SaaSy Talk Unfiltered | SaaSy Talk S01.37: The Power of Community: An In-depth Chat with Nisha Baxi

SaaSy Talk S01.37: The Power of Community: An In-depth Chat with Nisha Baxi

January 23, 2024 / 45:40/S1:E37

About The Guest(s): Nisha Baxi is the Director of Digital Customer Success & Community at Gong and former Head of Marketing and founding team member of Monte Carlo Data. She has had the pleasure of growing a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneurship community organization to 15K members, built programs and frameworks at Microsoft, Salesforce, and Facebook that are still used today continuing to drive adoption and fostering loyalty.

Her passion comes from the joy of bringing people together to achieve a common goal. You'll find Nisha putting together a panel of Fortune 100 execs, enabling teams who are passionate about a new idea, and mentoring and being mentored by folks along the way.

Nisha is also the Co-chair of Tiffany Circle NCCR, Board Member of the Silicon Valley Chapter and is on the Committee of the SF Gala which raises $1M annually for the Red Cross. She has been a volunteer since 1999 when she joined as a High School Freshmen in Youth Services and confers the Annual Nisha Baxi Award for the Volunteer of the Year for a Youth yearly.

Nisha is on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, enjoys golfing and lives in Mountain View, CA with her husband, Neel Mehta.

Summary: In this episode, Nisha Baxi, Head of Community at Gong, shares her insights on the power of community building. She discusses her career journey, the importance of connecting people on multiple attributes, and practical tips for starting and maintaining a community. Nisha also dives into the challenges of community building and how to measure its effectiveness. She emphasizes the value of giving back and leaving a legacy of helping others.

Key Takeaways:

Building a community is essential for building brand equity and creating a category in the market.
Connecting people on multiple attributes leads to the most successful communities.
Starting small and focusing on connecting people with similar challenges or interests is a great way to begin building a community.
Measuring the effectiveness of a community can be done through metrics such as support case deflection, product feedback, acquisition touchpoints, user-generated content, and customer success.
The ultimate goal of community building is to create a space where people can learn, connect, and support each other.

Notable Quotes:

"The most successful communities are ones where you connect people on not just one attribute, but two really good ones." - Nisha Baxi
"In order to get brand equity, you need strong content and a strong community. That's how you build a category." - Nisha Baxi
"People judge you by what you've done, not by your potential." - Nisha Baxi

Chapters 00:06 Career Journey and Experience in Big Companies

02:25 Insights from Working in Startups

02:57 Role as Head of Community at Gong

03:36 Building and Maintaining a Community

04:29 The Importance of Connecting on Multiple Attributes

07:38 Practical Tips for Starting a Community

15:05 Measuring the Effectiveness of a Community

15:26 The SPACES Framework for Community Building

23:19 Favorite Community Building Story

26:25 Discussing Challenges in Tech

26:41 Keeping People Excited and Engaged

27:09 The Importance of Building a Community