Key Takeaways
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- The two most important signs of great entrepreneurship communities are the level of activity and referrals.
- Some benefits of these groups include: networking, investment opportunities, mentorship, and access to resources.
- Social media channels can prove useful in the search for the best entrepreneur community. Keep in mind LinkedIn groups, Facebook communities, and Fastlane forums.
Finding the perfect entrepreneur community: what to look for
While there are many criteria for determining a great founder community, two characteristics stand out: level of activity and referrals. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Level of activity
An active community simply has more to give. You can get feedback, watch seasoned CEOs share their knowledge, and even ask for mentoring. You’re also more likely to meet entrepreneurs similar to yourself. Together, it’s easier to collaborate on product launches, attend meetups, and partner up. Essentially, the more active the community — the better.
Referrals
This advice can seem obvious, but we can’t say this enough. If you have entrepreneurs you can talk to — ask them if they know of any good communities.
This can save you a lot of time because you won’t have to filter out these communities yourself. And spare money, too. Some communities have an entry fee, so if you have a friend there, they could help you understand whether it is worth your money or even get in at a discounted price.
4 key benefits of entrepreneur communities
Is joining an entrepreneurial community necessary for the success of the startup? No, it’s possible to lead a profitable enterprise yourself. However, the benefits are massive and hard to ignore.
Networking
The most valuable thing an entrepreneur community can offer is connections. Meeting new people can help you educate yourself and grow your business in many different ways.
For example, if you’re selling a physical product and you attend an industry event, you might find people there who can benefit you: key stockists, product managers with expertise in streamlining delivery, or logistics experts with warehouse contacts.
Networking makes you more flexible. The connections you build can help you solve problems you might encounter as you grow your startup.
Mentorship
A great thing about online communities is that you can choose one based on your needs. If you seek knowledge, just get into a group built around training and providing courses. You could team up with mentors, coaches, and seasoned entrepreneurs there. They will be happy to help with your personal and professional growth.
Access to resources
Certain communities have a treasure trove of materials to help your startup develop. Depending on your level of experience, you can find a group with resources more suitable to your situation:
Checklists, cheat sheets, lifehacks. These are short, often bite-sized materials. If you’re just starting out and want to fit in with other CEOs, you could find a startup keyword cheat sheet. It can help you understand the definition of each modern term flying your way.
And if you want to brush up on your knowledge of key metrics, like CAC or LTV, you can find cheat sheets like that
Articles, research, statistics. Specialized communities offer extensive materials with an emphasis on specific niches. Use it to fill gaps in industry knowledge, find data to calculate market size, and pick a method to come up with a startup valuation.
Investment opportunities
Different communities let you get money directly through various funding sources. Some can grant access to angel investors and venture capitalists. Others are considered crowdfunding platforms: you can join them and raise capital from potential users interested in your startup.
There’s also a more indirect advantage of communities: exposure. You can improve your reputation just by showing the growth of your startup to other members. If they see you as trustworthy, they’re more likely to recommend you to their peers.
15 best startup communities
In this section, we’ve outlined the best entrepreneur groups that can be useful for most founders. Look at the table down below to get a brief summary, and click on the ones you’re interested in to get a more in-depth look at them.
| Name of community | Entry fee | Key benefit |
| GrowthMentor | from $34 / month | access to expertise from top founders |
| Founders Network | from $50 / month | access to expertise & a chance to acquire investments |
| Startup Grind | free | access to global events for networking |
| StartupNation | free | a massive collection of useful articles |
| Product Hunt | free | easy to find product-market fit |
| Indie Hackers | free | a hub with a ton of resources for founders |
| FoundersBeta | from $15 / month | hire developers and other specialists for your startup team |
| SaaStr | free | annual global events for SaaS startup founders, free courses |
| No Code Founders | free | network with other founders using the same technologies |
| Product-Led Alliance | ranging from free options to $167 / month | access to community events, a Slack network, meetups, and exclusive articles |
| StartupSauce | $399 / year | consultations with top founders, networking opportunities |
| GrowthHackers | free | network with professionals and get access to private events |
| Future Founders | free | weekly in-person dinners in London and Lisbon |
| Astronomic Network | free | network founders, investors, freelancers, and small business owners |
| Y-Combinator | share of equity | funding + network with like-minded startups |
1. GrowthMentor
Price: from $34 / month
Works best for: beginner entrepreneurs looking for guidance
Level of activity: high
Key benefit: access to expertise from top founders
GrowthMentor lets you schedule one-on-one video calls with specialists from many different backgrounds. You can pick one and get advice from a pool of 700 members: product managers, chief marketing officers, Agile consultants, etc.
