The trick with growing a platform like Quaranteam isn’t the technology. The trick is the community. Getting people to show up, getting people to engage, getting people to bring their own ideas and imaginations to a shared vision.
I had my own startup back in 2011. Pico Health. Health insurance for entrepreneurs and startups back before several of the ACA provisions had rolled out. My home state of Massachusetts was unusual in that we had an individual mandate as well as a community-rated health insurance exchange for individuals and small businesses. Pico Health limped along for a while. I learned a lot, made some friends, and earned maybe $500. In my post-mortem ruminations about what I could have done better, the number one thing that comes to mind is that I didn’t have a cofounder. I was doing everything alone.
Before I launched anything with Quaranteam, I read up on how to build a successful community. I had previously studied community building in 2014 while managing a team of remote contractors at a different startup, and I continued my community-building education while earning my MPH.
I am delighted to say that, with just a little bit of prioritizing and effort, my smart, talented friends quickly became keys and authors to Quaranteam’s success. By reaching out to awesome people individually and then working to develop a platform for them to communicate with each other and collaborate without me, Quaranteam is growing beyond my imagination already. Plus, if you ask individuals for specific help but they’re not able to help, they often then become more engaged individual community members – they feel valued and like they’re a part of something. Engaged community members are treasures and grow into the roots of any organization or movement.
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