Lotta ship, not a lot of yap...just yet.

Thought experiment: what would happen to a woman leader if she showed up to a public keynote wearing sweats and a skull cap? Asking for a friend.

Impressive.

1/ A bit of @mightynetworks news this morning. We’ve raised $50M. Here’s how we did it — and, much more importantly, why we did it. mightynetworks.com/notes/wev…

I want more than a day.

1/ I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the "get more women on their team" narrative of solving gender and diversity disparity in Silicon Valley. @emilychangtv @jessiwrites @aileenlee @ekp @reidhoffman @dickc @juliahartz, but this is a healthy and important debate to have now.

1/ So, about “The Investor Rebuilding Kleiner Perkins” (which is unfortunately behind a paywall, @jessicalessin). I read it today with a feeling of deja vu. theinformation.com/articles/…

Want to be a woman who helps other women? Do what you need to do to take care of yourself and STAY IN THE ARENA. You can do more in your day job than you think.

My first book comes out today. It's called Purpose: Design a Community & Change Your Life. It's a step-by-step guide to finding your purpose and making it matter—and it's got a website at purpose.co. Here's why I wrote it. 🧵

10/ One more thing. I’m over talking about women’s confidence. You know what makes someone insecure? Not being believed. Raising 2% of her male peers. Making 70 cents on the dollar of a guy whose ass she kicked in school. Being the only woman on a technical leadership team.

@qhardy is this really breaking news?

6/ We need women and POC superstars to found and run rocketships. That’s the only thing that is going to change the power dynamic. Let’s not pretend this is easy. Women receive a fraction of investment money. It’s another way we aren’t believed. But it is also not impossible.

Hey @Apple - no one ever wants to type "ducking." cc: @rands

Some @mightynetworks news, but first a quick story. After $370M in creator earnings last year, I was staring at a model that told us with 93% accuracy whether a course or community business would succeed. It came down to just one thing.

What have I learned supporting, guiding, and powering more $1M communities than any other platform at @MightyNetworks?  It's about people, not content.  Here's our grand master plan—  We're going to be best in the world:  ⭐️ The most beautiful and engaging courses ⭐️ The easiest, most effective marketing flows ⭐️ The most natural integrations with best-in-class partners But never at the expense of knowing what REALLY matters.  People.

3/ There are few-to-no examples in history where power is willingly given. Power is taken. And as long as we hold up men as CEOs and founders rather than shining a spotlight on women in charge, we’re not going to change a thing.

Here's the email that I shared with my friends this morning— I have a new podcast launching today. The initial review? “Whoa. I’m totally stealing this.” It’s high praise for something that otherwise reflects a number of questionable choices. Choices that include: 🤔 Launching a podcast in 2024. Not exactly a blue ocean. 🤔 Choosing to do a first season with no guests. To be fair, I had something specific to say. 🤔 Making absurdly short episodes. One concept each, for the short attention spans. 🤔 Agreeing to an editor who employed the liberal use of extreme close ups. Not sure what to say about this one. But this is important. See, at the core of this podcast is the strategy (supported by our software at @MightyNetworks) that offers the absolute simplest way for anyone to build a wildly profitable digital business. We got it down to just 9 simple steps – each with its own formula – that today are making creators and brands ***millions*** in profit. Truly, the results have been staggering. Now I want to make them available to everyone. The podcast is called People Magic: How to Build a $1M Community. In it, I'll take you through the 9 simple steps to set up what we know in Silicon Valley is the most valuable asset any creator or brand can build today—their own network effect. But because ‘network effect’ makes all but the most technical eyes glaze over, I’ve called it people magic and just skipped to the benefits, which are numerous and profound. People magic offers: ⭐️ The absolute easiest path to adding a new revenue stream or launching a business ⭐️ The absolute easiest path to jaw dropping engagement that you own ⭐️ The absolute easiest path to word-of-mouth (read: free) member growth I'll link to the People Magic HQ in the first comment. And you can also join us on the Mighty Networks YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcasts. I hope you'll join me and subscribe.

I fixed this for you, @ZekeJMiller "SC sides with Americans who believe in voting as fundamental right in allowing Pennsylvania to count mailed ballots received up to 3 days after election."

