Building Better U

When it comes to community building, I’ve been something of an Edison—experimenting tirelessly, failing often, but learning more with every step.

A few fundamental truths have guided me through this journey: community is a compounding force of belonging. When people come together, the math changes—it’s not 1 + 1 = 2; it’s 11. The power of a community is exponential, immeasurable, and often beyond comprehension.

There’s no playbook that teaches us how to build, invest in, or reap the rewards of a thriving community. It’s something you can only experience and understand by connecting the dots in hindsight. That’s what kept me going through 50+ community experiments. Each one brought me closer to understanding what works, what doesn’t, and—most importantly—what’s worth investing time in.

In the early days, I saw every failed experiment as just that: failure. But over time, I reframed my perspective. Each attempt wasn’t a failure—it was a step closer to the truth. As Edison famously said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Every experiment taught me something valuable: what strengthens a community and what weakens its compounding power. With Makers Guild, I came close to getting it right—but there were still some rough edges that needed smoothing out.

One of the biggest truths about communities is this: only about 1% of members actively engage. The rest? They exist quietly on the sidelines. They don’t leave, nor do they participate—they’re simply there, feeling comfort in being part of something larger than themselves. At first, I saw this as laziness, but eventually, I understood: for them, this quiet presence IS belonging.

I tried shutting down Makers Guild five times. Each time, I was met with messages—both private and public—from members sharing how much the Guild had helped them grow and improve. Those messages stopped me from walking away and pushed me to try again.

Through these experiences, I learned some hard truths about what makes or breaks a community.

Each lesson from my experiments has shaped my approach to building something new - Better U is a result of that.

This community will be simple and focused, designed around one core principle: betterment as the main effect; belonging as the side effect.

We’ll do less—but we’ll do it better. We’ll focus on timeless principles rather than chasing fleeting trends. Better U will be action-driven because if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a student of cognitive science over decades, it’s this: - what you know matters far less than what you do.

This isn’t just another experiment—it’s the culmination of everything I’ve learned about building communities that thrive on purpose and action.

Let’s build something better together. We start Feb first and registration will open on 25th Jan. Limited slots only for 2025.