Nissue #46: David Spinks, Co-Founder of CMX.
Out here in Silicon Valley, I am probably still best known for my time at Yelp, which goes all the way back to the end of 2004. Imagine a time when we didn’t have cell phones, Facebook was just launching and Instagram and Tik Tok did not exist.
The idea of online communities was not necessarily new, but I was considered one of the first people to be out figuring out a way to grow and nurture them. Looking back, it seems obvious that being a Community Manager can be a career and that the people who make up your community are everything from your fans and followers, those who influence others, your best customers, and even your own employees.
I give my friend David Spinks credit for helping to professionalize my industry. He created the seminal community-building network CMX and wrote an essential book on the topic, and I am proud to say I was there at the beginning of the movement. David continues to inspire and make us all think about what it means to gather, belong and be a part of something greater than the sum of its parts.
Nish: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
David: Being 100% present.
Nish: What was your worst job ever?
David: A restaurant called “The Twisted Kilt” where I was a busboy. It was a brand new restaurant and the manager was an awful person who made everyone’s lives a living hell. I quit before they started making us wear actual kilts.
Nish: What was your first job ever?
David: I was a camp counselor. I loved that job, being outside all day, spending time with kids, getting to play games and travel to different parks and pools. I had it good!
Nish: What was your best job ever?
David: I worked at an ice cream shop on the beach when I was a kid which was a pretty ideal situation. All the ice cream I could eat, spending time on the beach all day, and everyone’s happy when they’re eating ice cream on the beach. I love my job now too. I get to help people build communities every day.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
David: My need to be liked. I’ve done a lot of work over the years to learn to practice self-love and reduce the amount of influence others’ opinions have on my own self-worth. I’m getting better, but I still have a long road.
Nish: What is the trait you most deplore in others?
David: Dishonesty.
Nish: What’s some advice you’d give to yourself at 23?
David: You’re already enough. You don’t have to prove your value to anyone but yourself. Also, buy bitcoin.
Nish: What is your greatest extravagance?
David: I’m not a very extravagant person. I’ve always been very frugal. Choosing to live in San Francisco for 10 years is probably the most extravagant choice I’ve made. I guess I’m also willing to invest in anything that I think will be a really meaningful or memorable experience, like climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was expensive but worth every penny.
Nish: You have exclusive dinner reservations for 4 excluding family and close friends, who are the 3 people (alive, dead or imaginary) you’d invite?
David: Justin Vernon – I’m a huge fanboy. My great great great great great great grandmother – How cool would that be? Jesus Christ – I’m not very religious but it would pretty interesting to ask that guy some questions.
Nish: What is the theme song of your professional life?
David: I didn’t think I had a great answer to this question but what came to mind was Lane 8: Road, because it’s one of my go-to songs when I’m trying to get into “flow”. But looking at the lyrics, it actually feels fitting. To me, it’s about seeing opportunities and paths in front of you, but feeling stuck and unable to move to see where the path is going to take you. My career has been a lot like that. I’ll hit points where the road ahead isn’t clear, but something is pulling me in a general direction, and I just have to get over the fear of the unknown and start moving…even if I don’t know exactly what lies ahead.
Nish: What is your motto?
David: “Like this”. It’s from a book called Dropping Ashes on the Buddha which is a collection of conversations between Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn and his American students. When asked “what is Zen?”, he responds, “Zen is like this,” which I’ve understood to mean that Zen isn’t a place or an outcome that you reach, Zen is right now, with things how they are, like this. Good or bad, comfortable or uncomfortable, whatever your situation, you can find zen by becoming fully aware of the moment. “Like this” has always stuck with me as a reminder of how to live my life.
Nish: What is something you’re really excited about right now?
David: Our baby Lucca just turned 1, and he’s the best thing in my life by far.
For more yelpy inspiration, make sure to check out my interviews with Michael Ernst (who started on the exact same day as me at Yelp) and Geoff Donaker (my old boss at Yelp who I listen to now more than when I worked with him).