Community for Other Startups

Yannick Silver is a serial entrepreneur who bootstrapped seven businesses to seven figures and is now building Maverick 1000, a peer-to-peer member-driven organization of 120+ game-changing entrepreneurs paying $1,500/month ($150/month of which goes to impact initiatives). The group has deployed over $2 million in impact funds while generating $1.8M+ ARR, combining business growth, experiential retreats, and social impact through a carefully curated ecoverse of entrepreneurs.

SaaStock is a conference for SaaS founders bootstrapped by Alex Theuma. The event focuses on building credibility and authority in the SaaS industry while maintaining positive attendee experiences and financial sustainability through sponsorship models.

MicroConf is a nearly decade-old community platform and conference series dedicated to bootstrapped SaaS entrepreneurs. The organization is announcing major expansions including upgraded community features, new courses, founder matching, and exclusive team retreat offerings to continue empowering independent founders.

MicroConf Masterminds is a community matching service that connects SaaS founders across 50+ countries and 20 time zones for peer accountability and growth support. The program has made hundreds of successful matches with participants collectively generating $150M+ in ARR, and recently enhanced its offering with mentor sessions on customer interviews, marketing, and hiring.

Stikkernet is a sticker business founded by developer Fatih Kadir Akın that grew through community building rather than traditional development approaches. Despite peers questioning why he didn't build it from scratch as a developer, Fatih chose a simpler path that led to a successful exit. The business demonstrates how non-technical founders and developers can build thriving businesses by focusing on community engagement and solving logistics challenges in international shipping.

Dynamite Circle is a community platform for 7+ figure founders, co-hosted by Dan and Ian. The podcast episode features a candid year-end review of 2025 with highlights, lowlights, and future direction for the community.

Simon Treulle founded Pangolia, a digital media site, and Hepper, an e-commerce pet furniture brand. He credits much of his success to attending an SEO conference in Chiang Mai at age 19 and surrounding himself with mentors and friends who provided critical feedback on his business strategy, helping him pivot away from ineffective content marketing approaches.

The Dynamite Circle is a private membership forum and community for entrepreneurs. They host in-person events to build relationships and facilitate learning among members, with DCMEX being their first official event since 2019, held in Mexico City.

First Blood is a gaming platform built on blockchain that allows amateur gamers to compete against each other for money. The company conducted one of the fastest ICOs in crypto history in September 2016, raising approximately $5 million in under 5 minutes by selling 465,000 ether at $11 per token. The team liquidated 80% of the raised ether (372,250 tokens) immediately to fund operations, converting roughly $4 million into USD for salaries, marketing, and platform development.

New Story is a nonprofit that transforms slums into sustainable communities by building homes for $6,000 each through a digital crowdfunding platform. In 17 months, Brett Hagler and his 6-person team generated over $3 million in donation revenue, built 4 communities with over 300 homes, and secured backing from philanthropist 'investor donors.' The company differentiates itself through radical transparency—donors see exact family profiles and know exactly where their money goes.

Scott Gerber founded the Young Entrepreneurial Council (YEC), an invitation-only membership organization with 1,600+ vetted entrepreneurs from companies collectively generating $13 billion in revenue with $9 billion in venture capital backing. The organization maintains exceptional 90%+ annual retention by focusing on highly personalized, human-centric member experiences including curated networking, quarterly check-ins, and proactive value delivery rather than growth-hacking metrics.

FinCon is an annual conference founded in 2011 by CPA and personal finance expert Philip Taylor that brings together the world's top personal finance content creators and influencers. By 2015, the event had grown to 900 attendees generating over $500K in revenue ($220K from ticket sales and $220K from sponsorships) with $200K in profit, after initially losing money for the first few years. The key to profitability came from treating it as a full business rather than a side project, introducing VIP ticket tiers, and restructuring sponsorship offerings to highlight attendee reach and influence.

Mollye Graham is an operating executive and leadership coach who built Glue Club, a community for scaling leaders. Drawing from 18+ years at Google, Facebook, Quip (sold to Salesforce), and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, she developed frameworks like 'Give Away Your Legos' and the Waterline Model to help leaders manage rapid growth, navigate emotional challenges, and build high-performing teams.

Spencer Scott launched Lonestar Trash in January 2024 after getting frustrated with his neighborhood's trash collection service leaving bins scattered across lawns and ditches. He posted in a Facebook community group asking about switching providers, received 150 comments, and convinced 200 households to commit to his new service. Within 24-48 hours of launching a simple website with a referral program, he collected $15,000 in pre-sales, purchased 200 trash bins, bought a garbage truck via American Express credit line, and launched his first route.

DC BKK is an annual event hosted by Dan and Ian in Bangkok that has been running for at least five years. The event has developed a strong, intimate community connection with TropicalMBA listeners who return year after year.

ndLondon is a free quarterly meetup community for bootstrapped entrepreneurs and indie hackers in London, founded by Jislan Gayat in February 2018. Starting with just 5-10 people responding to a forum post, the meetup has grown to regularly attract 80-100 attendees through speaker-driven formats, workshops, and hands-on sessions that deliver actionable value. The meetup has become one of the largest in the Indie Hackers global meetup program, with notable success stories including attendees launching projects and even co-founders meeting at the events.

Indie VC (NDVC) is an alternative venture capital firm founded by Bryce Roberts that invests in bootstrapped and revenue-focused companies. Rather than the traditional VC model of successive funding rounds, NDVC provides capital with the expectation that companies will grow through sustainable revenue, with returns coming through cash distributions capped at 5x. The firm has gained significant traction since its cryptic January 2015 launch on Hacker News, attracting applications from entrepreneurs across the U.S. who want to build ambitious companies on their own terms.

MicroConf's Mastermind Matching Program connects founders globally into peer advisory groups to accelerate business growth through shared experiences and accountability. Over three years, the program has matched nearly 1,000 founders building businesses with over $150 million in combined ARR, and now offers enhanced support including mentorship sessions, curated resources, and office hours with Rob Walling for high-ARR founders.