Get Together: How to Build a Community With Your People
by Bailey Richardson & Kevin Huynh & Kai Elmer Sotto · 2019
In a nutshell
A practical guide to building communities both online and in person. Written by the founders of People & Company, this book provides stories, practical steps, and principles for cultivating thriving communities based on their work with organizations like Instagram, Nike, and Porsche.
Overview
"Get Together" is a guidebook for building communities by Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto of People & Company. Published by Stripe Press, the book reveals the secret to getting people together: build your community with people, not for them.
Authors
In 2015, Bailey Richardson, Kevin Huynh, and Kai Elmer Sotto started People & Company, a strategy partner for organizations like Nike, Porsche, Substack, and Surfrider. In March 2021, People & Company was acquired by Substack. Bailey Richardson was an early Instagram hire who helped shape communities around Instagram, IDEO, and Pop-Up Magazine.
Core Philosophy
The book's throughline is the simple concept: "build with," which lives in each recommendation through three stages of building a community:
- Sparking the flame - Starting your community
- Stoking the fire - Growing and engaging members
- Passing the torch - Sustaining community leadership
Key Features
- Practical frameworks for both online and offline community building
- Real-world case studies from successful communities
- Step-by-step guidance for community organizers
- Strategies for maintaining authentic engagement
- Tools for transitioning from founder-led to community-led
Why It's Essential for Founders
Startup founders need to build communities around their products, brands, and missions. This book provides the playbook for creating loyal, engaged communities that drive word-of-mouth growth and product adoption. The authors draw from extensive experience helping major companies build communities, making their insights immediately applicable to startups at any stage.
Availability
Free to read online at gettogether.world, also available in print and digital formats through major retailers.
Reference
Get Together: How to Build a Community With Your People — publisher / official page. Summary adapted from the Awesome Startup Books collection.
If you like this, read
Exponential Organizations: Why New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, Cheaper Than Yours
Salim Ismail presents tactics for founders to build ExOs using SCALE (Staff on demand, Community, Algorithms, Leveraged assets, Engagement) for 10x growth over linear scaling. Key use cases include rapid team scaling via external talent and metrics like MTP alignment for hypergrowth phases. Vs Blitzscaling, it emphasizes tech-leveraged attributes for sustainable exponential expansion.
Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't
Verne Harnish delivers tactics via People, Strategy, Execution, Cash framework with One-Page Strategic Plan for founders scaling operations and teams. Key metrics include Rockefeller Habits Checklist adherence for growth phases. Vs Blitzscaling, it provides disciplined tools for profitable hypergrowth.
Get Together: How to Build a Community With Your People
Bailey Richardson et al. provide tactics for founders to spark, stoke, and sustain communities driving organic growth and retention. Key use cases include scaling user engagement metrics like participation rates for team-led loyalty vs. founder-led. Compared to Hacking Growth, it emphasizes community-led hypergrowth over tactical experiments.
The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue
By Robbie Kellman Baxter (2015, McGraw-Hill), this book argues that successful modern businesses build ongoing relationships rather than one-off transactions, covering membership and subscription models across software, retail, and media.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol Dweck's Mindset transforms entrepreneurs from fixed to growth mindset, embracing challenges and failures as growth opportunities for personal development and startup resilience. Key shift: Effort over innate talent to master skills amid pivots and setbacks. Vs Atomic Habits, it rewires beliefs about ability rather than building routines.
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Keith Ferrazzi's Never Eat Alone equips entrepreneurs with relationship-building habits like generosity and consistent follow-up, shifting mindset from transactional networking to authentic connections for personal growth and business breakthroughs. Key use case: Overcoming isolation by turning contacts into advocates during funding or scaling. Vs Atomic Habits, it builds social capital systems over individual routines.