How to meet other entrepreneurs in your 20s (without faking it)
Seven places that actually work, how to do it online without cold messages, and what to say once you're in the room.
Starting a business in your 20s is lonely in a specific way. Your friends are building careers. Your parents want to know when you'll get a real job. And the people online who seem to be doing what you do are mostly showing the highlight reel.
We run e-commerce stores that sell in the US, Australia and France. Almost everything useful we learned came from other operators: a tip about a supplier, a warning about an ad account, someone showing their actual numbers. So this is the practical version of how to meet other entrepreneurs, written for people who don't have a big title or a big budget yet.
Why meeting other entrepreneurs matters more than another course
Courses give you information. Other entrepreneurs give you context: which part of the information matters this month, for your business, at your stage. That's the network gap at 20-something. You can download every playbook on the internet and still not know which mistake you're about to make.
A small group of people one or two steps ahead of you closes that gap faster than any course. They remember what your stage feels like. They'll tell you what they'd do differently. And they keep you honest, because it's hard to hide behind vanity metrics in a room full of people who know what real numbers look like.
Where to meet entrepreneurs: 7 places that actually work
1. Local meetups and networking events
Start with small, recurring events rather than big one-off conferences. A monthly founder breakfast where you see the same faces beats a 500-person event where you collect business cards. Platforms like Meetup list entrepreneur meetups in most cities. Pick one and go three times before you judge it. Familiarity is what turns small talk into trust.
2. Coworking spaces
A coworking desk is a networking event that runs every day. You see who's there, what they're working on, who's still there at seven. Many spaces run lunches or demo evenings for members. Even a day pass once a week puts you in a room with people building things.
3. Online communities and Discord servers
Niche communities around your business model, like e-commerce, SaaS, agencies or creators, are full of people at your stage. The trick is to contribute before you ask. Answer questions you actually know the answer to. Share what you tested. People remember the person who helped, not the person who posted a link to their product.
4. Building in public on Instagram or X
Share what you're building, including what isn't working. You don't need a big following. Ten honest posts about your progress will reach more like-minded founders than a hundred cold DMs, because the right people find you and start the conversation themselves.
5. University and student ventures
If you're studying, your university is one of the easiest places to meet young entrepreneurs. Incubators, entrepreneurship minors, student startup societies and pitch nights are designed for exactly this. Alumni founders are often happy to talk to students. Ask your programme where the starting entrepreneurs hang out.
6. Masterminds and retreats
A mastermind is a small group that meets regularly to work on each other's businesses. A retreat does the same thing in a compressed way: a few days, away from your normal life, with a small group. The good ones are curated on stage and ambition, not just on who paid. Ask who else is in the room before you join anything.
7. Trips with other founders
The fastest way to build a real relationship is to do something together. A few days of travelling, cooking, working and talking with eight or ten founders compresses months of coffee meetings into one long weekend. You leave knowing how people think, not just what they post. That's the idea UNFILTRD is built on: small networking trips for starting entrepreneurs.
Depth beats volume. Every time.
How to meet entrepreneurs online without sending cold messages
Cold messages fail because they ask for something before anything has been given. Flip the order:
- Follow and read first. Pick ten founders one or two steps ahead of you. Read what they share for a few weeks.
- Reply with substance. Comment with a real observation or a question about their actual post. Not "great post".
- Give something specific. Feedback on their product, a useful link, an introduction, a data point from your own business.
- Then message. By now they know your name. Keep it short: who you are, one specific thing you liked, one question.
It's slower than a hundred copy-paste DMs. It also works, which the copy-paste DMs don't.
How to find like-minded entrepreneurs
"Like-minded" gets misread as "same industry" or "same title". What actually matters is stage. Someone running a small webshop and someone building an app at the same point, first customers, first hire, first real mistakes, have more to say to each other than two people in the same industry at very different stages.
Look for three things: they're at a similar stage, they're honest about their numbers, and they're hungry in the same way you are. Skills can differ. In fact, they should. A group with the same stage and different skills is where the best advice comes from.
How to find young entrepreneurs near you (Rotterdam and the Netherlands)
We're based in Rotterdam, so here's where we'd start locally. Programmes change, so check their sites for what's running now.
- Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship in Rotterdam runs programmes and events for starting entrepreneurs.
- YES!Delft, a short train ride away, is a well-known tech incubator with its own community and events.
- Your own school's incubator. Most universities and universities of applied sciences in the Randstad have one. Ask.
- Meetup and Eventbrite, searching for "entrepreneur", "founder" or "ondernemers" plus your city.
- Coworking spaces in your city, many of which host open evenings.
What to say once you're in the room
You don't need a perfect pitch. You need one honest sentence and real questions.
The opener: "I'm building [what] for [who]. Right now I'm stuck on [one real problem]. What are you working on?"
It tells people what you do, shows you're honest about where you are, and hands the conversation back to them. Then ask things like:
- "What's the hardest part of your business right now?"
- "What did you get wrong in your first year?"
- "Who should I really be talking to about this?"
The follow-up within 48 hours is where most people drop off. Send a short message that mentions one specific thing from the conversation. Deliver anything you promised: the link, the intro, the feedback. A month later, send an update: "You suggested X. I tried it. Here's what happened." People love seeing their advice used, and it's the moment a contact turns into a relationship.
The unfiltered version: what nobody tells you about networking in your 20s
- Most events are a waste. That's fine. You only need one good room. Keep looking until you find it, then keep showing up.
- Faking progress backfires. In small circles, inflated numbers get found out fast. "It's not working yet, here's what I'm testing" builds more trust than a polished story.
- You'll feel too early. Everyone you want to meet was once exactly where you are. Most of them remember it, and many like helping.
- Five real relationships beat five hundred contacts. Two hundred connections you've never spoken to are worth less than five people who pick up the phone.
- It compounds. The person you help today introduces you to someone next year. Networking is slow, until suddenly it isn't.
Where UNFILTRD fits
We're building UNFILTRD around everything above: a closed community for starting entrepreneurs who want to network and travel. Small groups of eight to ten, a few nights away, real problems on the table, filmed for the members. No offer yet, no price and no dates. The first trip isn't booked. You can vote where it goes, read who we are, see how the community works, or get on the list.
Checklist: meeting other entrepreneurs
Tick them off. Your progress stays in this browser.
FAQ
Where can I meet entrepreneurs near me?
Start with recurring local meetups (search Meetup or Eventbrite for "entrepreneur" or "founder" plus your city), coworking spaces, and your university's incubator. In Rotterdam, the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship is a good starting point. Go to the same event several times so faces become relationships.
How do I meet entrepreneurs if I don't have a business yet?
Be honest about where you are and lead with curiosity and effort. Offer help on a concrete task, give useful feedback, and share what you're learning in public. People one or two steps ahead usually respond well to someone who is clearly doing the work.
Is it worth travelling to meet other founders?
Often, yes. A few days together on a retreat or networking trip builds more trust than months of separate coffee meetings, because you see how people think and work. Check who else is going and whether the group is curated before you commit.
How do I meet entrepreneurs online?
Follow founders at a slightly later stage, reply to their posts with real substance, give something specific like feedback or an introduction, and only then send a short message. Online communities around your business model are also a good place to contribute and get noticed.
How do I find like-minded entrepreneurs?
Look for people at the same stage rather than the same industry, who are honest about their numbers and ambitious in the same way. Different skills at the same stage make for the most useful conversations.