The Allocation of Time

The most common reason people give for not engaging with a community is "I don't have the time."

This is usually a polite lie.

Most successful people aren't actually "busy" in the way they describe; they are just ruthless about resource allocation. When they say they don't have time, they mean they haven't seen a high enough return on the time they already invested.

We recently looked at the data for 3i members to understand the unit economics of retention. We wanted to know the exact threshold where the value proposition flips from "optional" to "essential."

The data was clearer than I expected. A member renews at >95% if they hit one of three metrics in a year:

• Invest in 2 deals

• Attend 4 events

• Make 6 introductions

This suggests that community isn't an abstract feeling. It’s a marketplace with a liquidity requirement.

If you don't provide enough liquidity (deals, events, or people) to hit those numbers, the user churns. If you do, the "I don't have time" objection vanishes.

This changes how you have to run the organization. You stop solving for "satisfaction" and start solving for density.

We scaled our recent Summit in NYC to 300 people not because we wanted a bigger party, but because the math suggests you need a certain denominator of people to ensure every attendee finds their 6 introductions. Below that number, the network effects don't kick in fast enough.

We are expanding to Israel with Yoni not just for coverage, but because for many investors, hitting the "2 deals" metric requires a trusted node in that specific network. You can’t simulate that remotely.

It is easy to overcomplicate community building. But it mostly comes down to respecting the user's calculation. If you clear the path for high-value interactions, people will always find the time.