We’ve been implementing EOS (a business operating system) at Foundation this month, and during our end-of-year planning session we were asked to define our core business process. Putting it on paper made me realize something: our whole strategy really comes down to 3 C’s: Content → Community → Customers. Let me break each one of these down a bit more.

First we have the top of the funnel, the content. This is the most important arm of our business and the biggest marketing tool we have. The content we create a lot of times isn’t the most polished YouTube or TV feeling content that is out there, but that is by design. We have found that the way we create content accomplishes our goal for the content very well which is building community. By creating content on all platforms that feels more like you are hanging out with your friends to talk about your favorite sport or get a round in, we build bonds with our viewers and allow them to get to know the personalities on the channel, podcast, social platform, etc.

This flows directly into the second c, community. The “Foundation Nation” as we call it is really what makes our business work. By creating genuine content for years, people have become to think of us more as their friends than just another creator on the screen. This leads them into our community where they take a step beyond just watching content. Foundation Nation members are the ones who are in our Facebook group, Discord, Patreon members, interacting with multiple of our social accounts, subscribed to our email list, etc. Our views on pretty much all platforms are very consistent, especially when compared to other channels of similar size to ours. Why is that? Are we just making content that much better than theirs? Absolutely not! We just have a more supportive community than theirs! This means that even our “bad videos” will do much better than they should and our “good videos” launch off a bigger platform. This also means that we have fans that genuinely care about our business and want to see us succeed.

Community members naturally over time flow into our final c, customers. There are some products that lead to this more naturally than others (personality discs, Foundation branded apparel, video related releases, etc.) but regardless, our community members naturally turn in to customers over time. This is because they have come to feel a part of what we are building here and want to support it however they can! I would imagine many of you who like Foundation enough to subscribe to my personal newsletter feel this way (which I am very grateful for each of you). This means that we have people checking our site first to see if we have the disc they are looking for in stock or even refusing to shop anywhere else even if that means they settle for a different color disc than what they wanted or whatever the case may be. Why? Because they aren’t going online looking for a deal, they are invested in our brand and enjoy being a part of what we are building so much that shopping somewhere else doesn’t even cross their mind. These are the people that keep our doors open and lights on.

At the end of the day, this model won’t fit every business, but it’s the engine that has built Foundation. Create content → build real community → customers follow naturally.

If you’re building something yourself, how are you thinking about content and community? I’d love to hear.