Building Beyond AI and Your Product: Using Community as Your Stronghold for Differentiation (Plus Practical Frameworks & Tips)

I’ve seen (and heard from friends) a lot of discussion around how we differentiate ourselves in a world where AI is becoming more ubiquitous and makes it so easy to replicate software products.

The fear of increased competition and not standing out is a valid one—but I have an answer to this fear: Community.

Community is nothing new—we’ve had them for centuries. Even the idea of a company building a community has been around for a while. Look at Apple who built a community around the ethos of quality product, design and thinking differently.

In recent, years community has turned into sort of a buzzword for companies and creators alike, however, it was important before it took up more space in our minds.

But why has community assumed such paramount importance now, more than ever before?

In this exploration, we’ll be unpacking the “why” and the “how”.

I'll share with you the mental models and frameworks that have not only shaped my understanding of community but have also been instrumental in leveraging its power effectively.

So, before we dive into these transformative insights, let's first understand the pivotal role community plays in today's digitally-driven, AI-enhanced landscape.

Let AI Worry About Product—Focus on Community

Community is the birthplace of great products and movements.

Without a core audience that is bought into your story or mission, it is difficult to stand out or have a solid footing in the marketplace of attention.

People often want to make only buyers, but building community turns buyers into believers—the value of this cannot be understated.

AI Commoditization of Products: How do You Stand Out?

AI is making it easier to reproduce software—products and services are losing defensibility on the axis of utility.

Moreover, AI has lowered the barrier to entry for building products—empowering more people to enter the arena, saturating the marketplace. This is why in recent years, the importance of community has come to the forefront of more people’s minds as they realize it’s not easily reproduced.

Community has become a stronghold for people trying to stand out and outlast the competition.

Jasper AI: A Case Study

A good example of this concept is Jasper AI, the AI writing tool for marketing teams.

Jasper was the one of the first GPT wrappers to hit the market in a big way and for a time was the only show in town.

But, this quickly changed as more people turned onto the fact that they could do what Jasper was doing and so we saw storm of new products hit the market—all GPT wrappers offering their own services.

Why has Jasper not lost its hold on the market and its customers? You already know what I’m going to say: community!

When Jasper was first starting out, they laid the foundation with community at the forefront by starting a Facebook group back in December of 2020 (before ChatGPT released and LLMs exploded in popularity.

That group today has 75.2k members—a labor of love which the founders started and soon realized it would be the shelter to help them whether the AI product storm.

As you can see, community is a powerful shield for market competition and should not be an afterthought for anyone who is serious about building products that will last.

Community Frameworks

Now that we’ve realized the importance of community on software products’ defensibility, we should examine frameworks for how we can think about community: how to build it, where it fits into our building process, and what makes a healthy community.

Greg’s “Audience Community Product” Model

The common way to build a product has been to start with the product, market it to potential customers, get feedback, iterate, and build a customer base through marketing.

There is nothing wrong with this, but I’d argue that it’s a lot harder than doing it in reverse.

Enter Greg Isenberg’s Audience Community Product framework:

When I first discovered this model, my mental model for how one should go about building products exploded (in a good way). Greg’s model argues for an inversion of the canonical process by which we build products:

1. Start by building and audience from content.

2. Convert audience members to community members.

3. Let the community tell you what product you should be building.

The key insight here is that we can start with a community without having a specific product in mind. The idea here is that we don’t need a product to start because we will have a more informed idea of what to build based on the community we created—they will pull the product out of you.

This makes me think of Marc Andreessen’s argument that market is the most important factor in a startup’s success (not the team or product). In this model, we start by making the market. Then when it’s time to build a product, you will have a better idea of what to build and the market will already be there.

Using the ACP framework takes a lot of the guess work out of building and ensures a higher rate of success. In the shadow of AI's commoditization of software, the community emerges not just as a strategy, but as the cornerstone of differentiation and growth

What Makes a Healthy Community?

Drawing inspiration from community-building stalwarts like Sam Ovens and from my personal experiences with AITX, let's delve into what constitutes a robust community.

I recently tweeted out some of the core elements of a healthy community and want to take the opportunity to further clarify my thoughts:

1. Self-sufficient: It thrives, even in your absence. A community that runs smoothly without constant oversight is a community at its best. The goal of a community builder is to not be a dictator that runs the whole show but rather facilitator of connection & empowerment for the members. You should be as replaceable as car part.

2. Word-of-mouth Advocacy: You’ll know a community is healthy when its members are telling other people how great it is. They can’t not share how valuable they find it.

3. Solution-Oriented: Propensity towards action in solving problems signifies a strong community whose members are comfortable enough to take action proactively. This shows that you aren’t just creating mindless followers, but rather active participants who care just as much about the community’s success and the success of its members.