One of the best lessons I have learned in my career as an entrepreneur is play your own game. Sure, pay attention to what's happening in the market, but don't let it thrash you trend-to-trend, consume you with FOMO, or loosen your foundation or principles.

I feel like we are currently living the future of work and therefore can hit pause on virtual conferences on the topic.

Except it's not free. It's hours of time to not just write and edit, but to do so consistently. The false narrative about content given its not-so-hidden costs continually surprises me.

20/ In this new world, we are all on notice. Posting empty diversity pledges, pointing to female associates, and taking a victory lap for not sexually harassing anyone this year does not get you a badge.

We're at the phase in the election cycle when Democrats are starting to hedge. I've heard more resignation and fear in the past week than in the past 3 years. What if this was the moment to be *even more* courageous and fight harder? What does that look like?

Optimism is a competitive advantage. Especially in 2022, it's easy to fall into narratives of general unfairness, injustice, and malaise. They are all around us. Fight the urge to let them in. Optimists win.

I feel like there's a competition in VC Twitter today to see who can offer the scariest prediction of the next 9 months.

9/ If enough women choose this path––unapologetically ambitious, focused on massive, not modest success, and with them squarely in charge––the world will change.

people who ship > people who talk

This won the super bowl for me.

10/ If @AllRaise shows us anything, it’s that there have always been amazing women investing. And there are more of them than any of us actually knew. Now the ones who have been delivering great returns quietly for a decade are more visible.

I believe people are fundamentally good.

I am heartbroken over the news of @SusanWojcicki passing. I wish I had beautiful words to capture what she meant to me and so many people she touched in her professional and personal life. But staring at this screen, I feel like anything I write is inadequate. So, I'll say this— She was cool. She always struck me as more chill and comfortable in her own skin than other leaders striving hard for true impact. Not that winning wasn't important to her. She played a critical role over and over again in building an once-in-a-century success that started with two awkward guys in her garage. I'll also say this— She was also consistently kind. She made time for me, a nobody. She invited me to lunch at Google. She was always warm and interested in what I was working on when I saw her. And I'll say this— I never heard a single story of 'yeah, but this is how she *really* is behind-the-scenes.' Sadly, that happens more than any of us would like. But never for Susan. You can see her integrity on full display in the interview she did with 60 Minutes in 2019. I remember watching it and thinking to myself, this is how you lead. I'll link to the interview in the comments. It's worth your 20 minutes today. Meanwhile, I'm going to raise a glass to her and bask in the fond moments I had with her. Then, I'm going to send her family and friends all of the love and support I can offer. Her memory is truly a blessing. 🙏

The reception to these new courses types on @MightyNetworks has been so fun.

It turns out "connecting the world" without purpose creates chaos. It can be (and has been) weaponized. I'm more convinced than ever that social technologies need purpose and a soul to have a positive impact. It won't come soon enough.

One of the things I think is missing from the DAO conversation is that to start, they still begin with a leader –– a host, a guide, a facilitator, a creative spirit who wills it to life.

2/ It sets up the expectation that “good” men are the ones who will “give” women and POC power. I believed in this solution for far too long. It’s dead wrong.

I think this too is my main takeaway from reading both #SheSaid and #CatchAndKill. These guys are terrible. Also, I have officially reached my personal limit on Harvey Weinstein-in-a-bathrobe stories. #gross

I have friend & advisor who for 10+ years has told me what I needed to hear at the moment I needed to hear it. He knows who he is and he's been instrumental in my journey. I hope you find a person like this on your path too. It makes all the difference.

