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Trend to Tribe: How Totem turned virality into community

Trend to Tribe: How Totem turned virality into community

Update: 2025-03-14
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✍️ Show Notes

Carter Fowler, CEO & co-founder of Totem Labs, shares the incredible journey of going viral and building hardware tech for music festivals. Carter shares valuable lessons in building not only a brand, but also an engaged community of loyal fans, with thoughtful product design and exceptional customer service.


🔗 Article about where Totem is at today

🔗 totemlabs.com


🔑 Bytes:

  • In the beginning, do the things that don’t scale - e.g. The CEO responding to Instagram DMs and talking 1:1 to potential customers about their experience.
  • The shorter the brand message, the easier it is to explain new tech to someone.  e.g. The word 'compass' leverages ancient knowledge to effectively communicate the concept of location finding.
  • When you’re doing customer research, your product DOESN’T MATTER. The only thing that matters is the customer, and the problem they are facing.


📖 Chapters:

00:00 The Origin Story of Totem Labs11:23 Creating a Brand for the Music Festival Community15:42 The Importance of Founder Market Fit25:56 The Story of Going Viral35:37 Creating Screen-Free and App-Free Products36:17 Integrating with Festivals and Events40:23 Revolutionizing the Attendee Experience


#podcast #productdevelopment #hardware #founder #userengagement #branding #customerresearch #viral #marketing #musicfestivals #technology #entrepreneurship #startup

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Trend to Tribe: How Totem turned virality into community

Trend to Tribe: How Totem turned virality into community

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