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+# communities
+
+the single most important thing for a young builder is finding other people who are building. not people who talk about building, not people who aspire to build, but people who are actually making things. your peer group determines your trajectory more than any program, course, or mentor.
+
+here's where to find those people.
+
+## the big ones
+
+### Hack Club
+- **what:** global nonprofit network of 1000+ high school coding clubs, 80,000+ students. founded by Zach Latta.
+- **the real value:** the Slack community. hundreds of technical teenagers active at all hours. you can get code review, project feedback, and find collaborators at 2am.
+- **what they do:** hackathons (including a murder-mystery hackathon in Vienna and a game jam in LA with Michael Reeves), hardware grants, coding challenges, open source projects, and more.
+- **honest take:** this is probably the single best community for high school builders who code. the culture is "ship things" not "talk about shipping things." it's free, online, and genuinely welcoming. the people who are most active tend to be 14-18 and building real projects.
+- **how to join:** hackclub.com. join the Slack. start posting what you're building.
+- **also:** Hack Club Bank is a fiscal sponsorship platform — they'll hold money for your projects legally.
+
+### Socratica
+- **what:** IRL coworking sessions. started at University of Waterloo, now 40+ chapters in 10+ countries. 2500+ people at the 2025 symposium.
+- **the format:** show up on Sunday, work on your passion project, demo what you made at the end.
+- **honest take:** socratica embodies the "just make things" ethos better than almost any community. the demos are the best part — you see what everyone's working on and get inspired. the annual symposium in Waterloo is worth attending if you can.
+- **how to join:** check socratica.info for a chapter near you. if there isn't one, start one — they have a toolbox for that.
+- **disclosure:** I started a Socratica chapter at Nueva. it's been one of the best things I've done.
+
+### Twitter/X builder scene
+- **what:** there's a loose community of young builders on Twitter. you'll recognize them by the projects in their bios and the threads about what they're building.
+- **honest take:** twitter is where you build a public identity as a builder. it's also where you'll find mentors, collaborators, and opportunities you wouldn't find anywhere else. the key is to post about what you're building, not what you think about building. show your work.
+- **how to start:** follow builders whose work you admire. reply thoughtfully to their posts. share your own projects. don't try to be an "influencer" — just be someone who builds things and talks about it honestly.
+
+## college-age / slightly older
+
+### Sunday Dinners
+- **what:** invite-only dinner series for young builders in the Bay Area.
+- **honest take:** these are where you meet the people who are a few years ahead of you. college-age founders, early-career engineers, people starting companies. the conversations are higher-level than high school communities. worth getting invited to if you can.
+- **how to get in:** know someone who goes. attend adjacent events. build something notable enough that organizers invite you.
+
+### AGI House / SVFounders / Bay Area scene
+- **what:** various communities, houses, and event series in SF/Bay Area focused on tech builders.
+- **honest take:** the Bay Area has an ecosystem of builder communities that's unmatched anywhere else. AGI House hosts events about AI. SVFounders is a community for founders. there are house parties, demo nights, and dinners happening constantly. as a teen, you won't get into everything, but showing up to public events and being genuinely interesting goes a long way.
+
+### Interact
+- **what:** fellowship community for 18-23 year olds in tech. detailed on the [summer programs page](/wiki/summer-programs).
+- **honest take:** one of the best communities for the 18-23 age range. the alumni network is excellent.
+
+## online communities
+
+### relevant Discord servers
+- **Buildspace (archived):** the community channels still exist even though the program shut down. worth lurking.
+- **Hack Club Slack:** technically Slack not Discord, but this is the most active teen builder community online.
+- **specific project communities:** whatever you're building with (React, Rust, ML, etc.) has a Discord. join the one for your stack.
+- **Indie Hackers:** more adult-oriented but teens are welcome. good for people building products and wanting to talk about growth, revenue, etc.
+
+### relevant Substacks / newsletters
+- **Lenny's Newsletter:** product management and startup insights
+- **The Pragmatic Engineer:** engineering career and tech industry
+- **Stratechery:** tech business strategy (paid but worth it)
+- **The Generalist:** deep dives on tech companies and trends
+
+## the local scene
+
+don't underestimate what's in your backyard.
+
+### hackathon communities
+- every major city has a hackathon scene. attend one and you'll find the local builder community. the organizers are usually the most connected people.
+
+### makerspaces
+- if you want to build hardware, find a local makerspace. they have tools (laser cutters, 3D printers, soldering stations) and people who know how to use them.
+
+### university events
+- most university hackathons, demo days, and tech talks are open to high schoolers (or at least don't check). Stanford Treehacks, CalHacks, HackMIT — these are great even if you're in high school.
+
+## how to actually get value from communities
+
+1. **show up consistently.** the best relationships form over months, not at a single event.
+2. **contribute before you ask.** help others with their projects before asking for help with yours.
+3. **be the person who ships.** in any community, the person who's always launching things gets the most attention and the best opportunities.
+4. **don't community-hop.** pick 1-2 communities and go deep rather than joining 10 and being a ghost in all of them.
+5. **organize something.** starting a hackathon, a study group, or a Socratica chapter is one of the highest-leverage things you can do as a young builder. organizers meet everyone.
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