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Apr 12, 2016 · 16m · top-founders

YEC Lands Forbes Partnership, 1000's of Paying Members Early EP 232

Ryan Paugh · 8m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In episode 232 of The Top, host Nathan Latka interviews Ryan Paugh, COO and co-founder of Community Co., to examine how curated professional networks and joint ventures like Forbes Councils scale to thousands of paying members.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 47.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.8 Guest teaching 2.5 Guest disagreement 2.3 Nathan pushing back 2.8
05100:0010:001:03–3:04 · Nathan as informed peer 3/10 Introducing Ryan Paugh and the Mission of Community Co. Nathan introduces Ryan and asks whether Community Co. is a software technology platform. Ryan clarifies and reframes Community Co. as a philosophy and umbrella portfolio company rather than merely a software product.3:04–10:51 · Nathan as informed peer 6/10 Operational Roles, Forbes Joint Venture, and Concierge Model Nathan aggressively presses Ryan on revenue models, membership counts, pricing tiers, and the Forbes revenue split. Ryan pushes back against disclosing exact Forbes revenue sharing details and precise member metrics.10:51–13:42 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Offline Community Experiences and Private Mastermind Retreats The conversation covers offline mastermind events and ski retreats, transitioning into mid-episode sponsor reads and contact information. Nathan brings up comparable community monetization numbers like Jason Gaignard's Mastermind Talks.13:42–15:35 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Ryan Paugh Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire format smoothly. Ryan gives a lighthearted and candid answer rejecting the premise that he follows famous CEOs.1:03–3:04 · Guest teaching 4/10 Introducing Ryan Paugh and the Mission of Community Co. Nathan introduces Ryan and asks whether Community Co. is a software technology platform. Ryan clarifies and reframes Community Co. as a philosophy and umbrella portfolio company rather than merely a software product.3:04–10:51 · Guest teaching 3/10 Operational Roles, Forbes Joint Venture, and Concierge Model Nathan aggressively presses Ryan on revenue models, membership counts, pricing tiers, and the Forbes revenue split. Ryan pushes back against disclosing exact Forbes revenue sharing details and precise member metrics.10:51–13:42 · Guest teaching 1/10 Offline Community Experiences and Private Mastermind Retreats The conversation covers offline mastermind events and ski retreats, transitioning into mid-episode sponsor reads and contact information. Nathan brings up comparable community monetization numbers like Jason Gaignard's Mastermind Talks.13:42–15:35 · Guest teaching 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Ryan Paugh Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire format smoothly. Ryan gives a lighthearted and candid answer rejecting the premise that he follows famous CEOs.1:03–3:04 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Introducing Ryan Paugh and the Mission of Community Co. Nathan introduces Ryan and asks whether Community Co. is a software technology platform. Ryan clarifies and reframes Community Co. as a philosophy and umbrella portfolio company rather than merely a software product.3:04–10:51 · Guest disagreement 4/10 Operational Roles, Forbes Joint Venture, and Concierge Model Nathan aggressively presses Ryan on revenue models, membership counts, pricing tiers, and the Forbes revenue split. Ryan pushes back against disclosing exact Forbes revenue sharing details and precise member metrics.10:51–13:42 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Offline Community Experiences and Private Mastermind Retreats The conversation covers offline mastermind events and ski retreats, transitioning into mid-episode sponsor reads and contact information. Nathan brings up comparable community monetization numbers like Jason Gaignard's Mastermind Talks.13:42–15:35 · Guest disagreement 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Ryan Paugh Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire format smoothly. Ryan gives a lighthearted and candid answer rejecting the premise that he follows famous CEOs.1:03–3:04 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 Introducing Ryan Paugh and the Mission of Community Co. Nathan introduces Ryan and asks whether Community Co. is a software technology platform. Ryan clarifies and reframes Community Co. as a philosophy and umbrella portfolio company rather than merely a software product.3:04–10:51 · Nathan pushing back 6/10 Operational Roles, Forbes Joint Venture, and Concierge Model Nathan aggressively presses Ryan on revenue models, membership counts, pricing tiers, and the Forbes revenue split. Ryan pushes back against disclosing exact Forbes revenue sharing details and precise member metrics.10:51–13:42 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Offline Community Experiences and Private Mastermind Retreats The conversation covers offline mastermind events and ski retreats, transitioning into mid-episode sponsor reads and contact information. Nathan brings up comparable community monetization numbers like Jason Gaignard's Mastermind Talks.13:42–15:35 · Nathan pushing back 2/10 The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Ryan Paugh Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire format smoothly. Ryan gives a lighthearted and candid answer rejecting the premise that he follows famous CEOs.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 70.6% · guest 29.4%0:00 · Nathan 70.6% · guest 29.4%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%3:00 · Nathan 23.4% · guest 76.6%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%6:00 · Nathan 17.4% · guest 82.6%9:00 · Nathan 26.3% · guest 73.7%9:00 · Nathan 26.3% · guest 73.7%12:00 · Nathan 78.4% · guest 21.6%12:00 · Nathan 78.4% · guest 21.6%15:00 · Nathan 82.2% · guest 17.8%15:00 · Nathan 82.2% · guest 17.8%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 10:16 Deflecting exact revenue share terms

