Topics Covered

• The Trend That Sparked This Episode: Petra flags a shift she’s noticing: more folks joining communities asking, “What can I get?” instead of, “How can I help?”


• Why Communities Matter: The unexpected long-term benefits of engaging in a community—and how the payoff often comes years down the road.


• The Origin Story of Petra & Teresa’s Connection: A short, enthusiastic conference interaction leads to years of collaboration and friendship.


• What Giving Actually Looks Like: The difference between offering value and unsolicited advice. (Spoiler: one builds trust, the other breaks it.)


• Behind the Scenes of Conferences & Course Communities: How Petra and Teresa handle entitlement, scholarship requests, and volunteering—and why the approach matters.


• Online Community Behavior: From Slack spamming to thoughtful sharing: how to show up well in digital spaces.


• Choosing Where to Engage: Why less is more when it comes to online communities—and how to pick the right ones for deeper involvement.


• Mentorship, Giving at Any Level, and the Power of Small Gestures: Even a thank-you note or recipe can go a long way. Giving isn’t transactional—it's relational.

Key Takeaways

• Give before you ask. Community thrives when people contribute without - expecting immediate returns.


• Quality > quantity. You don’t need to be everywhere—just pick a few communities and show up consistently.


• A little effort goes a long way. Whether it's sharing your learnings or offering to help, even small contributions can lead to big connections.


• Be mindful of timing and tone. Offering value is great—unless it’s delivered like a sales pitch or advice no one asked for.


• Communities remember generosity. Years later, people still remember who offered help, not who just wanted the mic.

Resources & Links:

• Follow Teresa Torres: https://ProductTalk.org


• Follow Petra Wille: https://Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in this episode:

• Meetup


• ProductTank


• Slack


• LinkedIn


• Mind the Product San Francisco 2019


• Petra’s Coaching Cards


• Petra’s Books


• Teresa’s Book


• Barry O’Reilly’s book, Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results


• Teresa’s Product Discovery Courses


• Teresa’s CDH Membership Community


• Lenny’s Newsletter Slack Community