It doesn’t matter how advanced your startup is, you can still get guidance unique to your specific situation. For example, if you’re trying to find product-market fit, calculate market size, or manage development.
2. Founders Network
Price: from $50 / month
Works best for: entrepreneurs of any skill; there are different networks for startups with varying experience levels
Level of activity: high
Key benefit: get access to expertise & a chance to acquire investments
Founders Network has over 50 vetted investors who offer support and help members raise funds.
If you don’t have pitching experience, you can try it out in this community. Investors will listen to your presentation and provide candid feedback. You can also listen to other like-minded entrepreneurs pitching their products. In the end, you’ll get the experience you need to get a “yes.”
3. Startup Grind
Price: free
Works best for: tech-based startups, founders outside the US
Level of activity: high
Benefits: get access to global events for networking
Startup Grind is a global community with over 5 million community members from various backgrounds and countries.
This global community is perfect if you want to boost your brand awareness. You can network with founders and potential users all over the world, which makes it easier to get your name out.
4. StartupNation
Price: free
Works best for: startup founders searching for info in the early stages
Level of activity: none
Benefits: a massive collection of useful articles
If you’re just getting into startups, StartupNation is a great platform for you. It has articles dedicated to starting and growing businesses, calculating income, preparing taxes, and more. It also has different case studies from successful startups, as well as white papers and online books. It’s possible to find an answer there, whatever your startup-related question may be.
5. Product Hunt
Price: free
Works best for: founders looking to get feedback on their product and grow a community
Level of activity: high
Benefits: easy to find product-market fit
Think you have a groundbreaking product? Submit it to Product Hunt. It’s a platform that showcases different new apps. Founders add their products to the service for potential users to review.
This is an excellent community if you want to find people for beta testing. Start from there to get crucial feedback early on. The users will tell you if the user flow of the app seems weird or if some bugs were missed.
6. Indie Hackers
Price: free
Works best for: AI and IT startups
Level of activity: high
Benefits: a hub with a ton of resources for founders
Indie Hackers is a community that hosts discussion groups, shares articles about “Big Tech,” and shows local meetups you could attend with your peers. If you want to stay on top of the changes in your industry, this website is a good choice to frequent.
This community has a dedicated page for partnering up. Looking for co-founders, development specialists, and sales partners? Indie Hackers may have what you want.
7. FoundersBeta
Price: from $15 / month
Works best for: founders looking to assemble a team
Level of activity: high
Benefits: hire developers and other specialists for your startup team
If your startup is already up and running, FoundersBeta could prove useful. It’s a community with a large job board for specialists interested in startups. Want to scale your business? Hire team members in this community: you can find marketing managers, developers, and designers there.
8. SaaStr
Price: free
Works best for: SaaS startups
Level of activity: high
Benefits: the community holds annual global events for SaaS startup founders, shares free courses, and allows you to chat with other CEOs
SaaS (Software as a Service) is a cloud-based platform that can be accessed via the Internet from anywhere in the world. Common examples are office tools, online accounting platforms, CMSs, and video streaming services.
One example of the SaaS app is Biogeek — a platform we’ve built that helps users monitor their lab results in one place
If your startup revolves around SaaS development, join SaaStr to enroll in a free course on scaling and growing your business or get a checklist on raising funds.
9. No Code Founders
Price: free
Works best for: startups utilizing No Code / Low Code tools
Level of activity: medium
Benefits: connect with other founders using the same technologies
Going no-code before getting into regular development can save money because you won’t have to hire developers to test out your business idea. If it’s something you’re interested in, No Code Founders can help you find other like-minded entrepreneurs.
This group has no-code courses, a Slack community, workshops, and other materials to help you launch a no-code business.
10. Product-Led Alliance
Price: ranging from free options to $167 / month
Works best for: startups interested in the product-led growth framework
Level of activity: high
Benefits: get access to community events, a Slack network, meetups, and exclusive articles
If you’re interested in product management and want to broaden your understanding of key metrics and how to influence them, join the Product-Led Alliance. It’s an excellent community that can help you learn effective ways to collaborate with team members like designers and developers to ensure timely feature delivery.
