How do you leverage your network and community to support your startup journey?

Use your contacts and community to help your startup succeed. Develop strong relationships with mentors and industry colleagues who can provide guidance and introduce you to useful people. Attend business-related events and join online groups to broaden your network. Share your startup's narrative and issues with your contacts; they may be able to provide solutions or resources. Connect with your community on social media, publish updates, and solicit comments. For extra opportunities, collaborate with other entrepreneurs and consider joining local business groups. Making genuine relationships and remaining active with your community can provide you with essential aid, guidance, and opportunities for your startup to flourish.

This may be slightly controversial, but in my experience, there's only ever one Founder - the person who had the original idea. They are the person who will work at 3am to get something done or work on their daughter's birthday. No, it's not healthy nor desirable, but it's the truth. Co-founders are employees. 99.9% of the time, they will not give 110%, and their contribution will directly reflect the compensation they get. Again, harsh but true. When times get hard, you need them to work over a weekend or miss the family holiday, or money gets tight, they will generally revert to acting like an employee. I'm not saying don't do it; just plan accordingly.

Finding a cofounder is like finding your spouse. You have to be best friends as an approach, have complementary skills but the same vision and purpose. If not 'the child-startup' will suffer both operationally and strategically. It is not a simple choice, so don't rush into it! If you are not convinced don't propose the cofounder position, maybe a senior position with stock option can be a better solution from the cofounder!

'Complement your skills'. Forget vision and working well with you. If your skills don't plug in each other's gaps, then expect vision and good behavior to go out of the window. You can convince someone to align with your vision. You can set code of conducts. But you can't replace a skill set.

In my ventures I have found Co Founders are great, but hard to find. What is a bit easier is to find people that are experts in your industry and add them as advisors. Make sure to allow them to put it on their LinkedIn. You will find most people are open to this.

Before diving into execution, socialize your idea with trusted contacts in your target space. Seek candid perspectives on the problem, proposed solution, and willingness to pay. Use their expertise to pressure-test assumptions. Conduct surveys, interviews, and focus groups with real prospective users.

I don't look for actual Co-Founders purposely, if they 'arrive' in the journey, that's great. But they're not part of the plan for me. Instead I look to collaborate with contacts, connections and appreciated people of my network. Whether it's through a trade-off or traditional transaction; the easiest way to get the help you need is to be present (show up with your thoughts on LinkedIn so they feel like they 'know you' already) by working on your personal brand and also just to be flexible. Show up. Be Flexible. Develop your personal brand.

Talk about your vision. Talk about the problem you want to solve. Not so much about your solution. In the early phase, people can often tell you about existing solutions that you didn't know about and additional uses you hadn't thought of. Spend a lot of time on these two items before asking for introductions, money, or other help. Listen generously and gratefullyto their thoughts.

One principle I use is „first sell - then build“ It works best for things you know you can build fast and in the process. For example an educational program. First advertise it. Start selling it for a starting date in the future. If you’ve sold the minimum amount of spots, start working on the course. You can build on the way.

As the EU Sustainable Action Plan gains significant traction, companies and especially startups face increased scrutiny for the sustainability of their products. Through strategic investments, companies with a positive environmental impact can thrive, while those with a detrimental impact are compelled to adapt or face the potential consequence of investors reallocating their capital. For example, in Rahim Invest we assist our clients - Gulf region investors by conducting research on investee companies in making informed investment decisions, fostering a more sustainable future.

I started writing on LinkedIn everyday and sharing my expetrise about the startup ecosystem and solutions to problems that founders often face. My following grew and by using a call to action (CTA) at the end of my posts I had many potential clients sending me DMs in my inbox. I learned that using CTA too frequently can reduce your engagement too so use them maybe once or twice a week. My CTA goes something like this "I'm a retainer based advisor with many startups. We solve interesting problems like partnerships, market access and strategy. DM me to see if we're a good match to work together."

I’m a Adapter who loves to collaborate with other warm people. Who wants others to feel part of the team and spend time helping them get involved. That is highly intuitive and are very gifted in anticipating the needs of others.

I support the startup ecosystem through my advisory business which I started a year ago. What helped the most was - posting on LinkedIn daily - sharing value adding content - personal vulnerable stories at times - position as a subject matter expert - templatize my offerings - send those to inbound DMs - set up short calls they show interest - that was my MVP test - I still tweak it and test new methods Happy to share that this system has worked. Thinking about how to scale now.

