Why Early Stage Startups Need Community
Humans are social creatures. We live to build communities; collectivising across virtual and physical worlds through the inherent sociality derived from shared ideologies, geographies or interests. However, it’s not just about the social benefits - the community can have a real impact for budding founders. Physical communities are vital for the accelerated but mindful growth of early-stage startups. However, as the market for coworking spaces continues to skyrocket, the definition of ‘community’ is starting to lose meaning. ‘Community’ can now describe a collection of socially isolated people who simply co-exist within the four walls of a workspace. With many workspaces flaunting cutting edge design, the value of the community is often overlooked, going unnurtured as the focus falls on Instagrammable interiors. So what are the key elements of a thriving community? UCL’s Dr. Tuukka Toivonen highlights “four key sets of needs that fall under the themes of connection, energy, identity, and creativity”.
Connection is key. Well-nourished communities can expansively be considered not just as the people within them, but as the weight of ideas and experiences that they have previously shared, or are willing to share in the future. It’s essential for the growth of early-stage startups to be exposed to the first-hand experiences of other entrepreneurs. The diversity of perspectives within coworking spaces creates a communal culture of innovation and creativity, which stems from their new-found connections. Mikhil Raja, Founder of virtual recruiter SonicJobs agrees: “It’s amazing how different founders can be in very different industries but are solving similar problems: scaling, product, funding, and building the best team. I speak almost daily with other founders in the community about our challenges, the challenges they face and how to help each other. Once you have that, it’s so much more than a workspace”.
Humans learn from experience. The beauty of close-knit communities is that the same mistakes are rarely made twice when founders are connected with people who have been down the same road. Within coworking communities, startups share the cumulative knowledge of previous successes and failures, and in doing so create a less treacherous path for newcomers to follow. With each new business that follows the tracks laid by their predecessors, the collective’s strategic and practical knowledge improves. Working alongside more seasoned entrepreneurs in a coworking environment increases productivity, inspires creativity and nurtures the required hunger for success.
Workspace-based communities also help to forge identities. The newly adopted entrepreneurial identities of early stage founders can be shaped by diverse communities of startups and scaleups at multiple growth stages. Entrepreneurs recognise their relative relation to all others within a space, reinforcing their entrepreneurial motivations. Identity building is crucial for founders as it allows them to quickly recognise where their knowledge falls short. This ultimately helps early stage startups direct their growth efforts as they begin to understand their timelines more clearly.
Social opportunities that come with a community built on sharing can allow newcomers to benefit from the experiences of other founders and mentors. Each valuable introduction increases the propensity of initiating the creative ‘spark’ or ‘breakthrough’ required to solve a challenge. “Creativity is stimulated when a community exposes members to fresh ideas and perspectives, but also when they are challenged to rethink and refine their existing ideas and projects,” says Dr Toivonen. Workspaces are well-primed to grow a culture within their community that gives value when creative ideas are in their first emergent phases. Exposing the creative ideas of early stage startups to diverse others through valuable community introductions can amplify their significance. “When iterating our product we often invite other members of the Huckletree [a workspace provider] community to help with user testing, which gives us invaluable insight into the best features to build/drop and, often, helps us see things from a new perspective which helps us be more creative” Karina Brown, CoFounder of GroHappy says.
Beyond the sharing of contacts, leads and investment strategies, communities not only offer early stage startups the support they require but facilitate a creative environment powered by valuable introductions. Currently, only the best startup communities can provide truly meaningful interactions between their members. It’s only by submerging an early stage startup in a diverse community rich with experience and ideas, that you can stimulate the chances of unique ideas crystallising between different community members.
Not only do communities help the founders of early stage startups find their place as new entrepreneurs quicker, but in the end they offer a platform of intangible inspiration as well.
