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How do you test your ideas?
How I validated the ops for a mentorship program with a Notion-only MVP.

So, I’m just going to get into it today because I’m just TOO excited for you to get into today’s tips and resources:
The Value of a Minimum Viable Product
A little while ago I volunteered to help the Led by Community team with the MVP of their Mentorship Program. We had heart, mentors, mentees… and basically no budget for fancy operations.
When down to the wire, I picked the tool I know best: Notion.
We MVP’d like our lives depended on it: one intake form for both mentors and mentees, a once-off matching rhythm, and a couple of simple but personalised emails — and hopefully all automated. No plugins, no fancy glue. Just enough structure so people could actually meet.
It worked. People got matched, calls happened, and feedback rolled in. The coolest part? Francisco has since taken the concept and built his own app, and Led by Community has kept the momentum going. That tiny Notion build gave us proof, language, and a rhythm the team could own.
Next week I’m sharing exactly how I approached that MVP in a short talk at Her AI Summit — not to make you a Notion nerd, but so you can ship a mentorship engine your members will actually use.
What I optimised for:
Speed over spectacle. Get to first matches fast, then improve.
Fewer moving parts. If we couldn’t run it in Notion, it didn’t make the cut.
Member clarity. One form, one intro, one focused call. Repeat if useful.
What members experience:
Apply in 3 minutes. Say goals, topics, time zone.
Get a clean intro. We pair you thoughtfully according to common time zones.
Have one useful call. Small agenda so it’s not awkward.
Decide next steps. Keep having more chats, pause, or match again!
Why share this now?
Because I really wanted to showcase how a mini experiment can be the best way to prove that your community actually wants (and will actually use) a new feature.
And that you can use tools available to you, like Notion, to modify your community platform or offering without actually having your own app or community tool.
So go check RSVP to watch my talk at the Her AI Era Summit so you can reuse this exact approach to:
Spin up a peer-to-peer match for your community,
automate simple emails without a maze of tools, or
finally build your first Notion database that does something meaningful.
I’m walking through how I did this build at HER AI Summit — the decisions, templates, and prompts that kept it shippable.
You can grab a free ticket here or sign up for the All Access Pass to get unlimited access to all the recordings from 50+ speakers after the summit ends!
What I’d share in your DMs this week
Want to share your business, product or opportunities here? Make a post in the Candid Community and it will be shared in the next edition of our newsletter! 😉
💗 Need Some Soul in Your Systems? Last week, I had my favourite interview EVER with Tasha and we talked about what most community builders are missing to take their membership from operational to actually transformational. Watch it here!
😣 Need Help With Your Tech? Venessa shared a poll in the community so go in and share your thoughts - and maybe you’ll win this month’s spot for her to automate a critical business process for free! Apply for this opportunity here!
😅 Procrastinator or Perfectionist? If you find yourself tinkering more often than delivering, then your Notion habits need some help! Join our upcoming workshop, Introduction to Notion AI & Agents to start making actual progress. Claim your ticket - and use the discount code below!
Those who subscribe to this newsletter will see a 25% coupon code here for our upcoming event: Introduction to Notion AI & Agents.
Always build community, never alone!
I’m a neurospicy solo founder openly figuring out how to build a business while firmly rooting myself in community values.
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