This month, the focus of our roundtable discussion was: Building Community, Networks and Planned Coalitions. Why they matter and how they’ve evolved. We got three of our highly experienced Mentors together to share their insights and ideas and the following is a summary of their findings.

Why This Shift Matters Now

All businesses, regardless of size, face similar challenges. This is why rethinking networking is necessary.

Founders put in a lot of time networking, attending events, and having conversations, but they rarely see steady or meaningful results. It’s often hard to tell what they actually gain from these efforts.

The primary challenge is not the founders’ level of effort, but rather their approach. Traditional networking no longer aligns with how business relationships and opportunities are formed today.

Recognising these challenges, it becomes evident that a new way of networking is emerging – one that better reflects how business relationships form today.

Traditional ‘networking’ does not reflect how business relationships are established today.

For many, ‘networking’ is associated with superficial interactions focused on securing deals or impressing. This often feels disingenuous and leads to missed genuine connections. Community-based relationships tend to foster more authentic outcomes.

Moving from transactional networking to community means shifting to ongoing conversation rather than one-off connections.

• Shared interests instead of forced introductions.
• A simple but important shift supports this change. Rather than asking, “What are you working on right now?” consider, “What is currently exciting you?” This reduces pressure and encourages genuine discussion, making it easier for founders to develop stronger connections. 

Generosity is still essential for creating trust and real connections.

Sharing insights and actively engaging in discussions builds trust. However, it is important to distinguish between thoughtful generosity and unfocused giving. If generosity is not intentional, it can result in time investment without returns, such as blurred boundaries between free and paid work. Instead, focus on:

• Being generous in a thoughtful and structured way works best: Share one clear, useful insight rather than trying to solve everything at once;
• Creating scalable value through content, resources, or group environments;
• Establishing expectations early in any interaction.

Founders need to know the difference between giving and selling. It’s important to set a clear boundary between free informal support and paid services. Without this, everyone loses value and trust in the experience, confusing the balance between generosity with the need to make money. While helping build trust, businesses still need to generate revenue. There’s no single rule for when to move from free to paid.

With these points in mind, a general pattern begins to emerge.

Early-stage companies gain more visibility by giving. This builds awareness and reputation and opens gateways. As businesses grow, they need to change their approach by adding more structure, setting clearer boundaries, and using their time more carefully.

The balance changes over time. Remember, this is a gradual process, not a strict rule.

Collaborative Alliances are Often Under-Evaluated. 

Many partnerships are initiated by opportunity rather than true alignment.

This approach leads to mixed results. Some partnerships deliver long-term value, but others cause friction, confusion, or offer no real benefit.

Given these challenges, a more thorough approach is needed.

Effective partnerships are built on shared values and standards.

• Effective partnerships provide access to relevant audiences.
• Proven reliability and consistency are crucial in partnerships.
• Partnerships should offer clear mutual benefits to both parties.

As a result, it is important to reconsider how partnerships are viewed. A partnership involves more than shared work; it is also an endorsement. When a business partners with another, it is effectively vouching for that partner to its own network.

This creates both more opportunity and more risk. Carefully evaluating partnerships with a checklist or clear criteria helps reduce emotional decisions and leads to better long-term results.

Community is not an Add-On. It’s a Strategy. 

Remember the important role the community plays in business growth. Many people see community as just a marketing tool or a way to get people involved. But community is actually a key part of modern business growth and strategy.

Community creates consistent touchpoints beyond simple transactions.

• Community provides opportunities for peer learning and support.
• Community ensures ongoing visibility without constant self-promotion.

In addition to creating ongoing engagement, one big change is the order in which businesses are built.

Instead of: Build offer → find audience

The more effective approach is: Build audience → shape offer.

This way, feedback shapes what you make, lowers risk, and makes your offer fit better. It also helps you meet real needs.

A Common Constraint: Reluctance to Ask

Many founders are comfortable giving but reluctant to ask for support. This reluctance creates hidden obstacles; opportunities, introductions, and help are often available, yet overlooked because founders do not request them. Key observations include: Strengthening relationships comes from asking within trusted contexts.

• Missed opportunities are often unspoken rather than unavailable.
• Specific requests are more effective than vague outreach.

To address this, the key shift is in perspective. Asking is not taking. It is part of a reciprocal exchange. When you give value, asking for help becomes easier. The biggest change is how these new ways define growth.

Growth is driven by the relevance of relationships.

• Growth relies on consistent interaction.
• Success requires alignment between people, values, and direction.

This shift requires changing behaviour: rather than attending more events and broadening reach indiscriminately, founders should focus on developing fewer, stronger relationships by engaging with intent and prioritising alignment over quantity.

The result isn’t rapid growth. Instead, it’s steady, repeatable progress built on trust, relevance, and shared value.

The Real Takeaway

In summary, the traditional networking model is being replaced.

This shift isn’t just a new tactic – it’s a different way of doing business.

• Community replaces transactions.
• Generosity is structured, not unlimited.
• Partnerships are evaluated, not assumed.
• Asking is normalised, not avoided

Growth is no longer about how many contacts you have. It’s about how you build, maintain, and use relationships over time. That’s where real, long-term opportunities come from.

 

With thanks to Angie Martin who compiled these insights, as well as our other Roundtable contributors: Mary-Anne Amies and Leigh White.