When you’re starting a business, you’re going to need an arsenal of tools to help you make all the right connections and teach you the tricks to get your business off the ground. You could go on LinkedIn and reach out to your entire network and pick everyone’s brains on their best marketing tips, or cold email a few founders and see what were their biggest hardships when they started their company, but you still have to go beyond that. 

We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite resources that take you away from hours of online research and let you make IRL connections that are meant to make a lasting impact.

General Assembly

General Assembly (GA) is a global educational company on a mission to empower a global community to pursue work they love. Focusing on the most relevant and in-demand skills across data, design, business and technology, GA is confronting a skills gap through best-in-class instruction and providing access to opportunities.

GA works with students online and in person across 15 campuses in 4 continents. GA also works with companies as partners in course development and graduate placement as well as helps companies stay competitive in today's digital landscape. Additionally, GA’s focus on affordable and accessible education combined with their education-to-employment approach is helping to create a diverse talent pipeline. 

If GA sounds like the place where you want to start taking notes to apply to your business asap, you’re in luck! If you’re in Los Angeles this Monday, March 21st, our founder Jaclyn Johnson will be having a keynote as a part of GA’s #OffCampus festival.  Find out all the details and RSVP here!

Creative Mornings

Created in 2008 by Tina Roth Eisenberg, aka Swissmiss, Creative Mornings came to life out of a desire for an ongoing, accessible event for New York’s creative community. The concept was simple: breakfast and a short talk one Friday morning a month. Every event would be free of charge and open to anyone.

Today, Creative Mornings has grown far beyond its New York border and has taken over 137 cities worldwide and has brought some of the most creative minds from music, business, design, marketing, advertising and so many more. Not only that, Creative remains free thanks to the support of their generous sponsors and partners. Anyone is welcome to attend, just RSVP to their events, and you’re all set.

The Book Shop

If you work in marketing or advertising and are still looking to sharpen up your skills in the field, The Book Shop is for you. The Book Shop offers you the chance to work harder than you’ve probably worked at anything in your life with some of the biggest creative professionals to create big ideas that change companies. With the one-on-one interaction that they offer, not only are you getting knowledge from some of the biggest head honchos in the biz, but you’re making amazing connections that will help you career in the long run. The Book Shop works to be one of the most rewarding experiences in your life that will ultimately land you the career you’ve been dying for.

ThinkLA

If you’re based in Southern California, thinkLA is a non-profit association founded to promote LA as a network of creativity and innovation in media, marketing, and advertising. With their memberships, you’re able to tap into their unparalleled networking and social activities, year-round knowledge-building through their events and programs, and be able to volunteer at their industry-related charities like Ad Relief and MAT Program. ThinkLA has been able to bring in some of LA’s biggest visionaries, dreamers, innovators, and creators into their network, so if you want to hang with the cool kids in LA, join ThinkLA.