How to Build An Online Community with a Community-Building Expert [Mercury Interview | E3]

How can you build and scale an online community, peel off the onion of insecurity as a creative entrepreneur, and learn from the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur? Today on Episode 3 of "the inner creator with Peter Su", I'll interview Mercury - my friend, community-builder, and the creator of Pikky, a group chat app backed by the earliest investors in Snapchat, Discord, and KakaoTalk.

🌍 CONNECT WITH MERCURY
Mercury is the Co-Founder and creator of Pikky, a group chat app for communities based in San Francisco that helps people build deeper and meaningful bonds through shared hobbies and goals. Before Pikky, Mercury founded Sweet A Little, a popular on-demand boba-delivery startup in the SF Bay Area, Shinect (a community for immigrant startup founders), was a venture capital associate at DCM Ventures where we met, and studied management science and engineering at Stanford.

You can find Mercury on the Pikky app @mercury https://pikky.app/6pNVyuo3oxb

**** Are you a creator just starting out? Join our group “The Inner Creator” on Pikky for accountability buddies, late night therapy chats, crazy idea brainstorms… Together, we grow faster! https://pikky.app/afBGdZelqxb

🎬 TIMESTAMPS
Setup
0:04 Agenda
0:18 Guest and Podcast Introductions

Act 1
2:59 Mercury's Beginnings
5:08 The traditional path: why Investment Banking?
7:02 Why VC?
9:00 Operators vs Investors
12:08 Breaking free: why jump into entrepreneurship

Act II
17:15 Waking up the zombie: why start Sweet a Little
17:47 Why Peter left VC to make music
22:03 Getting promoted!
23:08 Startups or music?
24:40 Why music?
25:03 The magic feeling
27:30 Joining a food delivery startup
28:28 Starting the Shinect community (wantrepreneurs to entrepreneurs)
34:20 Getting to 100%: Financial success vs Fulfillment
36:33 How to be the best + how to be yourself
41:20 Food delivery stories - DOING
43:50 Why start Sweet A Little (Boba Delivery Startup in SF)
48:10 The North Star Metric: Moments of Love (MOL)
52:00 Is DoorDash sustainable?
54:08 Shutting down Sweet a Little
58:36 Why I stopped making music?
1:04:26 Yoga Teacher Training in India
1:05:05 Being honest with yourself

ACT III
1:07:42 Appreciating the Journey
1:11:33 Music Part 2 (Youtube as the Phoenix Rising)
1:13:06 Why start Pikky?
1:18:34 How to start an online community as a creator
1:20:00 1. Mutual Painpoint
1:20:24 2. Do things together (group activities)
1:21:41 Trying different creator communities
1:22:42 How Mercury started Shopaholics Anonymous?
1:25:17 How to curate the right members?
1:27:14 Adapting with the cohort vs the original community charter
1:30:11 3. Choose the platform you hang out on the most
1:33:31 How to curate your community
1:39:30 How to build systems for mutual contribution
1:42:30 Contributors vs Lurkers
1:45:44 Giving attention to humans vs content
1:46:23 Jack Conte: parasocial relationships
1:48:13 Engage all community members at different levels
1:51:20 Webinars and Q&As
1:52:22 Maximizing creative output (safety + boredeom)
1:55:50 Managing your money as a creative entrepreneur
1:55:22 Rapid Fire Questions
1:55:42 Favorite VC investors

RESOLUTION
2:02:10 Healing Trauma
2:02:30 The #1 Takeaway
2:02:58 How to connect with Mercury, Pikky, and "the inner creator" group chat
2:03:48 Thank you Mercury!
🎙️ the inner creator with Peter Su
the inner creator with Peter Su is a podcast dedicated to helping rising creators learn more about the art and business of being a Creator. In addition to sharing the external tools to build better videos, audiences, and businesses, The Inner Creator seeks to help Creators improve their inner game - their mindset, confidence, and motivation.

If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a 5 star review so we can serve more listeners!

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👋 ABOUT PETER
Hi, I'm Peter! I love music, creativity, and business. My goal is to help you live a more creative life by sharing inspiration and knowledge from my own personal growth journey.

Fun factoids:
I did my yoga teacher training at an ashram in India. I've toured across the country to Nashville as a singer-songwriter. I used to be an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and invested in startups as a venture capitalist on Sand Hill. This channel is my way of combining all my creative and business experiences into a space where I can hopefully support you in living a more creative, authentic, and fulfilling life.

🎥 YOUTUBE GEAR
https://petersu.com/gear
Note: Some links in this description are affiliate links which means if you make a purchase there's no cost to you and I get a referral fee which supports me in making content like this.

🔗 CONNECT
Have Fun | Connect | Help Others
Stay connected on TikTok and IG 📸 @peterjsu
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Видео How to Build An Online Community with a Community-Building Expert [Mercury Interview | E3] канала Peter Su