3 Community-Based Products Doing It Right with April MacLean
February 23, 2023
AI Summary
5 min readIn 1982, a Soviet general handed a compact Japanese camera to his defense minister, who was impressed enough to order an improved version into mass production. That single product eventually spawned a global society of enthusiasts called Lomography, a community-based business that now attracts 200,000 organic visitors a month and has 16 million user-uploaded photos. April MacLean, a community builder who has worked with Sony Music, Trends, and now Late Checkout, brought this and two other examples to a conversation about community-based products—businesses where the community either is the product or meaningfully enhances it. The three cases span different models: product-first, community-first, and physical-space-as-community.
Lomography: Product-first, community as amplifier
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of The Startup Ideas Podcast
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:46) **Introducing April MacLean and the Community-Based Product Framework** - Greg introduces April, a community-building veteran, and they set up the episode: discuss three interesting community-based products.
- 2 (02:21) **Product #1: Lomography - Community Enhancing a Niche Product** - A deep dive into Lomography, a camera and lens company built around a specific lo-fi photography style.
- 3 (04:48) **Defining "Community-Based Product"** - Greg and April clarify the core framework.
- 4 (07:05) **The "Nerd" Business Model** - Greg shares a framework for niche community success.
- 5 (11:29) **Product #2: View From My Window - Community First, Product Second** - A case study of a pandemic-born Facebook group that turned into a product.
- 6 (14:27) **The Facebook Group Debate: Platform Pros and Cons** - Greg and April discuss the viability of building communities on Facebook.
- 7 (20:40) **The View From My Window Productization & Trust Lesson** - How Barbara turned the viral group into a coffee table book, and the backlash that followed.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Today Greg is joined by April MacLean, Late Checkout's community designer and fountain of wisdom on all things community. In this episode, Greg and April talk about 3 community-based products that have it figured out.
►►Subscribe to Greg's weekly newsletter for insights on community,
creators and commerce.You'll also find out when new and exclusive
episodes come out from Where it Happens. And it's totally free.
https://latecheckout.substack.com
FIND ME ON SOCIAL:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenberg
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@gregisenberg
LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Production Team:
https://www.bigoceanpodcasting.com
April MacLean:
https://www.aprilmaclean.com/
https://twitter.com/mizmaclean
SHOW NOTES
0:00 - Intro
2:00 - Building a product community for nerds: Lomography
10:33 - Building a community-first product: View from My Window
13:14 - Facebook Groups. Yes or No?
31:10 - Community as the product: Common House
42:42 - Communities of practice
More from this podcast
The Startup Ideas Podcast →