How do you meet the right startup communities when you are just getting started?
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Starting out, I found that the best connections came from showing up consistently rather than trying to network with everyone at once.
Local meetups, hackathons, demo days, and online founder communities are useful, but only when you participate. Share what you are building, ask specific questions, offer help, and follow up with the people whose work genuinely interests you.
Which community, event, or habit helped you form your first meaningful startup connections?
I am based out of bengaluru, India
#bengaluru#startups#startupcommunity
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True that man, showing up consistently in the good and relevent communities is the best method to connect and network with like minded people!
I am based in delhi btw!
@aryan_chittora13f Which communities have been most useful for you in Delhi?
@akarsh_hegde I've joined a few startup and AI founder groups, but I prefer connecting with people naturally through building, sharing what I'm working on, and meeting at events.
We found our most useful connections outside startup communities. Since we build for schools, teachers and coordinators taught us far more than other founders.
Startup communities are great for the meta side (fundraising, positioning, hiring). But to really understand the problem, the right room is usually full of people who've never heard of Product Hunt.
@jared_salois That is a useful distinction. How did you find and build relationships with your users/customers early on?
@akarsh_hegde Honestly, we got lucky in one specific way: one of our team members works in a school. That gave us something cold outreach never could. Beyond that, being there in person matters a lot. Taking the time to sit down with the right coordinator and have a real conversation opens more doors than ten emails ever will. In education, trust comes first, product second.
I think the key is to become a contributor rather than just an attendee. The strongest startup communities I’ve seen are built around people who consistently share insights, help others solve problems, or build in public.
For someone just getting started, I’d focus less on finding the “perfect” community and more on developing a habit: attend recurring events, follow up with interesting people, and have genuine conversations around specific problems or ideas. Over time, those weak ties compound into meaningful relationships.