The TGS Community Hit a Wall: Here's How We're Growing Beyond it.
Hey everyone, Georgi here!
As some of you may know by now, we’re launching the next iteration of the TGS Community and in the spirit of “building in public”, I wanted to share the experiences and learnings that led us here, in case they’re helpful (or at least interesting!) to any of you.
About four months ago, I set out to build something new - a better kind of B2B community.
Most communities we saw were too “free for all”, too loud, and often didn't deliver on their promises. Many felt like echo chambers, not places for real personal growth.
So we launched the TGS Community to do things differently.
Honestly, we've done some great things so far.
We welcomed our first “power” members
We had amazing live sessions with people like Anthony Pierri, Kate Syuma and David Arnoux.
We had some amazing 360 feedback sessions on website copy, GTM engineering and more.
We welcomed over 300 growth leaders in our meetups with so much positive feedback But all that didn’t stop us from hitting a wall in April. So I want to share what didn't work, what we've learned, and how we're rebuilding the community for the next phase of growth.
Four Months That Felt Like a Year
Let me walk you through our journey so far.
Month 1
We kicked things off strong. We had 60+ leaders on the waitlist, built during my Christmas break hustle. The energy was amazing! It was so good that I pushed the team to create a few in-person events and launch the community at the end of our first B2B Growth Meetup
Month 2
We welcomed our first members and leaned into what worked: founder-led sales and in-person meetups. We made everything bigger with better speakers, bolder topics, stronger promotion
Month 3
The pressure to grow hit. I started focusing too much on signing people up, unconsciously treating every chat like a sales pitch. It didn't feel right and it wasn't who I wanted to be, but there were huge expectations on my plate (mostly from myself).
Then we saw engagement start to drop. Fewer members showed up. The early buzz was fading. People just seemed “too busy”. And as we started to tap out our immediate & adjacent networks, new member growth also stagnated.
So what did we do?
We added more stuff: playbooks, live sessions, courses. But despite positive feedback, the engagement on many of these formats didn’t justify the time and cost of creating them.
Month 4
The picture starts to become clear to me. We’d had a lot of success pulling in people from our network and attracting “community lovers”. But beyond that, we had a hard time getting people to engage.
To some members, we were simply too much. Too many live sessions. Too much content. Too many updates and notifications. Who has time for that?
And for non-members, too many follow ups from me. It felt like I was making more effort for fewer results.
And that was the turning point.
Don’t get me wrong, most of the feedback has been really great. And we have a great core group of active, happy members. But moving beyond this core has been a challenge.
I had to accept that what had worked until now, was not going to help us move further down the line.
What We Learned
We had four key insights that helped us rebuild stronger:
1. In-person is powerful
Our meetups, especially with senior leaders, were a clear win. The growth leaders loved them. We even did our first international event, and it was a huge success. We learned that in-person moments bring huge value, but they also need the right rhythm and frequency of execution.
2. Trust comes from being real and transparent
Before pivoting I managed to persuade the team to experiment with 10 free trials with the ultimate goal of receiving some honest feedback so we can get out of our own bubble.
…It hurt at that time, but what's most important is that this experiment helped us grow. That feedback shaped what we're building now. (more of that in the next section)
3. Live sessions beat static content
What set us apart wasn't more templates, courses or tools, it was live, real-time problem-solving with the right people in the room. These 360 feedback sessions helped people fix key parts of their business like aligning stakeholders or nailing messaging for a product launch. That's where we're focusing now!
4. Don't blend in
There are a lot of communities out there. I thought we could stand out by focusing on quality. But despite all the noise, there’s a lot of quality content, events and communities out there already. Creating a quality experience wasn’t enough. We needed to provide an experience that nobody else could…something where members go “wow, this is amazing”.
5. People are busy and need a reason to join in
One of the things we noticed early-on is that some people are just “community-people”. They are members of several communities, attend a lot of events and love meeting and connecting with other professionals. Unsurprisingly, these were some of the first people to also join our community.
But most marketing leaders aren’t members of any community. They feel too busy, unimpressed with past events and communities or overwhelmed with all the content that is out there. We know lots of these people. Some of our team members even are these people.
They’ll show interest when asked, but are no-shows when the time comes. But it’s often these non-community folks who can benefit most from a great, curated, vetted space to share ideas with peers.
The question is, how do we cut through the noise and reach them? How do we create an experience that is so good, such a no-brainer that they just cannot afford to miss out?
Well, I think I have the answer.
TGS Community 2.0: A Complete Transformation
To get straight to the point, right after I got back from a trip to Japan, we brought the team together, whiteboarded everything, and made some big decisions.
Here's what's changing:
The TGS Community is now its own brand
We've evolved into our own distinct identity. You can now find us at members.tgscommunity.co and explore our new website at tgscommunity.co. This shift allows us to give the community the focus and resources it deserves.
Our refined mission
We've always believed that companies led by marketing are more successful than companies where marketing is just "along for the ride." With all the crazy changes in B2B, that's truer now than ever.
Our refined mission: empower B2B marketers with the insights, guidance, and inspiration they need to really lead their company's GTM motion.
Feel like GTM has been hijacked by sales? We're here to help you win it back!
What we're retiring (and why)
To make room for awesome new things, we've decided to retire the courses and playbooks. Despite great feedback, engagement wasn't high enough to justify the huge effort. Don't worry, existing content will be made publicly available!
What's getting bigger and better
Expert Sessions: We're reducing quantity to bring you sessions with people you never thought you'd get access to. More engaging formats that let you lean in and learn more. We already have Santosh Sharan (the brains behind Retention.com and RB2B) and Emma Stratton (author of Make it Punchy) lined up.
Quarterly Meetups: Our Amsterdam meetups are moving to quarterly, making each event a must-attend occasion. We want you walking away with a completely new perspective and a head full of ideas.
Monthly 360 Feedback Sessions: Our wildly popular website feedback session is becoming monthly. Members share specific campaigns, collateral, or projects and get direct feedback from fellow senior marketers.
Exclusive Peer Groups: For niche topics, we're creating curated peer groups where you can share sensitive challenges and learn in a trusted environment. The first groups are already running, and the feedback has been amazing.
For Mastermind members: More social events (like our upcoming B2Boat with Peter van Sabben), 1-on-1 strategic coaching, and quarterly workshops that take you deeper into the secrets of the best in the business.
Why We're Doing All of This
We're not just building a product. We're building a place where people can grow, connect, and solve hard problems together.
We stay close to our members and learn from them. At the same time, we use our service arm to spot trends and help people stay ahead.
This is a long-term game. It takes time, trust, and consistency. But we're all in.
Come Experience It for Yourself
Do you want to join our next free Expert Session with Santosh Sharan? It'll be a real conversation about building your biggest competitive moat plus some hands-on networking that I'll personally guide before the session.
Because there's too much noise out there.
Because surface-level advice isn't really advice.
Because your work should grow your business, not feed someone's ego.
That's why we're building a vetted community for senior only operators that deliver the best for the best.
And the best is yet to come.
What do you think?
Do you like the new direction?
Have you had to pivot your own work recently?
Tell me your story. I'd love to hear it.