People ask me this question a lot, How do I start building a community?

Me:  Borrow Inspiration from Existing Communities to Find Your First Members
Don’t reinvent the wheel — your first community members are already hanging out somewhere else.

Back in early 2020, during the peak of the COVID pandemic, I wanted to create a space for founders who often felt invisible because they were not in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, London, or San Francisco, but were building startups from Nashik, Kochi, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, and even Milpitas.

My goal was to enable founders from 2nd/3rd-tier cities building Startups to get support in their journey to overcome challenges.

I looked at communities I admired (eChai, TiE global chapters, SaaSBoomi, Super Morpheus, Headstart and a few more) and realized my first members were already out there — I just had to find them.

By the end of 2020, Grittiest had served 170+ founders from underserved cities.

Founders loved it! Grittiest's focus was to serve unserved founders in 2nd/3rd-tier cities and magic happened.

Here’s the hack for How do I start building a community👇
1. Identify 3–5 communities where your ideal members already gather
2. Observe what people love & what frustrates them
3. Engage authentically before inviting anyone over
4. Reach out personally, not with a broadcast message

The most loyal members often come from the margins, not the mainstream. Start by borrowing energy from the communities your people already love. Just focus on what they get from your community initiative.

Built /building a community? Where did you find your first members? #CommunityGrowth101