Ryan firmly deflects Nathan's direct probe on whether their joint venture split with Forbes is fifty-fifty.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 9:20 Drilling into total Forbes council members

Nathan refuses to let Ryan sidestep aggregate member totals, demanding to know if it's in the hundreds or thousands.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 2:18 Reframing software vs community philosophy

Ryan corrects Nathan's misconception that Community Co is a software tool, detailing its broader philosophy and social capital model.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 7:46 Calculating monthly run rates on the fly

Nathan demonstrates financial fluency by instantly calculating the Founders Society run rate from Ryan's member counts.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Introducing Ryan Paugh and the Mission of Community Co. 3422 Nathan introduces Ryan and asks whether Community Co. is a software technology platform. Ryan clarifies and reframes Community Co. as a philosophy and umbrella portfolio company rather than merely a software product.
Operational Roles, Forbes Joint Venture, and Concierge Model 6346 Nathan aggressively presses Ryan on revenue models, membership counts, pricing tiers, and the Forbes revenue split. Ryan pushes back against disclosing exact Forbes revenue sharing details and precise member metrics.
Offline Community Experiences and Private Mastermind Retreats 4111 The conversation covers offline mastermind events and ski retreats, transitioning into mid-episode sponsor reads and contact information. Nathan brings up comparable community monetization numbers like Jason Gaignard's Mastermind Talks.
The Famous Five Rapid-Fire Questions with Ryan Paugh 2222 Nathan runs through the Famous Five rapid-fire format smoothly. Ryan gives a lighthearted and candid answer rejecting the premise that he follows famous CEOs.

Statements from this episode (7)

Disclosure
Community Co. Partnered With Forbes to Build 12 Communities in 2016
“Scott's our biz dev guy. He's the one who is, you know, out pounding the pavement, being able to share our ideas with people that we'd like to partner with, like Forbes, who we just started working with and are building a dozen professional communities for in …”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 3:25
Disclosure
Community Co. Employs Over 50 People in the United States
“We've got a great team here 50 plus people in Boston and then around the country, helping us build community”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 3:56
Disclosure
Founders Society Charges a $500 Annual Membership Fee
“Donor Society is 500 dollar annual membership fee.”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 6:06
Disclosure
Founders Society Had Roughly 500 Paying Members by Early 2016
“Founder Society has roughly 500 members.”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 7:22
Disclosure
Forbes Councils Charges a $1,200 Annual Membership Fee
“So Forbes Councils is 1200 dollars per year currently”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 8:29
Disclosure
Forbes Councils Reached Thousands of Paying Members by Early 2016
“Oh, we're getting into the thousands, absolutely.”
Ryan Paugh Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 9:32
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jason Gaignard's MastermindTalks Nets Over $1M Per Event, Says Latka
“Jason Gaynard build mastermind talks and charges six grand per events. He does them every time they sell out. He basically nets over a million bucks per event.”
Nathan Latka Apr 12, 2016 ▶ 13:28
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