A guide to building a Minimum Viable Community (MVC)

Stop doing lots of planning upfront and instead embrace small scale experimentation.

MVCs are a perfect way to get started with community. Not only to understand if building the community is right for you, but also to understand what it is people actually need from the community.

As mentioned, I believe MVCs are more about the mindset of constantly experimenting. You should be doing this all the time, no matter the size of your community.

A community container is not about doing anything, it's about doing something that has value and aligns with the vision of the community.

An MVC is the smallest action you can take to bring people together. An MVC is not necessarily a community, yet. It's not just throwing stuff out there and seeing what sticks. It's creating intentional community containers, that seek to create value and that are aligned with your vision.

To build community you need to listen to what your community is not only saying, but what they are doing. What people say can be a slippery slope to rely on. What people do is safer to place bets on.