Building a community business is often a solitary experience. I'm launching this group to change that.
This is an intimate mastermind for community founders — people I'm personally inviting because I think they're building cool community businesses that are good for the world, I respect them as founders and operators, and I know I’d enjoy hanging and jamming.
This group will help you navigate the complex terrain of growing your community business to the next level — as well as the human experience of leading communities, navigating interpersonal dynamics, and exploring your own inner patterns and stories that might be getting in the way.
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The group will be limited to 6–8 people. Everyone will be the founder or CEO of a community-centered business, which means community is the core product (think paid memberships, cohort-based programs, masterminds, etc.)
Everyone in the group will be:
The intention is to create a space where every member feels comfortable sharing their whole selves, leaving the armor at the door, and opening the curtain on both the tactical and the emotional parts of growing their business. This is a space for real talk.
I'm David Spinks, a founder and community builder turned coach. I’m also a father, husband, writer, baller, meditator, and gardener, among other things.
As a coach, I support founders and community leaders to help them operate their businesses more effectively, make better decisions, develop deeper self-awareness, and find greater balance and fulfillment in their life and work.
I've spent 15 years starting, operating, and studying community businesses. My last company, CMX, became a community and conference for over 20,000 community professionals. It was acquired in 2019 and I continued to lead it until 2022. I'm also the author of The Business of Belonging, a book that’s become the go-to guide in the community industry, read by thousands and translated to multiple languages.
I also have a lot of experience with suffering. For much of my career, I was an expert sufferer. While building my businesses, I pretty much always felt overwhelmed and struggled with anxiety and depression. I held fears around not being enough, of failure, of loneliness. My solution? Work harder, gain reputation, people-please, avoid conflict… anything to avoid the pain.
Eventually, it led to a crash, and a dark night of the soul. As a community founder, I navigated most of that alone. I didn't have a core group of peers who understood what I was going through. That's why I'm building this group; it's what I wish I had. I don't want community founders to have to go through this journey alone and I want to help you build more successful, efficient businesses.