Firing your worst customers

We had to remove a 3i member this week, which got me thinking.

Community building is unique. Unlike a traditional business, each new user impacts the experience of the product.

3i was built on a simple but powerful idea: an investment network where members give more than they take. A closed-loop system built on trust.

We created 3i as a place where people could share ideas freely, without worrying about being sold to. A community where trust and alignment came first, and every conversation wasn’t a transaction.

From the start, we made one rule non-negotiable: no solicitation. You can’t pitch your crap.

The first time we had to enforce it was in 2022, after our first official member dinner in Miami. The member (let’s call him John) had joined that morning. After his first member dinner, he sent a follow-up email to all attendees:

“Dear <<FNAME>>, it was great to meet you tonight…I am organizing an SPV with a 2% management fee and 20% carry…If you are interested in investing, please respond by…”

A few problems:
- John hadn’t actually spoken to everyone at dinner.
- His mail-merge glitched, calling everyone “<<FNAME>>.”
- He broke the most important rule of 3i: no solicitation.

It forced us to confront three key challenges:
- Were our rules clear enough?
- Were we vetting members rigorously enough?
- Did we have a process to warn and remove bad actors before they did real damage?

We called John the next morning. Solicitation wasn’t just a minor infraction, it was a breach of what 3i stood for. The membership agreement he had signed made that clear, and this was non-negotiable.

We gave his referring member a heads-up and removed John from the network.
It was uncomfortable to remove a brand-new member, especially in the early days. But without enforcing our standards, the foundation wouldn’t hold.

That decision shaped us.
- It forced us to codify our principles so there was no ambiguity.
- It underscored the importance of deep, consistent vetting.
- It led us to develop a step-by-step protocol for handling violations.

Since then, we’ve removed five members from a community that’s grown to 600. Each case—whether for solicitation or uncouth behavior—reinforced the need for standards.

Today, we have:
- A formal code of conduct.
- A thorough vetting process with background and reference checks.
- An anonymous dropbox for members to raise concerns.
- A structured warning system.
- A clear communication protocol for these decisions.

Even with all this in place, these calls are still tough. My instinct is to forgive, but that would be a betrayal of the broader group.

There’s an old adage: fire your worst customers. Like most things with starting a company, it's harder that it sounds!