I love the day before a big announcement.⚡️

What if 2025 was your BEST YEAR EVER? It’s ALL I’ve been thinking about for the past few months. And it's why we're launching our FIRST LIVE PEOPLE MAGIC SUMMIT. Why now? Easy— January is the Super Bowl for paid memberships, courses, challenges, and events. A strong January sets the tone for the entire year. We built this summit so you can crush yours. Summit: Build a $1M Community in 2025 When: October 15th to 17th Where: VIRTUAL Cost: FREE 3 REASONS this is going to be a game-changer for your business. 🪄Behind-the-Scenes: HOW TOP COURSE CREATORS, AUTHORS, AND ENTREPRENEURS ARE PREPARING FOR JANUARY Go behind-the-scenes with successful creators and their teams to hear how THEY are prepping for January 2025: ⭐️ Marie Forleo ⭐️ Luvvie Ajayi Jones ⭐️ Gary Vaynerchuk ⭐️ Ryan Holiday ⭐️ Nathan Barry ⭐️ Amanda Goetz and more... They'll share not just strategies but how new software is changing their priorities in 2025 with the rise of people magic. 🪄Your Own Actionable Plan: BUILD YOUR BEST JANUARY EVER ❌ Are you grinding too hard with no end in sight? ❌ Are you ready to level up but unsure how to break through? ❌ Are you starting from scratch and want to avoid mistakes? What's now possible because of people magic is WHY it’s about to get radically easier to build a $1M community. And we’ve designed a step-by-step summit for you to take advantage of it. Every session is designed to deliver immediate, actionable insights. We want you to leave with a plan. In fact, the exact blueprint for you to win January. 🪄Join a Community of Ambitious Hosts: THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING The People Magic movement is something I’m incredibly proud of. The masterclass, podcast, software. The results have been phenomenal. This summit takes it to the next level. We’re razor focused on surrounding you with everything you need for a spectacular January. Including surrounding you with others on the same path. We’ll unveil more as we get closer, but we couldn’t be more excited to share. PS: First 100 to register TODAY get something special. Link in the next post.

I can attest this is the best book on entrepreneurship out today. Thank you, @KevinHart4real for sharing numbers and strategy. It's rad.

Whoa. It was a record August for @MightyNetworks. Turns out that shipping a product that people want with features they ask for is great for business. And we're just getting started.

Aileen Lee Is on the 2019 TIME 100 List | Time.com!!!!!!!!!! So well-deserved! time.com/collection/100-most…

I would like to celebrate @Oprah 's speech without needing to tie it to being president.

How realistic is it for you *really* build a $1M community? At @mightynetworks, we have people joining this path EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Ever heard the advice to “start with a niche”? There’s an EASIER way. Do this instead 👉 Start with a TRANSITION. Why a TRANSITION?  Because when someone is in a transition, they are MOTIVATED. ⭐️ To join new things ⭐️ To show up ⭐️ To contribute ⭐️ To pay :-) ⭐️ Then, to tell everyone they meet about what you’ve built (READ: bring new members in for free) But which TRANSITION do you want to serve? Start by looking at YOUR OWN transitions in life. 🌐 Which ones were the most important to you? 🌐 How did you navigate them? 🌐 What would you want people to know about them? 🌐 How important would it have been to you to meet people on the same path?  Start here.  People in a TRANSITION are the most motivated, most engaged, and stand to benefit the most from your community.

If anyone is interested in a step-by-step plan for How to Move a Facebook Group, the team at @MightyNetworks wrote this. mightynetworks.com/how-to-de…

I f*cking love my job. That's it. That's the tweet.

I'm cool if we retired the term "killing it."

4/ When I was coming up, @kleinerperkins had more amazing women than any other VC firm. @aileenlee, @trae, @ekp, @JulietdeB1 + Beth Seidenberg and Mary Meeker (who were intimidating in all the right ways) represented some of my most talented and ambitious peers–women or men.

Be the person who brings people together.

A reminder: your comment section is not a community.

3 predictions for where this goes. #facebook The Facebook Era is Over. linkedin.com/pulse/facebook-…

6/ 15 years later, KPCB just raised $600M and found a way to avoid adding a single female GP. General partners (GPs) make all the money in VC. Instead, they dusted off their same excuse from 2004 and pointed to two new female associates as their commitment to diversity.

4/ If the ask is for women to take on more executive roles but roles that support male leaders––those held up in our industry as superstars––it continues the same patterns, even when those women executives are paid the same as men (which obviously needs to happen).

Conversion Nerds – These new Landing Pages coming to @MightyNetworks next week are already showing RADICALLY higher conversion rates. Combined with a new checkout flow, expanded payment options, (and a few more surprises), it's never been easier for new members to discover and buy.

7/ If women are going to work 2x as hard for half the credit, at least we should do it with the limited capital available to us. We will make ourselves, our teams, and our investors more money due to minimal dilution because we have to do more with less. That’s not a bad thing.

A beautiful message delivered in complete sentences. Welcome to the new/old United States of America.

