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Communities and events

Where referrals actually come from. Show up, ship, talk to people. 15 picks below, plus every other category if you scroll.

Sources
141 sources
Categories
11 categories
People and accounts
38 people and accounts on X
Checked
every link checked Oct 16, 2026
Find roles firstTips and templates
  1. 1Pick where to lookSearch or filter 141 places by category, tag or city.
  2. 2Find roles firstOpen ready-made searches on the job sites startups post to first.
  3. 3Reach outCopy a cold DM or a referral ask and send it to a person, not a portal.

The list

141 places to look

Tick off what you've covered. Your checklist stays in this browser; filters live in the URL, so you can share a view.

Showing 15 of 141

Communities and events

15

Where referrals actually come from. Show up, ship, talk to people.

  • AI Tinkerers Bengaluru

    bangalore.aitinkerers.org

    Builders-only AI meetups. Bring a demo, not slides.

    AIIndiaEvents

  • Luma: Bengaluru

    luma.com

    Calendar of tech and AI events in the city.

    IndiaEvents

  • Hasgeek

    hasgeek.com

    Rootconf, The Fifth Elephant and other Bengaluru conferences.

    IndiaEvents

  • The Fifth Elephant

    hasgeek.com

    Hasgeek's data and AI conference.

    IndiaAIEvents

  • GDG Bangalore

    gdg.community.dev

    Google Developer Group meetups and DevFest.

    IndiaEvents

  • PyCon India

    in.pycon.org

    Annual Python conference. Great for meeting AI teams.

    IndiaEvents

  • FOSS United

    fossunited.org

    IndiaFOSS and open source city meetups.

    IndiaEvents

  • Devfolio

    devfolio.co

    Hackathons across India, from weekend events to ETHIndia.

    IndiaEvents

  • lablab.ai

    lablab.ai

    Online AI hackathons, often run with model labs.

    AIRemoteEvents

  • Real Dev Squad

    realdevsquad.com

    Contribute to real products with mentors. Good for juniors.

    India

  • MLOps Community

    mlops.community

    Slack and meetups on running ML and LLMs in production.

    AIRemote

  • Hugging Face Discord

    huggingface.co

    Open-model builders. Help people and you get noticed.

    AIRemote

  • Latent Space

    latent.space

    AI engineering newsletter and podcast with an active Discord.

    AIRemote

  • r/developersIndia

    reddit.com

    Huge Indian dev subreddit with hiring and salary threads.

    IndiaSalary

  • Blind

    teamblind.com

    Anonymous. The easiest place to ask for referrals and check pay.

    ReferralsSalary

Tips

What actually gets replies

  1. 01

    Search the ATS, not just LinkedIn

    Most startups post on Ashby, Greenhouse or Lever before anywhere else. Use the link builder above: it searches those sites directly for your role and city.

  2. 02

    Use VC portfolio boards

    One search on Peak XV or Accel covers hundreds of funded companies. Few candidates know these exist, so competition is lower.

  3. 03

    Apply in the first 48 hours

    Set alerts for your exact title and city. Early applications get read; week-old ones sit behind hundreds of others.

  4. 04

    A referral beats a cold apply

    Ask an engineer at the company, not HR. Send the exact job link and three lines on why you fit, so forwarding it takes them ten seconds.

  5. 05

    DM the hiring manager

    Find who posted the role or leads the team. Keep it to four lines and link proof: a shipped project with a real number beats any adjective.

  6. 06

    Build in public

    A small tool with real users or eval results gives interviewers something concrete to ask about. Post what you learned while building it.

  7. 07

    Mirror the job description

    Rewrite the top third of your resume for each role using the posting's own words. ATS filters and tired recruiters both scan for them.

  8. 08

    Track everything, follow up once

    Log every application. If you hear nothing in 5 to 7 days, send one short follow-up, then move on.

  9. 09

    FDE roles hide under other titles

    Also search Applied AI Engineer, AI Solutions Engineer, Customer Engineer and Agent Engineer. In India much of this work is posted under those names.

  10. 10

    Go where builders are

    Two meetups a month. Talk to the speakers, show your demo, ask what their team is struggling with. Most referrals start this way.

  11. 11

    Know your number before the call

    Check Levels.fyi and AmbitionBox for the company and level. Give a range anchored on data, not on your current salary.

  12. 12

    Make your profiles findable

    Same name, photo and one-line pitch on LinkedIn, X, GitHub and Peerlist. Recruiters search all four.

Templates

Messages to send

Cold DM to a hiring manager

Hi {name}, saw you're hiring a {role} at {company}. I'm a {your role} with {X} years building {relevant thing}. Recently I built {project}: {one real number}. Here it is: {link}. Would you be open to a 15-minute chat, or could you point me to the right person?

Asking for a referral

Hi {name}, I'm applying for {role} at {company}: {job link}. Quick fit check: {two lines on why you match}. Resume: {link}. Would you be comfortable referring me? Happy to send anything that makes it easier.

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