Community driven development

Introduction

I want to propose a framework for technical product development and feature design that pays close attention to the needs of the community, can adapt to changes and is proving useful, understanding that our features transcend the websites our users visit.

The framework is designed with input from experts in their different fields who have come together to design the ideal roadmap for a startup, one that is able to engage their community and its internal collaborators and access their higher potential, and endorsed by others.

Justification

A community startup has elements of its community in all departments, it must embody trust and support for its employees and members, the force of the startup then comes from the community much more so than anything the startup can build itself.

The community for the startup can exists before any code is written, like Product Hunt that launched as a newsletter, and it lives beyond the technical features like Reddit AFK meetups.

The goal of our startups is to connect some kind of people to another and in some instances charge a fee for facilitating that connection. The day that we do that really well investors and paid users will come after us. Follow excellence and success will chase you — Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad.

User interviews reveal that users are eager to collaborate and feel supported by the thought of the community. The investors are looking for good deals and overlooked opportunities. Investors, founders and operators know that communities are powerful.

Launching the community earlier and allowing members to communicate, and having channels of communication with them can help us reach our internal goals faster, bring awareness to what we’re doing, support other founders in our community, organically lead to new startups and teams being born, lead us to great talent, and create an audience for our paid interactions.

A community driven development approach involves very good communication across departments, it needs clear guidelines and culture, and it comes with challenges. It requires highly qualified and motivated individuals and it rewards them with unique challenges.

The goal is to instill a sense that the community already exists and the members are metaphorically building this together with us. The development team must understand and adapt to user feedback without disturbing internal processes, while supporting the business and operational aspects of the company.

Potential members of the community and investors feel more involved and ready to collaborate in the difficult journey. Others might quietly follow along, waiting for a particular update to increase their involvement, while still feeling part of the community.

did you know that I’m not a famous stock photo model?