I am so impressed with @HillaryClinton under these circumstances. Also, for America's sake, let's cancel the last debate. I think we're good

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck on a content treadmill, constantly creating just to keep your community engaged? You’re not alone. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that content is everything. It's what we’re told every time we open our phones or sit down at our computers—content is king. But here’s the truth. It’s just not true. My data science team came to me with some mind-blowing findings. We can predict with 93% accuracy whether a course, community, membership, or challenge will succeed or fail. Want to know the one factor that makes or breaks it? It’s not your content. It’s member-to-member connection. To learn more, read my full LinkedIn article: Why Member-to-Member Connection Will Make or Break Your Community (link below)

13/ Last point. I'm super grateful to @emilychangtv for writing an amazing book to shine light on the dire statistics on this industry. If the solutions were easy, I'd like to think we're all talented enough to have fixed it already. This is hard, but not impossible.

Tomorrow morning we're dropping our biggest release of the year @MightyNetworks. For it, we chose to focus on engagement. Why engagement? 🧵

Imagine this— It’s December 26, 2025. You just clocked another record month for a business you thought you had no experience to start. In fact, with ONE SMALL STEP you took a year ago, you’re on your way to a $1M community. But it’s more than the money: ⭐️ You attracted wonderful people to you and our purpose. ⭐️ You shared your hard won experience you thought wasn’t worth anything. ⭐️ You watched while they helped each other in ways that still gives you goosebumps. And while you can’t exactly put your finger on it, for the first time in a long time, you feel one step ahead of what is otherwise a world changing very fast. Why? Because you didn’t start this business alone. You found a community of people on the same path. A community that showed you the easiest way to just get started. — Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it? It’s not a dream. It’s the motivation for what I thrilled to announce— 🌟 Our next free virtual PEOPLE MAGIC SUMMIT is HAPPENING!! 🌟 On January 22-23, 2025, you meet amazing people on the path from $0 to a $1M Community. We’re going to have a fantastic combination of hands-on workshops and fascinating conversations with best selling authors Seth Godin, Jefferson Fisher, and yours truly with just one theme: ✨✨✨What it looks like to just get started towards your goals. ✨✨✨ You'll discover: 🪄 The power of surrounding yourself with curious people on the same journey 🪄 The proven roadmap top creators use to build a wildly profitable community 🪄 The step-by-step plan to grow your own $1M community — Tens of thousands have already transformed their businesses and lives through our programs. Could this be your turn? Register now at summit.mightynetworks.com What: People Magic Summit - Your $1M Community Starts Here! When: January 22-23, 2025 Where: 100% Virtual Cost: Absolutely FREE Looking forward to meeting you!

"Webinar Invite" are not words that anyone wants to see in their inbox.

I'm super grateful for my tribe. I've got some incredible people in my corner who keep me aiming higher, dreaming bigger, and going for it. 🙏

I want to say a lot of things about the continued takedown stories of female founders running startups as startups. But they deserve no oxygen. Onwards. 👊

Writing well and fast is one of the most underappreciated skills of our current and future economy.

People want relationships, not content.

One of the things I'd like to see before the end of 2021 is @zoescaman getting 50,000 followers here. She is brilliant. Any of my followers want to help me out? Follow her and, if you see the same thing I see, perhaps tell your followers about her?

18/ In the world that’s coming, visionaries and brainiacs are going to come from anywhere and look very different than the last generation of game changing founders. Focusing on today is insufficient.

Not sure if it's because I haven't done a female-focused interview in awhile, but was struck by the questions I was asked: Was it hard to break into Silicon Valley? What has been your biggest setback? What's been your biggest challenge? I reframed this quickly:

Apparently raising $50M from the largest edtech investor in 2021 and 2x+'ing every metric for @MightyNetworks doesn't count.

5/ Along these lines, we need to talk about the male superstars of our industry are founders, yet the female ones have never started a company. I’m a huge fan of them, but what do they represent? Women gain power by joining someone else’s “rocketship,” not launching their own.

True for start-ups too: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mohandas Gandhi

8/ And when we win (and with more numbers of us flowing in, the odds are more wins), we can use our capital to fund people that look like us on products, services, and markets that obviously need to exist in the world, given our perspective and life.

