Build an Audience First
If you wait till your product is ready to start communicating, you are too late.
There is often a lack of clarity as to whether to build an audience, get users/customers, or engage your users (and building a community).
Audience building comes way earlier than products, users, and customers.
Most successful entrepreneurs mull over industry and problem for years before they actually build. Use that time to build an audience. The goal with building an audience is two things — a) Helps you find your voice and unique perspective b) builds trust.
Step #1: Pick the right channel to build an audience.
Step #2: deepen your understanding of the landscape you want to play in.
Step #3: share those insights. build respect and trust.
Repeat steps 1–3 till you build a sizeable audience base.
Step #4: visualize the alternative and communicate.
Step #5: build your intervention that aids that alternative.
Step #6: attract users (some of the audience might become users too).
Step #7: engage your users/customers.
Step #8: Build a community of users/customers to deepen the offering.
This is what Naval Ravikant and Nivi did with Venturehacks before they built angel list. If you want to build a platform where you are going to be facilitating equity exchanges between capital and entrepreneurs, you have to have their trust first.
Audiences also are life-long assets. The audience that EV built with Odeo, Twitter, helped launch Medium and to build a high-quality publication platform. Without an audience, it is usually an uphill battle to filter for quality when good writers have their own base. They’d have to trust you to see the bigger picture and having an audience gives you a disproportionate advantage.
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