c/entrepreneur-network

A VC in SF told me my pitch deck was too busy

After she said 'I can't find your revenue model in 5 seconds', I cut every slide down to 3 words max. Has anyone else gotten feedback that made you totally redo your approach?

2 comments

willow_martin•18h ago

Spent 6 months building a network in Denver, realized I was just collecting business cards the whole time

I went to like 30 meetups and networking events from January to June, got maybe 200 cards, and not one real lead came from it. Last week I finally got a solid referral from just grabbing coffee with one guy I actually talked to for an hour. Has anyone else found that most networking events are basically fake?

2 comments

riverm48•3d ago

Figured out I was pitching my services all wrong for months

I kept sending detailed proposals with pricing upfront and getting ghosted. Then a guy I met at a networking event told me 'stop selling, start asking questions' and it clicked. Anyone else have a moment where a simple conversation changed how you approach things?

2 comments

anderson.gavin•4d ago

Hit 50 connections last month and it backfired hard

Got too many leads coming in at once from a networking event in Austin. Now I'm drowning in follow-ups and losing track of who promised what.

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anna567•4d ago

Warning: Tried a coworking space in Austin for 3 months and it killed my productivity

I thought having people around would push me to work harder. But all the noise and networking pressure made me get barely half my usual tasks done. Switched back to my home office setup with a strict schedule and saw a 40% boost in output. Has anyone else found coworking spaces more distracting than helpful?

2 comments

nancy824•6d ago

Chose a local networking group over a big online platform and it paid off fast

I had to decide between a $200 annual online entrepreneur network or a free local meetup in Austin. I picked the local group, and within 3 weeks I got a referral that landed me a $1,200 project. Has anyone else had better luck with in-person connections over digital ones?

2 comments

max_ramirez48•7d ago

My mentor told me to fire my first 3 clients and I thought he was nuts

Back in 2019 when I started my web design biz in Austin, my mentor Bob said I should drop my first 3 clients because they paid too little and demanded too much. I thought he was crazy since I needed the cash flow bad. Turns out those clients were taking up 80% of my time for like $200 a month each. I kept one client anyway and regretted it for 6 months before finally cutting them loose. Has anyone else had a mentor give advice that felt wrong but turned out to be the right call?

2 comments

harperschmidt•7d ago

Hit 50 real conversations at a networking meetup and it clicked

I used to go to networking events and just hand out business cards like candy. I would talk to someone for maybe two minutes, hand them a card, and move on. Last month I went to a small meetup in Austin with only about 30 people there. Instead of rushing, I sat down with three different folks and asked them real questions about their businesses. One guy told me he landed a big client just by staying behind and helping the host clean up. That stuck with me. Now I focus on having one good conversation instead of collecting ten phone numbers. Has anyone else tried slowing down at events and seen better results?

2 comments

ivanjones•8d ago

Showerthought: Local meetups vs online groups for real leads

I spent 3 months hustling in a local entrepreneur meetup in Austin and got maybe 2 lukewarm contacts. Then I joined a niche Slack group for our industry and landed a solid referral in 2 weeks lol. Anyone else find online networks way more useful than in-person ones?

3 comments

elizabetha92•9d ago

Hit 50 new client referrals in one quarter off a single LinkedIn post

Back in February I wrote a quick post about how I built my personal training schedule around client recovery days and it somehow got shared in a local business group in Austin. By the end of March I had 50 people reach out for consultations, way more than I ever got from paid ads. Has anyone else seen a random social media post blow up like that with zero planning?

3 comments

benflores•9d ago

Wasted $2,000 on a fancy coworking membership I barely used

Signed up for a premium spot in Austin back in 2021 thinking it would force me to network daily, but I ended up just hiding in a corner booth most days. Anyone else throw cash at a 'networking solution' and get zero real connections out of it?

2 comments

daniel214•10d ago

The day I stopped cold emailing strangers and tried warm intros instead

I spent like 6 months sending cold emails to business owners on LinkedIn and getting maybe a 2% reply rate. Then I went to a local startup meetup in Austin last month and this guy named Marcus told me I was basically spamming people. He said to find mutual connections and ask for a 5 minute intro call instead. I tried it with 10 people last week and 6 actually replied. Has anyone else found that warm intros work way better or was I just doing cold emails horribly wrong?

2 comments

cameron_webb•10d ago

Why does nobody talk about how bad networking apps can kill your time

I spent 3 weeks on Shapr and Bumble Bizz last month trying to find solid connections in Austin and got nada but spam from people selling dropshipping courses. Most convos died after two messages or turned into a sales pitch for some MLM scheme. Anyone actually land a real deal through one of these things or is it just me?

