Minimum Viable Community: Build Small, Scale Big

TL;DR: A Minimum Viable Community (MVC) is the smallest group of engaged members you need to test and grow your community idea. This article explains what an MVC is, why it matters, how to build one step by step, and common mistakes to avoid. Ideal for SaaS founders, marketers, and community builders starting small but aiming big.

What is a Minimum Viable Community?

In essence, it's a “community prototype” – just enough members and structure to begin delivering value and validating the idea of a larger community.

This concept is inspired by the startup world’s Minimum Viable Product (MVP): just as an MVP tests a product idea with minimal features, an MVC tests a community idea with a minimal group.

It might be five, 10, or 30 people – the exact number is less important than ensuring the group is engaged and finding value in their interactions.

An MVC isn’t a fully formed community yet; it’s a starting point. It allows you to learn what works (and what doesn’t) on a small scale before scaling up. It’s as much a mindset as a model – emphasizing starting small, learning fast, and iterating, rather than trying to launch a huge, perfect community from day one.

Why start with a Minimum Viable Community?

Launching a community can feel overwhelming, but starting with an MVC offers a less daunting, more strategic approach.

Community building is a long-term commitment. It’s therefore essential to 'test’ the concept of community before you commit your time and resources to building it.

Benefits of building MVC:

Lower risk and resource investment: You don’t need to pour huge time or money into a massive community upfront. Starting with a small group means minimal costs and effort. If the community doesn’t take off, you’ve avoided a big loss – and if it does, you can confidently invest more knowing you’re on the right track.
Faster feedback and validation: An MVC lets you get immediate feedback from real members. With only a handful of people, you can quickly see if your community idea resonates. Early member interactions will validate (or challenge) your assumptions, so you can refine your community’s direction based on evidence rather than guesswork.
Better understanding of member needs: With a focused, intimate group, it’s easier to understand your members’ needs and interests in depth. You can have direct conversations and observe community engagement closely. This insight helps you shape the community experience (and even your product or service) to truly match what people want.
Strong foundation of engagement: An MVC helps you cultivate a core of engaged, passionate members. These early members can become your ambassadors and offer guidance as you grow. By the time you’re ready to scale, you’ll have a loyal base that sets the tone and culture for the wider community.
Flexibility to iterate and improve: Starting small makes it simple to pivot or improve your approach. If something isn’t working – the platform, the content, the community focus – you can adjust quickly without upsetting thousands of people. This agile approach means your community can evolve organically, based on what you learn, before you commit to scaling up.

In a nutshell, MVC allows you to start smart. You reduce the risk of building community from scratch while maximizing your learning and adaptability.

For startup founders, marketers and community managers, this is the most practical way to ensure you are on the right track before going big.

How to Build a Minimum Viable Community

Let’s start. We’ll go step-by-step. Building an MVC is an iterative, learning-focused process.

