GrowthSync: a business networking app for entrepreneurs

Most ways of meeting people in business work on who you already know. Introductions come through your existing circle, events fill from whoever has the biggest audience, and cold messages land in front of people who did not ask for them. That suits you once you are established and works against you before then.

How GrowthSync decides who to show you

You fill in what your business does and what you are looking for. Discover then shows you one member at a time, with a score out of 100 and a plain label such as Ideal Match or Low Match. Swipe right to open a request, left to skip.

The score is arithmetic over the two profiles, not a popularity ranking. The heaviest part by some distance is whether one side offers what the other side says it is looking for, checked in both directions. After that it looks at shared goals, shared markets, location, industry and business stage, with credit for industries that complement each other rather than compete. A vague overlap deliberately scores close to nothing.

Every member sees the same score for the same person, whatever they pay. Paying changes how many requests you can send and whether you see the written reasons behind the number, not the number itself.

Nothing opens until you both agree

Nobody can message you out of the blue. A conversation exists only after both people have said yes, which is why the inbox is short and worth reading. Requests that come in are shown with a count, so you can see who already wants to talk to you before you spend anything on finding someone new.

Events you can host without an audience

Any signed-in member can host: a workshop, a roundtable, a dinner, or a straightforward networking evening. Because events are found by what they are about rather than by who is running them, filling one does not depend on having a following. People search the title, description, category, city and venue, pick from 17 categories, search a city or a distance from where they are, and filter by date, free only, online or in person.

Attending is free on every plan. Hosts who want to charge can connect a Stripe account and sell tickets in tiers, on any plan, while hosting is open to everyone. Tickets sit in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, can be passed to someone else, and are scanned on the door from a phone. Afterwards the host gets a view of who booked and who turned up, and attendees are asked to leave a review, which builds a record the next person can see.

Communities, opportunities and the work that follows

Communities are grouped by industry and interest, and members on every plan can join, post and comment. Posting needs a verified account and a verified phone number, which is what keeps them usable. It is the difference between asking your own industry a question and asking the internet.

Opportunities are for the specific things: a partnership, a role, a collaboration, or work you need doing. You post it, people apply, and you choose. You can also list the services your business sells and take enquiries against them, accepting or declining each one. When a meeting happens you can mark it complete, and that feeds a reputation score on your profile alongside your reviews.

What it is for

Being known by ten people who understand what you do is worth more than being seen by a thousand who do not. GrowthSync is built for the first of those. If you want the longer version, read networking for entrepreneurs or how members meet business partners, and what each plan includes.