While I Was Writing Today’s Signal // Noise:

A belated b-day shout-out to my original homie, Jerry Garcia, whose bday was August 1st.

From sound to signal—let’s get this baby rolling with what’s on my mind…

One big idea, insight, or take - grounded in the real work, not theory.

Over the past 5-10 years, a wave of founders have built massive audiences online — from Codie Sanchez (Contrarian Thinking) to Nathan Barry (ConvertKit) to Jason Lemkin (SaaStr). Now that a few have turned their audiences into communities and had massive wins, there’s a growing crowd either asking how they can do the same — or treating it like a simple, plug-and-play business extension.

It’s an understandable next step — especially if you’ve got distribution, credibility, and people who already want to hear from you. But there’s a trap here. A paid community isn’t just an audience with a Discord. When someone drops three, four or five figures to join, they’re buying access, and an experience that should feel like they can’t get it anywhere else…

And the fastest way to screw that up is to go too broad.

When we publicly launched Hampton, demand was instant (👋 thanks Sam).

In our growing membership, we had bootstrapped founders doing $1M in New Hampshire sitting next to a $50M venture founder in NYC alongside a public company CEO in Nebraska. On paper, shit was tight - we had diversity of experiences, broad points-of-view, a group of lifelong learners and curiosity-driven entrepreneurs.

And it felt sexy AF.

But in reality, those were two (or three) entirely different ICPs - each with a different set of needs, expectations, and definitions of value. One group would inevitably feel under-served, one group perhaps right on the money, but either way, we’d be scrambling to make everyone happy, all the time.

Jason Cohen of WP Engine fame says it best: “Selling to everyone means selling to no one.” His post should be required reading for anyone building a product — and yes, your community is a product.

It should feel like it was built for the exact people inside it. That clarity — on both who it’s for and who it’s not — creates a tight feedback loop, faster learning, and a product that delivers exactly what members expect. Without it, you’re in a perpetual game of whack-a-mole, chasing satisfaction you’ll never reach.

Start narrow. Stay focused. Let it get hot. Then, if you want, add more logs to the 🔥

Dying for more reading on ICP?

Dispatches from the field - lessons, stories, interviews, experiments.

I was about to pass on an invite I got from a really successful founder - a paid gig as a very part-time growth coach in their community. Great exposure for my newsletter, minimal time commitment. But, I was stressed. In the moment, I was being reactive, and thought, eff this. Then I ran it through this decision-making framework - and ended up getting a big win that totally changed my mind.

Here’s how you can use it too (including a link to make a copy for yourself).

Smart reads, sharp tools, or internet gems.

My good friend Morgan Housel nails it: “Delayed gratification isn’t about surrounding yourself with temptations and hoping to say no to them… The smart way to handle long-term thinking is enjoying what you’re doing day to day enough that the terminal rewards don’t constantly cross your mind.” In other words—stop white-knuckling your way to some future payoff. Build a life you actually like now.

Kyla Scanlon weaves an insanely comprehensive breakdown of how Wall Street and Main Street diverge—using AI, healthcare, and even a bizarre little collectible called Labubu to make the point. Man she is smart, funny, and way more fascinating than I even thought she was when I first found her writing.

Two decades after a chance bus tour conversation shaped her life, writer Lisa Bubert tracks down the driver who saw her, encouraged her, and changed her path. This isn’t a biz story at all - it’s about recognition, mentorship, and how chance encounters have such outlasting impacts. Want a little glimpse of optimism and humanity? I know I did.

If you nailed your ICP on the first try, raise your hand, ya filthy liar.

For the rest of us, if you’ve got a story about narrowing your way to a win or tracking down a stranger who changed your life (without resorting to facial recognition and Bitcoin), hit reply and let me know.

I read every message.

Love yous.

Jordan