Book review: Cult Status by Tim Duggan
By: Matt Vitale
Tags: Business, Startup, Australia, Investing, Crowdfunding

‘Cult Status’ is the 7-step playbook for building a successful business in the post-COVID world.

Buy the book here — http://cultstatus.com/

Tim Duggan, co-founder of Junkee Media takes a deep dive into the elements of Cult Status, and analyses some of the great businesses and projects that have achieved it.

What is Cult Status exactly? For Duggan, it’s a business or project with a dedicated community around it who strongly identify with its purpose.

Although I imagine much of the research and writing for this book was completed before COVID, in this case, Duggan’s analysis of Cult Status and the businesses that have it has become even more insightful, and useful.

One interesting trend that emerged during the pandemic was that the more cult status a business had, the better its ability to survive through the tough times. This didn’t help if it was an industry that legally had to shut its doors, but for entrepreneurs that could shapeshift into new areas they were able to lean on the goodwill they’d amassed over years with their customers.

Duggan observed among the new breed of companies emerging today, that those who have achieved cult status general share several things in common. He has distilled from these observations seven steps that will give businesses aspiring to cult status the best chance of achieving it.

Each step is given a chapter, with anecdotes and interviews with founders, including James Bartle of Outland Denim (which recently funded on Birchal).

At the end of each chapter, is a section called ‘In Real Life’ which includes exercises for readers to complete and implement in their business or project.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Cult Status’ and strongly recommend it. Of particular relevance to the companies we host on Birchal, and the work we do is Step 6 of the book ‘Lead From the Middle’.

Duggan writes:

Every business with cult status has a strong and passionate community around it. They are usually drawn to a unifying message everyone buys into, or that forms naturally around a charismatic founder or group that makes them feel welcome. Where previous generations taught us we should lead from the front, or by observing from behind, these businesses lead from the middle. They’re walking alongside the community they’ve built, empowering them to choose the direction to head in and what speed to go at. Modern leaders are guided by those around them as much as they lead them.

This particularly resonated with me. As I see it, any crowdfunded business is supremely positioned to ‘lead from the middle’. Founders tell us they are often surprised and delighted by how enthusiastic and helpful investors can be, and what sets equity crowdfunding apart from other funding methods.

We often tell companies that they should think of their shareholder group as an asset, as an engaged and happy shareholder group can provide a company with a pool of liquidity to draw on for future funding rounds, brutally honest (but constructive) feedback and product insights, and fiercely passionate advocacy which can be particularly useful in a crisis (or pandemic).

This is what we think all crowdfunded businesses should be striving for, and Duggan has done a tremendous job of illustrating the prize that awaits them: Cult Status.

Buy the book here — http://cultstatus.com/