If you want your podcast to become the centre of a real community rather than sit on the sidelines as occasional content, you need a clear process. The Community Flywheel turns your show into a repeatable way to attract the right people, spark conversations and build an audience that grows around your brand.
This guide walks through each stage; what you are trying to achieve, why it matters, what good looks like and how it could work for a founder led brand.
1. Get your foundations straight
Before you build a community, you need clarity on who it is for and what it promises. Without this, you create noise rather than connection. Good looks like being able to say in one or two lines who you serve, what they care about and why your space is worth joining.
Make sure you have:
• A clear niche
• A defined audience
• A simple value promise
For a founder led brand, that might look like:
Niche: early stage operators, product builders or independent founders
Offer: insight, conversation and access to peers in similar positions
Core promise: a place to learn from others who are solving similar problems
When this is nailed, your podcast becomes a magnet for the people you want and your community starts with a strong identity.
2. Build your Dream 30 community list
This step turns your community from a vague idea into something deliberate. A good start looks like a list of 30 specific people who would bring energy, credibility or momentum to your early group.
Choose a mix of:
• Founders
• Operators
• Rising leaders
• People who influence your niche
Start with your network; people who often comment on your posts; or people you would love to build a relationship with. Your aim is to bring this mix into your world through the podcast, then into the community space where conversations can continue.
Actionable hint: Tag each person as either “Core member”, “Rising voice” or “Connector”. This helps you create balance when inviting people into the group.
3. Use qualitative research to shape the community
Before you name your community or build a platform, speak to 5 to 10 people in your niche. You are trying to understand what people need, what they cannot find elsewhere and why they would join a group like yours.
Ask questions such as:
• What challenges are you dealing with right now
• What conversations feel missing in your market
• What groups or podcasts you follow and why
• What you would value in a small founder space
Good looks like hearing the same three or four themes repeated. These become your early content pillars, podcast topics and community prompts.
Actionable hint: As soon as three people ask for the same thing, make it a recurring segment in your podcast or a monthly discussion theme inside the group.
4. Outreach that feels human and community led
Here, you are inviting people into something with purpose. You want the invite to feel relevant, personal and low effort. Good looks like quick replies, people saying yes and guests arriving at calls already interested in the wider idea.
Your outreach should explain:
• The purpose of your podcast
• Who it is for
• Why you thought of them
Attach a simple one page overview that explains the show and mentions that you are building a small community alongside it.
A simple line could be:
“We bring together founders and operators to talk openly about their challenges and share what is working. Would you be open to joining us for an episode”
Voice notes work well for this stage; warm and human always lands better than corporate.
5. Use the pre call to shape both the episode and the community
Your aim in the pre call is to find the angle for the episode and to spot how this person might fit into your community. Good looks like a short call where they leave feeling excited and you leave with themes you can use in your next discussion thread or poll.
Ask:
• What is on your mind at the moment
• What they would love more honest conversation about
• What groups or communities they feel are missing
This gives you both content and community structure at the same time.
6. Treat the recording as the start of a relationship
During the recording, let the guest take the lead but keep an ear out for stories, struggles and patterns that could become future community discussions. Good looks like a relaxed conversation where the guest shares practical insight; you finish with ideas for content and a reason to follow up.
Ask questions such as:
“What challenge have you been trying to solve this quarter”
“What lessons would you share with someone a few steps behind you”
These answers become the seeds of community prompts, live events and shared resources.
7. Create a natural follow up into the community space
After recording, you have an easy reason to reconnect. This is where you bridge someone from “podcast guest” to “community member”.
Good lines include:
“We have a small group of operators discussing the themes you mentioned. Would you like to join them”
“We recently started a founder circle where people share similar challenges. Want me to add you”
If the community is early, this feels like joining something meaningful at the ground floor. That feeling is powerful.
8. Turn each episode into assets that feed the community
Every episode gives you material to spark conversation:
• Clips
• Quote cards
• Short written insights
• Questions you can turn into polls
• Themes you can build events around
Good looks like a rhythm where each episode fuels a week of activity inside the community and on your public channels.
9. Nurture and grow the flywheel
A community takes shape through repetition. You keep it alive by creating simple ways for members to contribute:
• Polls
• Live Q and A sessions
• Monthly roundups
• New member spotlights
Good looks like a space where you are not the only one posting. Once this happens, you have a proper community.