2 comments

young.spencer•10d ago

That networking app I swore was a scam ended up landing me a solid partnership

I joined FounderMatch 6 months ago thinking it was just another paid directory. Ignored it for weeks. Finally messaged a guy from Portland who builds packaging for small food brands. We talked for 20 minutes, he connected me to a distributor that cut my shipping costs by 30%. Still feels weird that it worked. Has anyone else gotten a real deal from one of these apps?

2 comments

angelas78•12d ago

Debate: Should you cold email investors or warm up through mutual contacts first?

I spent 6 months trying to get meetings by cold emailing VCs in Austin and got maybe 3 replies total. Then I switched to asking friends of friends for intros and landed 12 meetings in 3 weeks. Which approach wins long term, or do you need both?

3 comments

miles581•12d ago

Realized I was pitching to the wrong people for 6 months

I spent half a year sending cold emails to restaurant owners in Austin about my inventory software, getting nowhere. Then a buddy pointed out I should be targeting the purchasing managers instead, since the owners never even opened my emails. Has anyone else had that moment where you finally see you've been aiming at the wrong target the whole time?

2 comments

the_wyatt•13d ago

Took me 6 hours to fix a simple email sequence glitch

I was trying to set up a welcome email flow for my consulting leads and a single broken link kept sending people to a 404 page. After digging through settings for three hours I realized I had typed .con instead of .com in the URL. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon on something this dumb?

2 comments

wendy_bell83•13d ago

Overheard someone say 'network is net worth' at a coffee shop and it finally clicked differently

This guy was pitching his startup to a friend at the shop near my office. He said he spent 6 months building a product but only talked to 3 potential users before launch. That line hit me because I've been doing the same thing. Spent 4 months on a website redesign for my consulting biz and barely reached out to past clients for feedback. How do you force yourself to prioritize conversations over coding or planning?

2 comments

uma_baker88•13d ago

That mentor who told me to fire my first client was right all along

My buddy Dave at a Phoenix networking meetup said I'd lose money keeping that $500/month client who demanded 24/7 updates, and after 8 months of stress and zero growth, I finally cut them loose last Tuesday so has anyone else had a client that was more trouble than they were worth?

2 comments

olivia_hernandez•14d ago

My laptop crashed mid-presentation at a networking mixer last night

I was at a startup mixer in Austin pitching my side project to a group of investors when my screen just went black. The room got quiet and I had to wing it with just a verbal explanation for 3 minutes while it rebooted. Turns out my battery was old and couldn't handle the load, so now I always carry a backup power bank. Has anyone else had a tech fail right when you needed to impress someone important?

2 comments

abbychen•14d ago

Shoutout to a random vendor at a networking meetup

I was at a small entrepreneur mixer in Austin last month and this guy selling handmade leather journals just walked up and asked me what my biggest fear in business was. He listened for 10 minutes without interrupting or pitching his stuff, then just said 'keep going, you're closer than you think.' Has anyone else had a random stranger give them the exact push they needed at a networking event without wanting anything back?

2 comments

logan632•15d ago

My payment processor locked my account with $3,200 in pending payouts

Last Friday I woke up to an email from Stripe saying my account was under review and they froze all my payouts. No warning, no reason given, just a generic message about unusual activity. I'm running a small side business selling handmade leather goods through my own website, nothing sketchy at all. I spent the whole weekend on hold and sending them bank statements, invoices, and ID verification documents. They finally released the funds yesterday after I threatened to switch to Square. Has anyone else had a payment platform just shut you down out of nowhere and make you jump through hoops to get your own money?

3 comments

hollyramirez•15d ago

Met a guy at a co-working space in Denver who changed how I think about networking

Went to a co-working meetup in RiNo last Thursday and this older guy started talking about how he built his whole business by just having coffee with one person a week for like 3 years. He said he never asked for anything upfront, just listened and helped where he could. Has anyone else tried that slow build approach instead of the usual speed networking hustle?

3 comments

sethmartinez•15d ago

Blew $400 on a 'done for you' dropshipping store and got nothing

I figured I'd shortcut the hard part and bought a pre-built store from a guy on Fiverr. Paid $400 thinking I'd get a polished site with winning products and a marketing plan. What I got was a generic Shopify template with 12 random items from AliExpress and zero research. The 'marketing plan' was just a list of Facebook groups to post in. No sales, no refund, guy disappeared after a week. Has anyone else fallen for these package deals or am I just the sucker here?

3 comments

the_alice•17d ago

Rant: The local chamber mixer I wrote off actually paid off

I always figured those chamber of commerce mixers were just people passing business cards and eating bad finger food. I skipped them for three years. Then last month I went to one downtown because I had nothing better to do on a Tuesday. Met a guy who does office cleaning for half the rate I was paying my current vendor, and he handles 12 buildings in my area. Has anyone else found real value in a networking group they were ignoring?

2 comments