I founded a community, which means I have every incentive to tell you they are all wonderful. They are not. Some rooms change the trajectory of your company and some are expensive happy hours. These twelve questions separate them fast, and yes, a couple of them are uncomfortable for me to answer too.

  1. Who exactly is in the room, by revenue stage? Get numbers, not vibes.
  2. Can I see real member names and look them up? If members are anonymous until you pay, ask why.
  3. Is pitching allowed? If the answer takes more than one word, the answer is yes.
  4. What does a normal month look like? You want a rhythm you would actually keep, not a calendar built to impress you.
  5. How are members vetted, and what percentage of applicants get in? A bar that never says no is not a bar.
  6. What happens when a member goes quiet? Good rooms notice. Dead rooms bill you.
  7. What does it cost, on the website, without a sales call? You know where I stand on this one.
  8. Is there anyone in the room one stage ahead of me, specifically? Name one.
  9. What is the refund and commitment policy, in writing? Ours is a one year commitment with no refunds, and I would rather you know that on day zero.
  10. Who runs the thing day to day, and do they answer messages?
  11. Can I talk to a current member before joining, alone, without a chaperone?
  12. When members leave, why do they leave? Every community has churn. The honest ones can tell you the top two reasons without flinching.

Ask all twelve everywhere you apply, including with us. If a community gets cagey about member names, pitching rules, or pricing, believe the caginess. If you want our answers, how it works covers most of them and the reviews wall has real members with real names you can check.