Building these types of environments isn’t easy. Unlike an app, your members can’t be programmed to consistently deliver valuable experiences for one another. That’s why it’s critical to thoughtfully design your community’s social architecture to maximize the value that gets exchanged between members.

While some of these organizations may have started with purely financial motivations, I suspect that most of their founders aspire to build communities that can replace some of the social capital that America’s waning institutions once provided.

Assuming your community charges dues, becoming bigger will give you more resources to invest in the type of capabilities that drive value. On the other hand, going the exclusivity route makes admission to your community scarce, and therefore more valuable to new and existing members. Thriving communities tend to trade off between these two... See more