👋 Hey everybody!
In this edition:
Meet your people — upcoming worldwide events for:
All-In, Tim Ferriss, Product Hunt, Superteam, TWiST, and MFM
On building community:
Live session with Nick Gray happening April 30th
Jack Conte’s SXSW talk The Death of the Follower
Rae’s list: Interesting community people you should know
River traction + product updates
But first, I need a favor: What other communities do you want to hang out with on River?
01 // Meet your people
Upcoming worldwide events
All-In worldwide fan meetups for Episode 175 | April 24
Tim Ferriss 10th anniversary fan meetups | April 25
Product Hunt meetups | May 2
Psst.. Jason Calacanis is hiring a community manager
My First Million | May 9
New communities
Steph Smith’s Internet Pipes — Member events & Join or Die film screenings
SaaStock — B2B SaaS ecosystem meetups
Praxis — The first internet-native nation; hosting townhalls
Capital Club — Decentralized entrepreneurial network (members-only)
BizWalk — Local group walks to build networks and stay active
02 // On building community
Live session with Nick Gray | April 30
Nick Gray, host extraordinaire and author of The 2-Hour Cocktail Party will be chatting with me about building community, being the best host ever, and why we’re so bullish about humans getting together IRL.
The Death of the Follower by Jack Conte at SXSW
Patreon CEO Jack Conte explains how the current internet algorithms are killing the traditional "follower" for creators, threatening their creative freedom and livelihoods. 46 minute watch time.
This talk moved me.
Jack tells of the harrowing early days playing music for years and years in empty bars. He was so talented. But he couldn’t reach people — until YouTube launched and the subscribe button was invented.
Suddenly, he was able to build an audience online that translated into people at his shows.
He packed a laundromat with attendees spilling into the street, he personally mailed albums on thumbdrives, and sold grapefruit soap. When he asked his followers to donate a book instead of paying money for his music, the local library had to rent a shipping container.
Above all, he connected with his fans deeply and brought people together.
But the algorithms have changed everything. Instead of making beautiful things that say something to the world, creators are optimizing for watch times, and are back to spending their precious energy trying to cut through the noise and reach their existing followers. This threatens their creative freedom and livelihoods.
His recommendation for creators: Invest in your true fans — it’s not just about new views or new followers. It’s about finding the fans that are your core — the engine that will drive your business.
We here at River think differently about the algorithm. We want to build a discovery engine so that you can find your people in your community as fast as possible and get together IRL. We won’t be optimizing for daily active users. We’re building for more time in person with people you share interests with.
Humans don’t exist to find and consume content.We exist to find each other and build relationships.
If you are a brand, creator, or community builder and want to know how River can help discover, engage, and activate your audience — reach out.
Rae’s list: Interesting community people you should know
Jason Levin — new head of growth at Product Hunt based in NYC
Elle Beecher — leads magical walks in Austin every weekend
Thomas Schulz — building a tech oasis in Hayes Valley, San Francisco
Dylan Itzikowitz — leading South Park Common’s NYC office
Alie Gonzalez — hard tech hacker with deep roots in Miami
Chris McNicholas — runs community events for Superteam x Solana
AkshayBD — deeply connected and influential in web3 and longevity
PoOn Yeung — head of community at Warbler Labs
Dryden Brown — founder of Praxis, a network state
03 // River traction + product updates
Creators and communities use River to orchestrate hundreds of events that turn audiences into communities by leveraging crowd-sourced hosts.
Here’s an update on our traction + product updates:
Creators just have to promote, the platform handles everything else.
My First Million: 85 events with 1,500 attendees
Tim Ferriss: 135 events with 3,500 attendees
Bryan Johnson: 250 events with 5,800 attendees
Superteam x Solana: 340 events with 9,600 attendees
That’s all for this month. Thanks for being part of River in the super early days! 🙏
— Rae & The River team
P.S. We previously raised $150k from JCal and Balaji and are already seeing people switch from well-funded competitors to River. We’re in the process of putting together our pre-seed round , so if you’d like to be a part of what we’re building, reply here.