James McDonough is a passionate entrepreneur with a tier-1 management consulting background focused in strategy and operational excellence. He is the CEO of SEE Forge creators of FAT FINGER. Follow him @jamesgmcdonough.

Recently, YEC spoke with McDonough about his experiences building a community for customers and stakeholders in his business, and what others interested could learn about the process. His best advice is below.

Keep Them Engaged

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of every community. The ability to create products and jobs for others to enjoy and contribute to allows our society to run.

Community is contribution and engagement. The deeper this is, the more valuable the results. There is so much information out there. An engaged community allows for ideas to flow back and forth to generate greater results than might otherwise be achieved.

Seek Out Passion

Focus on attracting passionate people who are taking action to achieve their dreams. Curate your community until you have the most passionate people who are willing to take action and contribute the most. A few highly motivated people will crush a million who sit on the sidelines.

Don’t Underestimate Word of Mouth

Great people connect others to like-minded people without keeping score. We are thankful to have people remember what we are doing and connect us to others who would be interested in our company. A warm introduction from a trusted third party is highly valuable and I am thankful every time we get one.