Introducing City Squads
Human Relationships has been one of GrowthMentor’s core values since day 1 and we are tickled pink to see how many connections have developed via this platform.
Friendships, collaborations, working relationships, business partnerships, etc… we are still waiting to hear about a GrowthMentor wedding- so if you are out there, let us know!
Every day random strangers around the world are getting on video calls and chatting one and one to problem solve growth roadblocks together. As I write this 28,512 calls have been scheduled through the platform, so I think it’s safe to say we’ve got the 1:1 connection thing down.
A big theme that we’ve consistently heard when doing user research over the years is that people also want to connect locally. They already have plenty of “online friends” but are missing the connection of being able to chat about business growth with their local pals over a cappuccino in a local cafe or perhaps commiserating about Google’s latest updates over a pint after work.
City Squads bring the 1:1 magic of GrowthMentor calls to the real world.
If we really want to peel some layers back 🧅 because our founder Foti didn’t have a local city squad he started this very platform so he could find people to connect with to talk through the marketing challenges he was facing. So it’s a good thing these didn’t exist back then 🙂
Closely relating to our members telling us they wanted to connect locally, was this finding : many people are professionally lonely.
Whether they are solo-founders, the only marketer on the team or working remotely far away from other team members- the lonely vibe is there.
BUT enough about that sad statistic – let’s get to what we are doing to fix that!
How City Squads Work
You can find all of our active City Squads here https://app.growthmentor.com/cities Spoiler : The London City Squad dominates with the largest number of members 🇬🇧🤘
GrowthMentor members and mentors are able to join a squad and state whether they live in a city or are visiting. That’s right! If you are visiting a city, what a better way to get the DL than from those that live there?
Once approved you’ll be added to the private Slack group for that city. From there on out, it’s up to YOU to make the most of it!
Private Slack Group
You never know where a proper introduction in a new Slack channel will lead to, so don’t miss your shot!
Since posting this, Corbin already has a new local rowing buddy!
As GrowthMentor is a niche community focused on growth marketing, you’ll find many of the topics related to startup and entrepreneurial life.
The big draw is the in person meet-ups, but you can really find some hidden gems in these micro-Slack communities. Local job opportunities, meetups or housing inquiries are all fair game.
And as mentioned above- this is a great chance for visitors to get local tips and if lucky, meet up with a few fellow GMers for a local snack! Currywurst anyone?!
These groups are open to any GrowthMentor members- even those on the light plan, so what are you waiting for? Get connecting 😎
Types of Events
After a few random attempts at things, we’ve narrowed down 2 types of GrowthMentor in person meetups that are 🔥
Casual Networking / Happy Hours
Just your basic, run of the mill, after work meetup with the coolest local growth folks possible 💅 As our community is gated by membership and the mentors are heavily vetted- the people who turn up at these meetups are serious about their work and eager to network with other highly focused individuals. Ok, that sounded stuffy. Our meetups are FAR FROM stuffy.
These events generally include drinks and food and are free for our community. Non-members can join for a nominal price depending on logistics. These meetups are either planned by our team or local ambassadors. Want to set one up? Holler at us on live chat!
Speed Mentoring
We’ve done this a handful of times and it requires a city with a large startup scene and a good amount of mentors. Aticco in Barcelona has hosted this event twice and both times were fabulous!
Something that we don’t put enough emphasis on publicly is that our mentors are not only vetted based on their work experience, but also on their soft skills and social intelligence. Because of this they are the kind of folks who thrive on helping strangers and solving problems that aren’t their own. It’s the perfect match for an event that takes the dynamics of speed dating and mixes in startup mentorship.
These events literally take our offering from the online world to the real world. Human connection FTW!
My city isn’t listed
We’ve always been very proud of the international flair our community has. The only down side of that is that we are all spread all over the place, so you may be raring to host a local meetup and there are like 2 other people in your city. Guess what, that’s totally cool with us! We’ll foot the bill on the first round if you want to get together. Get in touch with Jessica for details.
If you are the solo GMer in your city, you’ll have to hangout online in the Slack group and network that way. Luckily we have our advanced networking feature that allows you to mindfully connect with other members based on networking objective filters.
We announce new larger meetups on EventBrite, so be sure to give us a follow. Otherwise localized meetups are discussed in the Slack groups, so keep your eyes open. Or better yet, suggest a meetup at a local watering hole and see who is up to join you 🙂
