Executive Summary
We analyzed 14 business development communities listed on Hive Index to understand where people gather, what these groups offer, and which communities attract the most interest.
The big picture: In this smaller sample, business development communities are broad and fragmented, with many small groups and a few very large outliers.
Source: Hive Index community database · Updated 2026-05-12
- Communities
- 14
- Platforms
- 6
- Avg members
- 14K
- Median members
- 4K
Where Business Development Communities Are Hosted
- Independent Platforms: 4 communities (29%)
- Discord: 4 communities (29%)
- LinkedIn: 3 communities (21%)
- Facebook: 1 communities (7%)
- Mighty Networks: 1 communities (7%)
- Slack: 1 communities (7%)
- 4(29%)
![Independent Platforms]()
Independent Platforms - 4(29%)
Discord - 3(21%)
LinkedIn - 1(7%)
Facebook - 1(7%)
Mighty Networks - 1(7%)
Slack
Format mix
- 5(36%)Forum / feed-based
- 5(36%)Chat communities
- 3(21%)Other platforms
- 1(7%)Private membership
Forum / feed-based is most common (36%), but chat communities is also well represented (36%).
Independent Platforms leads (29% of listings).
Audience Size & Access
Community size
- Tiny: 1 communities (7%)
- Small: 2 communities (14%)
- Medium: 0 communities (0%)
- Large: 3 communities (21%)
- Huge: 5 communities (36%)
- Massive: 0 communities (0%)
- Gigantic: 0 communities (0%)
- 1(7%)Tiny<20 members
- 2(14%)Small20-100 members
- 0(0%)Medium100-1,000 members
- 3(21%)Large1,000-10,000 members
- 5(36%)Huge10,000-100,000 members
- 0(0%)Massive100,000-1M members
- 0(0%)Gigantic1M+ members
3 communities have unknown member counts.
Free vs paid
- Free to join: 10 communities (71%)
- Paid or apply-to-join: 4 communities (29%)
The average is much higher than the median (14K vs 4K), which usually means a few large groups are pulling the average up.
How Business Development Differs From Other Categories
Business Development is less free-to-join, smaller, more chat-heavy, and more paid or gated, compared with typical Hive Index topics.
| Metric | Business Development | Hive Index average |
|---|---|---|
| Free to join | 71% | 85% |
| Median members | 4K | 25K |
| Average members | 14K | 669K |
| Paid or apply-to-join | 29% | 15% |
| Live chat | 57% | 38% |
| Discord share | 29% | 16% |
Feature Mix
Common features appear in at least 15% of listings.
Common Features
- Forum: 8 communities (57%)
- Live Chat: 8 communities (57%)
- Online/Offline Events: 6 communities (43%)
- Courses: 4 communities (29%)
- Job Board: 4 communities (29%)
- Newsletter: 4 communities (29%)
- Pairing: 3 communities (21%)
- Requires Application: 3 communities (21%)
- 57%Forum
- 57%Live Chat
- 43%Online/Offline Events
- 29%Courses
- 29%Job Board
- 29%Newsletter
- 21%Pairing
- 21%Requires Application
Niche Features
- Paid Community: 2 communities (14%)
- Member Perks: 1 communities (7%)
- 14%Paid Community
- 7%Member Perks
Live Chat appears on 57% of listings.
What Visitors Click
- Outbound clicks / mo
- 607
Platform supply vs. clicks
| Platform | Communities | Share of communities | Outbound clicks | Share of clicks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Platforms | 4 | 29% | 1 | 0% |
| Discord | 4 | 29% | 596 | 98% |
| 3 | 21% | 2 | 0% | |
| 1 | 7% | 6 | 1% | |
| Mighty Networks | 1 | 7% | 2 | 0% |
Share is calculated within this topic.
Discord gets 98% of clicks but only 29% of listings, so visitors click it more than you'd expect from supply alone.
Most-clicked formats
- 596(98%)Chat communities
- 7(1%)Forum / feed-based
- 2(0%)Other platforms
- 2(0%)Private membership
Most-clicked features
- 599(99%)Live Chat
- 554(91%)Online/Offline Events
- 552(91%)Job Board
- 551(91%)Courses
- 528(87%)Newsletter
- 513(85%)Pairing
Most-clicked size ranges
- 520(86%)Huge
- 72(12%)Large
- 13(2%)Small
- 2(0%)Tiny
Top-clicked listings
- 512(84%)Furlough Community
- 45(7%)All Things YC
- 26(4%)Triba Business Community
Most clicks go to chat communities and forum / feed-based communities.
Trends
Founded year
- 2008: 1 communities (11%)
- 2009: 1 communities (11%)
- 2011: 1 communities (11%)
- 2015: 1 communities (11%)
- 2018: 1 communities (11%)
- 2020: 1 communities (11%)
- 2021: 3 communities (33%)
5 communities have no founding year on file.
Most listed groups were founded around 2021.
Community Quality & Ratings
Only 3 communities have ratings so far, so read this as a small sample.
4.5 average rating across 3 communities.
Methodology & FAQ
Methodology
This report uses communities in the Hive Index database tagged as Business Development. We exclude removed or suppressed listings. Member counts, traffic, features, reviews, and ratings may vary by source and are updated periodically.
- •We only have a handful of listings so far, so treat these numbers as directional.
- •Last updated 2026-05-12