Define your community’s purpose and audience. Begin with a clear why. Decide exactly why your community exists – what shared interest, problem, or goal brings people together. Define who it’s for (your ideal members). A focused purpose (e.g. “support early-stage SaaS founders in marketing”) will guide all your decisions and attract the right people.
- Tip: Write down a one-sentence mission statement for your MVC.
Invite a small core of founding members. Identify a handful of people who match your target audience and who would value this community. These could be colleagues, existing customers, Twitter followers, or friends in the industry – anyone likely to be interested and engaged. Personally invite them to join your budding community. Starting with a trusted inner circle is a smart move. You create a safe space where people feel comfortable participating. Read - How to get first 100 community members quickly.
Choose an easy platform or space to meet. Select a simple, accessible channel for your members to interact. This could be a private Slack or Discord server, a closed Facebook or LinkedIn group, a forum, a WhatsApp/Telegram chat, or even regular Zoom calls – whatever lowers the barrier for engagement. The key is to start with a platform that your members find convenient and that doesn’t require heavy setup.
- Tip: Move to a sophisticated community platform like Jatra, once you cross 10-20 active members.
Establish basic guidelines and structure. Even a small community benefits from a little structure. Set ground rules or community norms – for example, how members should treat each other, privacy considerations, or posting guidelines. You might also outline a simple schedule or structure for interaction, such as a weekly discussion prompt or a monthly virtual meetup. These guidelines keep your MVC focused and welcoming, ensuring everyone knows what to expect.
Facilitate engagement and deliver value. In the early stages, you’ll need to lead by example to spark interaction. Kick off conversations, ask questions, and encourage members to share their introductions or ideas. Be an active host: welcome new members, connect people with common interests, and share useful content or insights. Your goal is to make participation rewarding. Listen actively to your members’ input as well. The goal here is to engage your early members.
Gather feedback and iterate. Treat your MVC as an experiment. Check in with your members regularly to gauge their satisfaction – what do they enjoy? What do they wish was different? You can do this informally through chats or more formally with quick surveys/polls. Measure basic engagement metrics (e.g. active participants, posts per week) against your expectations. Use these insights to iterate: double down on what’s working well, and adjust anything that isn’t. Over time, you’ll get a clear sense of whether your community concept has “legs.” Once your MVC shows consistent engagement and value, you can make an informed decision to grow it (inviting more people, adding features), pivot its direction, or in some cases, peacefully conclude it. The data and experience you’ve gained will guide your next steps.

Keep in mind that emphasis is on learning, connecting and iterating. Treat your MVC as a living project that you nurture and refine continuously.

Avoid Common Mistakes

There are a few common mistakes most community builders make. Make a note of these, so that you improve your chances of success.

Going too Broad or too Fast: Don’t invite everyone to your community right away. Adding too many people too soon can dilute your community’s focus. Focus on quality of interaction over quantity of posts or members.
Lack of Clarity: As they say “riches are in the niches”. Always start with a niche, focused community around a problem statement, pain-point, need or aspiration. It gives you clarity and purpose. If members aren’t sure what the community is for; they will have a hard time engaging.
Hands-off Leadership: A community won’t thrive on its own. One common mistake is to assume that people will automatically start discussions or take initiatives. The job of community manager is to motivate members, create opportunities for them to engage.
Complex Setup: Fancy community platforms and complex features can be exciting. But they are an overkill for an MVC. Don’t aim for perfection in the early days of community. Focus on momentum.

Each community is unique. However understanding these pitfalls can help you set up your community for growth.

Real World Examples of Minimum Viable Community

So, how does a Minimum Viable Community look like in practice? Following are some of the real-world examples of small groups turning into communities.

BookSom Community: Booksom started as a small group of people interested in gifting products inspired by books. Think 221-B Baker Street Candle or Foameo and Juliet Soap. Crazy, right? The small group has evolved into a thriving community of book lovers. They are proudly hosted on the Jatra Community Platform.
ArtOfBlockchain: An IT engineer sharing information about about blockchain, career in blockchain and people responded. With a group of engaged members, she started building a community dedicated to helping people make career in the blockchain domain; thus, AOB community was born.
Zarla Community: Zarla is a leading, smart AI website builder. It lets anyone build a personal or business website in seconds; just by writing prompts. Zarla community started small, and is growing rapidly. It’s an amazing example of MVC turning into a thriving community.
CrazyEngineers Community: Started as a one-person project to discuss interesting engineering projects. People joined, and it slowly became the Asia’s largest online community of engineers.

Each of the above examples started with a small idea and grew. Each started with a tiny community nucleus. Just a few people and simple platform. Focused on building connections and creating value. You can adopt the same approach.

Start Small and Grow Big: Embracing the MVC Mindset

MVC approach is empowering. Remember that many of today’s thriving online communities – from product fan bases to developer forums – began as tiny gatherings or simple chat groups.

For startup founders, marketers and community managers - MVC is the smart way to test the community waters. Once you have established the MVC, community growth becomes easy.

Stay consistent and committed. Communities are the highest-growth business asset; and building it with MVC mindset is a smart thing to do.

Further Reading: