Are you part of any paid communities?
Tanya Sharma
17 replies
Hey community builders, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on paid communities.
In a world where you could connect with people for free, what makes you pay for communities?
What are some of the most valuable paid communities out there?
Replies
Jake Gutstein@jake_gutstein
I've never been a member of paid communities (also have not given deep thought to joining one unless subscribing to a substack counts). @tanyasharma do you have meaningful experience as a member of any? Are you particularly in favor of them or against them?
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@jake_gutstein - I'm part of a few paid fellowships and did a few cohort based courses that have a strong community. The Transcend Network (https://www.transcend-network.com/) is one of my most favorite - for founders building for the future of education and work.
@jake_gutstein - the best part about a paid community in my experience is the level of engagement and the quality of discussions. Since most sessions are facilitated by experts, and the groups are curated based on your goals. I guess depends on why you want to join a community. But I do favor the quality of discussions in paid communities vs free unengaged ones.
@tanyasharma That's great. I totally empathize with that and have had a great experience through 1871 (a similar but slightly cohort of people as Transcend). I feel like of all the unpaid communities, product hunt has been the best for genuine answers and thoughtful discussion. Very rarely has something not been thought through.
As of now, I am not part of any community. And for some reason, I feel communities should always be free 🤗
Unless there is an event that has to be organized which may occur some expenses, communities should be free ❤️
I've been tempted by joining one paid community run by someone I've been following for a while - but I don't think I'll do it until we can afford it!
The content or the network I think. I've tried few "free" communities but never goes for a paid one.
@jacquelinclem - Do you have any favorite free ones?
@tanyasharma the newsletter of Oliur, the tech trash newsletter, some French Designer Slack and ... my Twitter following/followers 🥰
paid communities - paid by customers :)
I'm a member of the Growth Mentor community and I highly recommend it. You pay for a year's subscription (other options available) and that gets you access to the Slack community and the ever-growing list of free mentors you can connect with via their platform.
I've connected with some really inspiring and helpful people on Growth Mentor who have guided me when I wasn't sure of the best route to take.
I tried a paid community once and it was just everyone selling their stuff without any discussion/feedback. That is just one data point though. I find the /r/startups Discord community to be pretty good.
@between_team I've been meaning to join a Discord community. Joined /r/startups to check it out. Thanks for sharing David!
I almost paid for a community, glad I did not because there was no extra value they provided from typical free communities. Communities should be created for people of shared interest and shared benefit, and if we all profit from the union, why should we pay anyone - unless if there is some paid activity or event that has a cost associated.
We are situated in painter and decorator south london south London, however we can travel within the M25 and beyond.