Mike Trevino is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Indigenous Software. Mike was formerly CTO of NantWorks and General Manager of Vitality, Inc. Before NantWorks, he was Senior Director of Strategic IP at Qualcomm. Mike is founder and President of Enduragive, a charitable organization, and is also a Non-Executive Director of SIME Diagnostics. Mike is a world-class endurance athlete, and it is his passion and appetite for endurance that fuels the ambitious vision for the Indigenous platform. Follow him @Mike_Indigenous.
Recently, YEC spoke with Mike about his experiences building multiple communities through his business, and what others interested could learn about the process. His best advice is below.
Sharing a Sense of Purpose
It’s hard to quantify the value of building community within companies, but when it clicks, it drives collaboration and resource sharing, which enables individuals to focus on non-trivial tasks that grow the company. At the heart of all great communities, there is a shared sense of purpose and shared vision, and this is what allows companies to optimize their business to produce the highest quality results.
While there are clear businesses goals associated with community, it’s also just fun. Working with brilliant, passionate, artistic, creative and resourceful people will make you and your business stronger and introduce you to new ideas that could lead to unparalleled innovation.
Clearly Defining Your Mission
Building a community isn’t just a matter of hanging a sign on the door that says “Open for Business.” It must be done with clear intent and purpose. Communication must be bi-directional and open and controls must be decentralized and efficient. Every community needs to involve collaboration, information sharing, solidarity, intimacy, pride, a shared sense of purpose, aligned goals and objectives, and support infrastructure reinforcing community goals. That’s why the best leaders ignite community and ensure that it continues to burn over a long period of time.
Community becomes the bedrock of your institution, and it colors all actions and business decisions. So be an evangelist and know what you stand for. State the purpose of the business up front. Don’t be shy. Declare ground rules and purpose of the community and be active within it. Your clients and customers will feel that too and you’ll have a stronger brand and internal community.
Defining your mission early on will help your business stay involved, be active and foster positive, constructive collaboration. There are many ways to support a community and continue to spread your mission virtually and physically. Communications should be frequent and informal, whether by email, Facebook posts, Slack for ambassadors/influencers, etc. If I could do one thing over, I would have identified key influencers and ambassadors from the beginning who could had spearhead initiatives and made sure the brand and the intent was clear.
Bringing People Together to Learn
When the Indigenous software platform reached a point of early maturity, we launched our first set of customers, which we called our alpha group. We considered this group of early customers our first cohort. We met frequently and showed them early concepts, got their feedback, and listened to what they were struggling with. They also shared tips and tricks with each other and valued being connected with other entrepreneurs and small businesses. They helped us understand that many small businesses really feel alone out there — not connected, not supported, and left to fend for themselves. We realized early on we were on to something special. Of course, the platform was enabling them to scale, but what was really magical was the discourse between them.
Helping Groups Grow Organically
It’s never too early to start. Communities are like organisms. They grow, evolve, and adapt. Seed your community with the right DNA and let it grow and evolve naturally. Be clear about your purpose and the objective and start with a few like-minded folks and build from there.
