An important practice for entrepreneurs and their startups is to involve others in their activities, partly because that is what it takes to conduct a proper feasibility analysis and to do the research necessary to write a business plan, and partly to develop a community of people who believe in what they are doing. These people—called true believers, product champions, or early evangelists—spread awareness about a new firm’s product, not because you are paying them to do so but because they believe in what you are doing. Here are some tips for establishing a community of early evangelists. The circle of early evangelists starts small and then widens out. Reach out to family and friends to involve them with what you are doing and to ask them to spread the word. The only caveat is to make sure that if you ask for feedback, be sure to let people know that you truly want candid feedback from them. Several of the entrepreneurs leading their startups we feature in this text reached out to family and friends early on. For example, to test the first iterations of their all-natural sparkling water, Aura Bora’s cofounders invited friends to their house to taste their product’s different flavors. Casper, an online mattress company, conducted beta tests of its product. In the final stages of testing the company relied on a small group of family and friends, presumably because they wanted to keep the circle small and only show their product to trustworthy people. When you ask people to help—particularly people who care about you—they will more than likely take an interest in what you are doing. Ask them if they would like to receive regular updates. They may become your first customers and your most fervent evangelists. Other early testers, who test prototypes of your business idea and/or give you feedback in other ways, can also become early true believers and evangelists. Send them updates and ask them to follow you on social media. Recall Casper’s sales took off during the firm’s first month of operation. According to the case, many people were a part of Casper’s initial testing activities. These people were serious about sleep, and many became Casper evangelists, posting positive comments on social media or speaking out in other ways. Also, identify the influencers among your family and friends, personal network, and early testers, and reach out to them individually. Keep them abreast of actions you are taking to move forward with your idea. Find additional ways for them to engage with your product and company.....

Discussion Questions:

1. What are ways to get people to care about your product or service? Why is it important to establish a community of true believers and early evangelists?
Wouldn’t it be easier to acquire customers via traditional advertising?
2. Why are the people whom entrepreneurs ask to test a prototype of a product or provide feedback in some other way ideal candidates to become true believers and earlier evangelists?
3. In your opinion, and using a scale of 1–10 (10 is high), how prominent a role does social media play typically in helping companies gain early adopters for their product?
4. Brainstorm other ways to establish a community of true believers and evangelists that we did not mention in this feature.