4. Ownership & Initiative: This relates to the solution oriented nature of a health community because it shows that people have enough trust in you and the community to take more initiative. I like to call this the “Make yourself at home” effect—people see the community as there’s just as much as you do.

5. Joy, not a Job: If you or others find the community to be a chore or to be draining, something needs to change.

6. Mission & Purpose: This is by far one of the most important and underpins all other points above. If there is no North Star for the community, it is hard to take action, advocate for it or take ownership. We need something to anchor everyone to.

So, we’ve identified frameworks that helps us think bout where community fits into our product strategy, and we covered what traits make a community a healthy one. This understanding sets a solid foundation, but knowledge alone isn't enough. What good are these insights if we don’t put them into action?

Let’s dive into some practical steps you can use when starting a community.

Practical Steps to Building a Vibrant Community

Building community is just as much an art as it is a science. It requires intentionality, strategy and the human touch.

Now that we’ve gone over some frameworks for how to think about where community fits in your product strategy and what makes a healthy community, it’s time to go through wha you can do today.

After building AITX for over a year with my co-founders (we now have over 700 people signed up for monthly meetups), I have come up with a good, actionable list of things you can do to cultivate your community today.

1. Define Your Values

Clearly articulate the mission of your community.

This will act as a magnet that attracts like-minded individuals and keep the riff-raff away. At AITX, we champion AI education to enhance personal and professional lives, resonating deeply with those curious about AI's potential.

To crystallize your values, I suggest a freeform writing exercise. Ask yourself pivotal questions such as "What drives this community?" and "Would I be drawn to this community if led by someone else?"

This process will help uncover the foundational values that should guide your community.

2. Engage & Empowerment

Community engagement is like a heartbeat, it needs to be consistent in order to keep it alive.

In the beginning, fostering this environment demands extra effort from you to nurture member participation, ensuring they find value in their involvement.

Empowering members is another crucial aspect of building community. A community’s success is about collective growth, not individual gain. If you come in with this zero-sum mentality, your community will die.

If I could recommend one thing to anyone starting a community, it would be to make a newsletter! Emails are a direct line to your members. Especially in the beginning, I see this form of engagement as single-player mode—before getting everyone onto Slack or Discord, you may benefit from letting the community grow to a certain size first.

Otherwise, you can fall victim to the ghost-town paradox of nascent communities where there are too few people in a communication channel together to make it seem vibrant and alive—this could deter future potential members.

3. Provide Consistent Value

Give, give, give—this is the mindset you should have going into community.

People want to join you at first because only because of the value you provide because there is nothing else to go off of but that in the beginning. Whether it’s through sharing insightful content, hosting informative meetup sessions or putting a spotlight on your community members’ work, ensure that the community is always gaining something of value.

For instance, at AITX, we have members showcase the projects they’re working on to the entire community, giving them more exposure. It’s not about us when it comes to this community—it’s about the people we want to help.

Here is a simple step-by-step process you can follow:

1. Inquire extensively about member challenges.

2. Identify and address the most prevalent issues.

3. Tackle niche concerns as your community diversifies.

4. Continuously iterate on this process.

4. Foster a Culture of Openness

Create and environment where members feel safe:

• Safe to speak up.

• Safe to promote themselves.

• Safe to share their struggles.

Openness is a catalyst for quality communication. If this fails, you are in trouble.

One tip I can offer for this is be as authentic and raw as you can. Talk to members at the same level—because you aren’t above them anyways! Be real with them and they’ll be real with you.

5. Recognize and Celebrate Contributions

Acknowledgment goes a long way.

It encourages members to be proactive and take more ownership in the community. We reward those who want to make the community better and their own—neglecting to recognize community contributions makes people feel like they aren’t valued or seen. If. Why would anyone want to be a part of a community that isn’t rewarding their efforts?

When people at AITX are proactive about something, we make sure to call it out. This not only signals to the member that we like to see this, but also let’s others know they will be rewarded for their proactiveness too.

Keep a list of your community members and take notes of what they are doing inside the community.

Recommendations to Remember

Community is the North Star

The rapid advancements in AI underscore the increasing value of community for those looking for genuine differentiation in the market. As AI simplifies replication of products and opens the floodgates to competitors, the true differentiator is the power of community.

The frameworks and actionable insights shared here are meant to help in your journey. It may sound like a platitude, but the significance of community cannot be overstated. In a world where authentic connections are a scarce treasure, fostering a community becomes not just a strategy but a mission.

At the end of the day, humans crave true connections with like-minded individuals. And in the digital world that is a rare commodity. I encourage you to make your own pocket of light for others to take refuge.

‘Til next time, remember that community is all you need.