11. StartupSauce
Price: $399 / year
Works best for: startups that are not a part of Silicon Valley
Level of activity: high
Benefits: consultations with top founders, networking opportunities
StartupSauce is a community built for startups offering B2B and enterprise products. It has its own university, events, and a newsletter. You can also join a group to chat with other SaaS founders.
For example, one type of project that could benefit from joining this community is a marketplace startup. One of our projects, Tunetank, a modern audio stock, is a great candidate for StartupSauce. It could benefit from attending B2B events and attracting sellers with potential customers through them.
Most people edit on their computers, so a web app was a must in this case. The mobile app was made to make the browsing experience better.
12. GrowthHackers
Price: free, but invite-only
Works best for: startups interested in the growth of any kind
Level of activity: high
Benefits: connect with professionals and get access to private events
GrowthHackers hosts chief marketing officers, product managers, and growth specialists to help your startup evolve into a profitable company. This platform has different materials with techniques that show how to improve retention rates, guides on growth marketing, and more.
13. Future Founders
Price: free
Works best for: founders looking to find CEOs to partner up with
Level of activity: high
Benefits: weekly in-person dinners in London and Lisbon
A good choice for founders who want to network in person, Future Founders oversees private events for promising startup owners and investors. It’s much easier to build rapport and get experience offline, and if by chance you’re based around London or Lisbon, it’s a nice opportunity to submit an application.
14. Astronomic Network
Price: free
Works best for: new entrepreneurs
Level of activity:
Benefits: it bridges the gap between founders, investors, freelancers, and small business owners
Yet another platform that connects specialists across different fields and unites them for one purpose: to grow your business. You can join a free course to learn the fundamentals of business ownership and management, join masterminds with founders facing similar obstacles, and attend private dinners hosted by Astronomic Network with potential investors.
15. Y-Combinator
Price: share of equity
Works best for: any kind of startup
Level of activity: high
Benefits: funding + networking with like-minded startups
Y-Combinator is one of the biggest incubator programs in the world. Most of the popular digital companies all over the world, like Airbnb, DoorDash, and Coinbase, are its alumni. One cool thing Y-Combinator offers is a business school for entrepreneurs. It’s free and also has a section devoted to matching with a co-founder for your startup.
This incubator hosts annual demo days, where promising startups can showcase their project. Their apps shape the future of the IT industry. We developed an app, Headcount, for one of these events.
We managed to complete development in just two months, being under a tight deadline. But our planning and time-management skills came in clutch and let us get it done on time.
Tip: use social media to find the most fitting startup community
If you know where to look, you can find free communities with heaps of useful advice. We’ve outlined three platforms for finding the best startup communities: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Fastlane.
LinkedIn groups
LinkedIn is the most popular platform when it comes to making connections. That’s what the majority of its users do there. Aside from polishing your personal profile, you can find an entrepreneur group and join it.
🤔 There are many communities dedicated to specific niches — just pick one that suits yours’ best.
Facebook groups
While there are many memes nowadays about Facebook becoming infested with AI memes, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the best networking platforms you can use. There are plenty of niche, business-related groups you can join.
🤔 If you have friends on Facebook who are founders, look at the groups they’re subscribed to. You can join them instead of spending time searching for yourself.
Fastlane forums
The Fastlane forum is a free forum for entrepreneurs discussing digital nomadism, financial independence, and startup ideas. It also has entrepreneurial news and threads about general business and product development.
🤔 In the search box, write down a topic that interests you. If you find an author that catches your eye, don’t hesitate to contact them. This could be the beginning of a solid business relationship.
Final thoughts
Entrepreneurs can offer their own perspectives and share valuable advice. Still, it may not always be reliable. You could encounter a founder who just got lucky on the first try. Contacting a development agency with many projects and years of experience under its belt can be better.
At Purrweb, we have been designing and developing apps for startups for more than ten years. We’ve helped companies at many stages of development build an MVP and test a business idea with real-world customers.
Some examples of the apps we helped create:
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- E-signature service allows our clients to sign contracts and other important documents digitally.
- Healthcare platform for online psychologist consultations that lets patients fill out questionnaires and read articles.
- Livestream shopping app that allows users to buy clothing and other goods through online streaming.
