but personal interaction dominates at 90%. In such a scenario, I'd say the community has already achieved success. If people are conversing personally more than they are in public channels, it's a great sign. Ideally, a community should see its members initiating personal conversations and meeting one-on-one without any external prompting. Such interactions are the real indicators of a thriving community. Furthermore, using tools like Threado and the built-in insights provided by platforms like Slack and Discord helps in gauging these one-on-one interactions and ensuring the community is on the right track.

Now, speaking about what's next for me and "to do", we're looking forward to welcoming more support leaders and startup founders who handle customer support. Our aim is to understand their challenges and needs better so that we can enhance our solutions accordingly. There's also a rebranded podcast in the pipeline that will delve deeper into understanding community personas. Plus, we're in the early stages of planning a virtual conference focusing on customer and community support, which is slated for later this year. We intend to bring industry experts onboard for this initiative. Overall, there are several exciting ventures on the horizon, and we're progressing steadily towards them.

Summary:
- The primary challenge in community building is establishing one-on-one connections.
- Metrics of success include increased personal conversations and self-sufficient community interactions.
- Tools like Threado and insights from platforms like Slack are useful for gauging community health.
- Upcoming initiatives include welcoming more support leaders, a rebranded podcast, and a virtual conference focusing on customer and community support.

Q - As a conclusion, Do you have any words of wisdom for Founders, Marketers and Community Builders?

Sharath - Ayush, the principal guidance I'd emphasize is not to simply mimic what others are doing. I often observe that copying others can lead to failure. Instead, I advocate for a "learn and adapt" approach. If a particular strategy or initiative worked for another company, analyze it, adapt it, and then incorporate it into your own unique strategy. For instance, while the ambassador program was successful for Notion because they had a vast member base, it might not be a perfect fit for everyone. We at Threado, for example, even though we see the success of such a program, have only about 400 members, making such a program potentially ineffective for us. So, I believe in experimenting frequently, embracing failures, and iterating to develop a unique strategy that aligns with your objectives. Eventually, the community you build can potentially convert into active product users or paying customers, significantly enhancing your revenue. My parting words would be, immerse yourself in the journey, enjoy the process, trust in the eventual positive outcome, and most importantly, have fun.

Summary:

Avoid copying others; instead, learn from them and adapt strategies to fit your unique context.
Emphasise experimentation and iterative development of your own strategies and initiatives.
The community you build can become a valuable asset, translating into product users or revenue.
Above all, enjoy the journey and trust in the positive outcome.

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