There are platforms available like Indiehackers and Producthunt where you can schedule a launch to get in front of the community. Another interesting way to generate more interest is to build in public which is a common thing among solopreneurs. Share every update that you're making for your product whether it is monthly growth, product updates, team updates etc. on your social platforms as this will help build trust among your audience.

Because our attention is stretched by advertising and marketing, starting a business is the opposite of 'Field of Dreams' --- Even if you build it, they will not come. Simply put, you have to be motivated to personally engage with more people than you've met so far in your life, or else your business is based on luck... And they call it luck because it's more likely not to arise than it is to turn out. So failure to network and get yourself connected with people who can move your business forward is preparing to fail! (Did you send your LinkedIn connection request to me yet?)

Make raising external funding your last resort. Do everything in your power to get money from your customers and use that to fund the company. You won't regret it.

As an early stage startup founder that chased investors for months if not years. That path lead nowhere. Infinite email lists, with optimized short pitches, business models, etc. etc. etc. The best way we have raised funds was to focus only on customers. Instead of theory you get practice: -> potential revenue -> "here our revenue" -> potential client profile -> "here my clients" -> potential GTM -> "here our channels" Investors will look for ways to de-risk your startup. So give them all the tools they need to invest in you.

Growing your customer base is essential for business success. Start by understanding your target audience and their needs. Leverage digital marketing through social media, content creation, and email campaigns to reach a wider audience. Encourage customer referrals and reviews to build credibility. Offer promotions or loyalty programs to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Analyze customer data to personalize interactions and improve services. Consistent communication and exceptional customer service foster trust, turning satisfied customers into loyal advocates.

A founder should know when to raise funds, and that too if it is the only way out. If raising funds can solve all the business problems, bootstrap business will not exist. You should focus on generating as much cash as possible from your business activities i.e. directly from customers and use that money wisely on your operations. Every single penny saved is a single penny earned. Also raising funds sometimes puts the pace of the business in the investor's hands which is something most of the founders are not comfortable with.

Many say ‘leverage your community’ when in this case you should be ‘empowering your community’ to embrace B.A.E. when it comes to your startup. • Buyer — they see the big picture and our bought-in at the highest level to invest. • Advocate — they understand what you are doing and can help make the right connections with decision-makers able to buy-in. • Elevators — they follow and engage with you and continue to support you IRL or digitally. This breakdown is to help founders have a more relaxed approach with raising funds. When you have the conversation, if you identify they aren’t a buyer, that’s not a loss. You switch to advocate-first convo and if that’s not the lane, you switch again to the catch-all elevator-first convo.

The startup community tends to be very supportive. Experienced founders are happy to pay forward the support they have received throughout their journey. Being part of this community is a source of joy in building a startup. As a new founder, you shouldn’t be shy about seeking assistance from peers and more experienced founders. Be sure to approach people in a polite and professional manner, treating their time and advice with respect, and you'll be amazed by the level of support you receive.

Your network is always willing to help. Just ask! I always advise startups to create a monthly recap email with what happened last month, what you're working on this month, and then specific asks. Ask everyone you meet if you can add them to this email. This email accomplishes a couple of things: - Keeps you accountable - Provides more context of your startup over time instead of just snapshots - Makes it easy to ask your network for help! Make sure your asks are specific in nature, so people know how to help! This could be as specific as an introduction to a person or referrals for open hiring positions.

Entrepreneurship is a continuous learning journey, and surrounding yourself with a supportive network and community can provide the guidance, motivation, and knowledge needed to thrive. Don't hesitate to reach out to others, share your experiences, and absorb the wisdom of those who have walked the path before you. Always works with - 1- Mentors and Advisors 2- Coaches 3- Online Communities : Linkedin is the main platform 4- Networking Events 5- Continuous Learning

It all starts with your personal reputation or “brand”. If you have built a reputation of helping others first, having integrity, good morals/values, sound judgement, and extreme passion for what you are building, people will help. You need to lose the fear of asking for help, or for referrals. Good people want to see you win. Just because you make the best cupcakes in the world, doesn’t mean you know how to scale a cupcake business. You should build a trusted advisor network and reward them for their expertise, and help. If they hold the same values you hold, they will go out of their way to help you win.

- In startups, learning from others is similar to attending a conversation to gain wisdom. - It is about hearing diverse stories and receiving useful advise. - Consider it a party tip exchange; everyone may have a trick to add to the festivities. - Learning entails listening to seasoned entrepreneurs who have traveled similar paths. - Without learning from others, it's like throwing a party without gaining significant information. - Gathering advise for startups is like amassing a treasure trove, improving your journey toward a successful business celebration.