Grow & market

I'm building outside the big startup hubs with no local network, can I still build an audience that matters?

The short answer

Yes, and online is arguably the great equalizer here: a strong feed of useful posts reaches investors, customers, and collaborators who'll never know or care which city you're in. Your distance from a hub is an asset if you write about the market you actually understand, since most of the loud voices online are clustered in a few cities and miss what you can see. Show up consistently with a real point of view and the network finds you, not the other way around.

Go deeper, your way

3 hand-picked resources, 3 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.

🎧 Podcast
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Arvid Kahl built and sold a SaaS, then grew a real audience of tens of thousands almost entirely online, from outside any famous startup hub, so this is a working example of the thing you're asking about rather than theory. The show is a semiweekly, honest walk through audience-first building, building in public, and doing it without a local network to lean on. Treat it as a starting point: pick an episode on audience-building and copy the mechanics, not the exact niche.

The Bootstrapped Founder

On Apple Podcasts by Arvid Kahl Ongoing series, most episodes 20 to 40 minutes

  • You can build reach and a business from anywhere by embedding in the online communities where your people already gather, then serving them.
  • Audience-first means building with and for people from day one, so validation and network come before the product is finished.
  • Consistency compounds: showing up publicly week after week is what slowly replaces a missing local scene.
Listen on Apple Podcasts podcasts.apple.com →
✍️ Essay
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it This is the essay that names the exact problem: most online writing blurs together because it is neither personal, observational, nor playful. Perell's section on developing your voice argues that distinctiveness comes from a personal monopoly, your own mix of interests and quirks, not from copying whoever is trending. It is honest that voice takes volume (he suggests publishing dozens of pieces) rather than a quick formula.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online

From perell.com by David Perell Long read

  • Voice is how you write, not what you write, and it is what lets you write about anything.
  • Build a personal monopoly: the intersection of your interests and traits that no one else can copy.
  • Expect your voice to emerge after you have shipped a lot, not on your first few posts.
Open perell.com →
✍️ Essay
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it This is the essay that names the shift you're betting on: online, your reputation and reach are no longer tied to where you live, who you know, or a boss's opinion of you. McCormick frames the internet as one open game anyone can play by being curious, sharing, and helping in public, with limited downside and large upside. Read it as encouragement to start, not a guarantee, then go do the unglamorous daily posting the other two resources describe.

The Great Online Game

From Not Boring (notboring.co) by Packy McCormick Medium read (about 20 to 30 minutes)

  • Financial and social capital are no longer bound to your location or credentials, which is exactly the constraint an out-of-hub founder feels.
  • The game rewards sharing, curiosity, and helping without keeping score, so generosity in public is a real strategy, not just a nice idea.
  • Small, consistent moves (a tweet, a post, a project shared openly) compound into opportunities that would never have found you offline.
Open notboring.co →

People also ask

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