#233: Inside Exit Five | In this episode, Matt Carnevale (Head of Community at Exit Five) joins the team at Circle to break down how we’ve doubled Exit Five community membership and boosted engagement—all by treating Exit Five like a product. He shares our playbook: audience growth, engagement systems, how we use member feedback to shape what we build, and why “curate, don’t create” has been key to scaling. If you’re running (or joining) a B2B community, this is how you make it work.

Matt covers:

Why we think of community like a product, not just a channel
How Exit Five grew community membership over 100% in under a year
The systems we use to drive 40% monthly active user engagement
The power of “tripwires,” onboarding, and member matchmaking
How feedback loops shape what we build

Timestamps

(00:00) - – Intro to Matt
(03:49) - – Exit Five’s approach to community
(06:19) - – What it means to treat community like a product
(10:19) - – Why audience is the foundation of community growth
(13:19) - – How Exit Five builds and converts audience from LinkedIn
(16:19) - – Using content tripwires to drive signups
(18:19) - – Offers that work: Why we use a 7-day free trial
(21:19) - – How Exit Five got started as a paid community
(24:19) - – The product mindset: build, test, iterate
(28:37) - – Using member feedback to drive product decisions
(30:37) - – Real example: member matchmaking feature
(32:37) - – Promoting new community features like product launches
(35:37) - – How we drive 40% monthly active usage
(37:37) - – The value of member-led events and how we do them
(40:37) - – Other plays: tagging experts, matchmaking, onboarding
(43:37) - – Why self-promo was hurting our community and what changed when we cut it
(45:37) - – Final takeaways + advice for small communities
(49:37) - – Audience Q&A: re-engagement, matchmaking, content cadence

Send guest pitches and ideas to hi@exitfive.com
Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/
Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership

***

Today's episode is brought to you by Customer.io.

You know that feeling when you open your inbox, and it’s just… noise? Bad marketing. Spam. Most companies are out here just talking at customers, not talking to them.

Marketing messages should do more than just land in an inbox – they should create impact and drive real engagement.

Customer.io helps companies send smarter, more personalized messages using first-party data. Their platform enables brands to reach customers at the right time, in the right place, on the right channel—whether that’s email, SMS, push notifications, or beyond.

And the best part is that it’s all automated, so you’re not just blasting campaigns and hoping for the best. You’re running a machine that delivers real, human engagement at scale.

7,000+ brands already trust Customer.io to make their marketing feel less like noise and more like connection.

Join them by visiting Customer.io to get started.

***

Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
Visit hatch.fm to learn more

Inside Exit Five: How We Doubled Community Growth in Under a Year (with Matt Carnevale)

The Exit Five CMO Podcast (Hosted by Dave Gerhardt)