Our First Town Square Gathering - Flowgenda and Recap

Justin Yip

May 14 (edited) • General discussion

How do we create the BEST community for entrepreneurs supporting entrepreneurs?

A. You can watch the full recording below.

B. You can skim through the full recording, the transcript, or even ask AI questions with Fathom here.

C. You can read the written summary below

Full recording would be the best experience, especially since we're creating a culture 😉

Also, click here to add the next Town Hall Gathering Call to your calendar.

Next week, same day, same time. We will continue to shape and co-create this community!

The Flowgenda:

-Why now?

-The problem with most “communities”

-The vision of the Town Square

-Community design frameworks

-Mission, vision, values, why

-What actually happens in the Town Square?

-Types of events and what member-led means

-How do we really benefit by being a member?

-Next steps

📣 Why now?

This started as an overflow. Not a strategy. When you find something that genuinely lights you up, you can't contain it. The Gene Keys talks about purpose being like a rain cloud: when it's full, it has to let it out. Community is that for Justin. He's been assembling people, hosting calls, connecting entrepreneurs in the free community for a while now. But the intentionality wasn't there. This is the intentional container.

📣 The problem with most "communities"

Most Skool groups are not really communities. They're leader-facing groups. One person at the front providing all the value. Members come and go. Peer-to-peer connection barely exists. You get to know the host a little, but you don't really get to know each other. Nothing sticks. No real belonging.

A lot of people on the call dropped a "1" in the chat when asked if they see this happening in communities they've been part of. It's a shared experience.

📣 The vision of the Town Square

A square, not a stage. The members are the value, not the host. The goal is to build a real community where entrepreneurs genuinely support each other, not just consume content from one person. And because Justin is figuring this out live, in public, anyone here who owns a community gets to watch it being built and take what works into their own space.

The strategic angle: every Skool community owner on the hobby plan is already paying $9 a month. What if that $9 bought real belonging, real peer support, real connection with other entrepreneurs who are figuring it out alongside you?

📣 Community design frameworks

The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle: safety first, then vulnerability, then purpose. You can't skip the order. Lead with purpose before safety is established and it feels hollow. Build safety first and everything else becomes possible.

The Eight Core Design Principles from ProSocial, based on Nobel Prize-winning research: shared identity and purpose, equitable contributions and benefits, fair and inclusive decision-making, transparency, real feedback, fast and fair conflict resolution, authority to self-govern, and collaborative relations with other groups.

📣 Mission, vision, why, and values

Why: to inspire people to live in alignment with who they are as we grow together into better versions of ourselves.

Mission: entrepreneurs supporting entrepreneurs. Not just business growth, personal growth. Because the two are never separate.

Vision: rallying points for global communities of purposeful entrepreneurs to share experiences, strategies, and wisdom, leading to meaningful connections and business growth.

Values: Leadership, Integrity, Growth, Community, Prosperity.

📣 What actually happens in the Town Square?

Justin leads a monthly Town Square gathering monthly. Beyond that, the calendar is built by members, for members.

The idea is simple: any member can facilitate a call and host it. The value is not the host. It's the interaction between the people in the room. If a member introduces a format, teaches it to others, and then others can run it too, the calendar grows without depending on one person to carry everything.

📣 Types of events and what member-led means

These are the event formats that came up on the call, most of them brought directly by members:

Co-elevation sessions: everyone comes with a current challenge. Small breakout rooms of three. One person shares uninterrupted while others listen and write what comes up. Then the group elevates the challenge holder.

Action Learning Sets: one challenge holder, a guide keeping time, the group asks clarifying questions first then open questions, then offers ideas, then the challenge holder reflects and names their next actions.

Static labeled breakout rooms: the host announces a set of room topics at the start. Members choose freely and move between rooms as they like. No facilitator needed inside each room. Members run their own conversations. A

Round Robin / Popcorning: a topic is set, one member asks another a question, that person answers and then asks someone else, continues until everyone has shared.

Structured problem-solving mastermind: a timed protocol with clarifying questions before advice, and a norm where new members observe first before bringing their own challenge.

Also on the table: co-working and writing hours, campfire storytelling, accountability calls, dream and goal sessions, facilitation practice with peer feedback on workshops,

Member-led means: you bring a format, you can teach it to others, and then others can run it too. The host rotates. The format stays. The value lives in the interaction, not the individual.

📣 How do we really benefit by being a member?

You get a place where you are genuinely known, not just seen. Where peer-to-peer feedback replaces isolation. Where you practice facilitation with a real group. Where you share your challenges and someone in the room has already navigated something similar. Where you belong to something that is growing and you helped build it.

➡️ Next steps

Another Town Square gathering is coming next week, same day and time.

Between now and June 1 launch, the community is collecting input on which events members want first and who wants to host. If you have a call format you've experienced or facilitated that you think belongs here, share it.

The big question we're reflecting on and answering...

What would make this the BEST community for entrepreneurs supporting entrepreneurs?

Where the members are the actual value?

Thoughts? Questions?

Feel free to comment.

1:22:50

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Our First Town Square Gathering - Flowgenda and Recap