StartupBeer.Me – Startups, Beer and the Importance of a Community

Beginnings are hard. No matter what are you starting, or even if you are expert or an amateur, doing something for the first time. Starting something from scratch is sometimes the hardest part of making your idea real. With that in mind, being in startup business must be extremely hard. However, just like with the real jobs and relationships, communitys can make or break you and your situation. Networking has become a synonym for building up professional and personal relationships and it is one of the most crucial parts of building up startups. In short, the stronger the community, the better your startup odds.

Community Is Important

But first, let’s talk more about the importance of the (local) community for startups. Firstof all, there is feedback. Everybody has an opinion, and having professional and consumer feedback in early stages can be precious if you know how to listen to it. It is helpful when you need to find beta testers, and after you launch your product, it can help by becoming its early adopters and, consequently, spreading the word. Not to mention that you will have  larger referral network and pool to attract people you need for your startup.

Although we learned to relay on online reviews, from a psychological point of view, nothing beats word of mouth. By sharing common professional and less professional interests, we tend to bond with people who have similar or the same way of thinking. In that way we start to trust community, its members and its recommendation in a same way we trust ourselves.

How to achieve that community?

Organise events, approach institutions, offer your expertise and lead an mentor whenever you can. Don’t forget about your alumni network and once you are, give back to community in financial, recruiting or promoting ways. But don’t forget to have fun, because all business and no downwind time makes business, not community.

Sit, Chat and Grab a Beer

If you don’t know where to start,  StartupBeer.Me, that might have caught your attention in the title, is a great place to get to know your fellow european startup comrades. Although it is an online meet up for startupers from different (European) countries, it all started as an idea in the heads of the Usersnap team from Perg, Austria.

One friday, after a long week, they opened a couple of beers, and thought of doing the same with their fellow startupers. StartupBeer would be just like the offline semi casual meetups, that would take a place in a bar where you can grab a beer and talk business and other things, they decided. The only differenceis that this will be done online, so no one would be geographically excluded.

There you can talk about the ideas, troubles or achievements from your working week and get in touch with people you know or someone new. Regular meetings are held every week,  Fridays after work, 04:00pm CEST. Thereis no pressure of usual formalities, but there are a few rules. There can be no ads, no sales stuff, everyone should speak English so there is no language confusion and, despite the name, beer is not mandatory, but it is welcomed. Although everything is free you must announce your arrival, so that you can be provided with right URL. It is an open space, so there is no program. So far there have been five meet ups and you can check them out on their Youtube page.

Being in the startup business can be a very demanding job. Just like in all other areas of life, your community and support system are very important. Startupbeer.me is on the right way, and implementing  a business-casual model into the online space. And let’s not forget this huge plus: if you go a bit overboard with your beer and venture more into casual then business, you just need to log off and any further embarrassment is avoided!