How to build community as a movement - from the Founder of ADPList

Hey everyone,

Video conversation with Felix Lee, Co-Founder of ADPList

Most of us start an idea like a side project, and soon go deeper into it. That’s exactly the story of ADPList and the person behind it—Felix Lee.

I sat down with Felix Lee, who spoke about Amazing Design People List aka adplist.org — what made him start this community, and how it's been transforming the way people learn and grow with each other's support, across the globe.

Felix also covers how being a (former) designer and now being a founder are typically involving a similar path—to scale and run a business and think in design are very interrelated and connected, whether it's solving for problems or business metrics.

When questioned about his idea behind a community, Felix quotes,

"There was like none of my team or none of myself or my team would ever say that we are a company. We're not a company. Like I say, we're a community. We are movement. Like we might be raised as a company. We might be funded by VCs, but you know, to the eyes of the public, we cannot be a company and we should not be a company."

A couple of other concepts we chat about:

• Being a self-taught designer and early creative journey

• Building and running a remote team (and learnings from that)

• What are some lessons Felix learned by building a community

• Community vs corporate (what to be and how to choose)

• Listening to customer feedback and applying that into the product

• Showing up as a person, not as a CEO

• Creating a movement, not just a company or brand

Got something to add from your own experience? Keep 'em coming in the comments.