At the heart of every successful community lies a paradox: the need to scale while maintaining authentic connections. Drawing from real-world successes and failures in building Tech Commute and growing established communities at Torc, this talk cuts through the typical community-building platitudes to deliver actionable insights. We’ll explore proven strategies for launching and nurturing communities that thrive beyond superficial engagement metrics. Attendees will learn practical approaches for fostering genuine participation, implementing sustainable moderation practices, and aligning community goals with business objectives - all while preserving authenticity. This isn’t theory - it’s battle-tested experience from building a community of thousands with hundreds of thousands of podcast/stream viewers, and organizing a virtual conference that raised over $11,000 for charity. Each insight comes with concrete examples and implementable steps. Perfect for community managers, developer advocates, and product managers, this session provides a framework for building communities that both engage and scale. You’ll walk away with practical tools, templates, and metrics frameworks you can implement immediately.