.@theinformation was kind enough to publish an opinion I hold strongly: Content Alone will Kill the Creator Economy. theinformation.com/articles/…

23/ The future is too bright to give up now. But let there to be no doubt. The ones who shift now are the ones who are going to win. Everyone else just looks increasingly sad.

People Magic Summit starts tomorrow! If you haven't RSVP'd yet, check out the link below. If you have, I'll see you there!

I don't know who needs to hear this, but your idea for a community is great. And your future members need it to exist in the world.

7/ Let’s put aside being sued for sexual harassment (which could happen to anyone). Despite marketing themselves as experts in growing “world class teams,” from 2004 to 2019, this firm didn’t grow a SINGLE associate into a GP who could take their firm into the future.

I'm fired up for #FoundersForChange. I'm also fired up for amazing investors driving it.

Joe Biden's energy tonight is so "dad just got home and heard what we did over the last four years while he was at work."

Not expertise. Not content. Not a funnel. Not affiliates. What was it? ***The rate and frequency of member connections is the best predictor of the success of a course or community business.*** It came down to people meeting each other.

My prediction for what's coming: chaos. My answer to chaos: build your own world. Build a list you own. Build a community that's yours (and your members). Focus on your 1,000 (or 100) true fans. Dabble in the public square, but never be defined by it.

Unpopular opinion: You should be building software that makes the world a better place. Purpose matters. Working on exponentially growing networks without a point of view at their core ends poorly. Don't let skeptics tell you otherwise.

16/ A firm that more closely mirrors the population, chooses non-traditional brainiacs with expertise in emerging categories (like @a16z has done), or even just shows a glimmer of the courage that’s going to be needed to build the fantastic future we need to survive.

Obviously, I'm biased, but I think @ljin18 has the best grasp on The Passion Economy as well as how it will evolve from here. 👇

Appreciating the tributes to Tony Hsieh today. He made an incredible contribution. 💔

This made me proud to be an American.

Startups aren't a family, but they sure as heck aren't a job either. The relationships forged in the struggle, success, and crazy situations you navigate together, well, they are...something. Today, I'm especially grateful for the people who have been on the journey with me.

It was clear a long time ago.

When the things that keep you sane keep getting removed... paloaltoonline.com/news/2020…

People love people, not content.

Who would speak at your dream event? Meet my line up: @danmartell @RachRodgersEsq @BarrettABrooks Darrell Vesterfelt Ashley Fox Jane Stecyk Christie Van Tol and more. Together we're going to share the latest and greatest tools, techniques, strategies, and tactics that are working RIGHT NOW to create the community you know needs to exist. The event is April 23-24. And to makes sure there's no gatekeeping, it's virtual and free. Save your spot with the RSVP link in the next tweet. I can't wait to see you in the chat. :-)

Behind every follower is a person who is looking for connection, community, and transformation.

Founders— After raising over $200M, here's 1 thing I've learned: Create EXTRAORDINARY results for your customers. Obsess over their experience. Be willing to take risks to build something they need, not just what they want. And most of all? It's about them, not you.

Controversial observation: Slack has been the most harmful platform to my productivity. Maybe killing email wasn't the best idea? Am I alone here?

We need a better name for bootstrapping a business. As an entrepreneur, you can control your own destiny today in ways that were impossible even 3 years ago. Bootstrapping doesn't do this massive innovation justice.

Some of my best decisions start with, "f**k it."

🔥 4 DAYS UNTIL THE PEOPLE MAGIC SUMMIT I've been blown away by the response so far. But the truth? I'm not satisfied with our record number of RSVPs to hear Dan Martell (@danmartell), Rachel Rodgers (@RachRodgersEsq), Ashley M. Fox (@_Ashleymfox), Barrett Brooks (@BarrettABrooks) and Darrell Vesterfelt (@dvest) speak. I'm a jerk like that.  So, here's my question for you—  If this summit ended up being life changing for you RIGHT NOW, what did we cover? What unstuck you? What shifted your thinking? What blew you away? What got you excited about your next chapter? I can't wait to hear.  The link to RSVP is in the comments.  Oh, and if you're hearing about this for the first time or on the fence, I'm biased but I don't think that you want to miss this.

I see the end of PowerPoint as a communication medium and it cannot come too soon.

People join communities to meet other amazing people. They join to start their own transformation. They don't join just because of content.