13. The Future of Community Building with Zach Hawtof

Brianna Leever
May 13
3 min read

Updated: May 27

In this episode, we’re hearing from Curious in Colorado. Our letter today deals with knowing whether jumping onto the community train is worthwhile by understanding the future of community building.

To better help Curious in Colorado, I invited Zach Hawtof – Co-Founder, Community Manager, and CEO at Tightknit – as my guest expert. He is someone who has extensive experience building community, and not only thinks a lot about where community building is headed, but is also building the future of community platforms on Slack himself with his company.

So, tune in for a bigger picture of where we are in time and space with building communities and what that means for your community, as well as to learn how to be more psychic.

Click to learn more about Heartbeat, Bri's favorite all-in-one community platform!

In this episode:

(04:03) The evolution of community building online over the years

(07:14) The communitea: Curious in Colorado’s letter

(08:21) Communities will endure, but can we say the same for digital ones?

(12:12) Build community where your people are and meet them on their level

(13:47) The cheat code for engagement and the importance of making people feel safe

(19:18) Slack is not a community platform, but in reality, it actually is

(21:12) How to be more psychic, identify the gaps, and truly solve problems

(24:51) Follow the breadcrumb trail, build what you know, and get help along the way

(32:33) Ask good questions and truly listen to help your customers

(36:08) Sales and the fact that sometimes people are just not ready to be your customer yet

(39:34) The unique challenges in the community industry

(41:13) The future of the community space with AI in the picture

Watch on YouTube:

Resources Mentioned:

🧶 Join the Tightknit Community.

🎧 Catch up with the Dear Bri episode where I talk about Slack with Noelle Flowers, Where is the best place to build my community?

📊 Check out the 2024 CMX Community Industry Trends Report Zach mentions (Page 17).

❤️ Sign up for Heartbeat. Bri’s recommended all-in-one community platform.

💛 Join Ember. The place for go-getter community creators building community-powered businesses.

Noteworthy quotes

“If you wanna do something great, you have to do it with other people. And anyone who thinks that someone did something alone is not thinking this through.” - Zach Hawtof

“ I like to talk more about the current state of where we are at in space and time with building online paid communities. Because even if your idea is brilliant, if it's not in the right timing, if it's not for the right people, it's gonna flop.” - Bri Leever

Watch our EXTENDED Conversation with Zach!

(00:08) What is your favorite Slack community?

(01:03) What is the best name for a Slack channel you’ve ever come across?

(01:26) What is the best meal you had in the last month?

(02:10) What is the most painful mistake you made in community building?

(03:30) What are you most hopeful for in the future?

(05:17) If you could go back to when you were starting Tightknit and you could share just one word with your younger self, what one word would you choose?

Click on the image to get to our conversation that didn't make it to the public.

Zach Hawtof

Zach is a cofounder, community manager, and CEO for Tightknit, the first community platform built for Slack. He's also the NYC Chapter Leader for Slack, the largest chapter in the world. Before that, he spent nearly a decade building community tooling at Salesforce Community Cloud, where he left as Director of Product.

🖥️ Website

📱 Linkedin

Bri Leever

Bri got her start building a community and growing it to a multi-million dollar revenue stream for a social enterprise in Portland, OR. Now, she supports folks used to running their business on content, coaching, and consulting to create their community offer. She's a Community Strategist by day and a Campervan host by night on the Big Island of Hawaii and you'll usually find her on, in, or under the water.

📩 Newsletter

📹 Youtube

📱 Linkedin