Startup Grind: Building Local Startup Communities with Global Reach
The other day I met an entrepreneur who told me that he had more than 1,500 contacts on his iPhone 5. I asked him why so many. So I can network he told me.
And do you talk to all those people, I asked. Heck no, he said. I’m too busy trying to build my company.
That’s the challenge with networking. Something in a conversation sparks an interest. You exchange numbers or emails. You intend to call, but there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the year to keep up with all the people you meet. So the name goes in your iPhone and most of the time the relationship stops there.
The instinct is right; it’s just the implementation that’s a little off.
Instead of collecting numbers you might never call, why don’t you give Startup Grind a try?
Startup Grind, a self-described global startup community, is a way to build connected and meaningful relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs, people who have a lot in common with you.
Startup Grind began in Palo Alto, CA—no big surprise there—but now there are more than 40 chapters all over the world—Denver, New York, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne—and the list is growing every month.
The really great news for us is that is that Columbus is home to one of the newest Startup Grind chapters, and TechColumbus is delighted to be the host location for the Columbus Startup Grind chapter’s monthly meetings.
The inaugural Startup Grind meeting here is Monday, December 9 —and I’m especially delighted to be speaking to the group that evening.
Being an entrepreneur is exciting, challenging, and fun. But it can also be frustrating, discouraging, and lonely. Startup Grind gets at all of these. It is an organization by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. The idea is to educate, inspire, and connect.
The Startup Grind values say it all:
- We believe in making friends, not contacts.
- We believe in giving, not taking.
- We believe in helping others before helping yourself.
Get in on the ground floor.
I hope to see you there.
Photo credit: Startup Grind
