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Welcome to The Startup Café ☕ (Yes, This Post Is Late… Very Late)

Hey everyone.

I know this welcome post is a little late.

Okay, maybe more than a little.

We’ve already had conversations. People have shared projects. The café already feels a bit alive. And only now am I officially saying “welcome.”

Better late than never, right?


Quick hello from The Startup Café

The Startup Café started on October 20, 2026.

The idea was simple. Building something is less lonely when you have people around who get it.

This is a place for startup founders, indie hackers, developers, makers, and anyone who likes creating things. We share ideas. We show what we’re building. We talk about real experiences (the good parts and the messy ones). We learn from each other. Sometimes we find people to collaborate with.

No polished highlight reels needed.

Just honest conversations and people who are actually shipping.

Our motto:

Build in public, share ideas, and grow together over coffee.


Welcome to the table

We’ve got some great new members. Here’s a short hello to each of you:



@fawadkhan_ CS student, AI/ML and cybersecurity explorer, and founder at TheBitForge. Turning caffeine, curiosity, and the occasional bug into real features. Welcome!
@sizzlebop (Jessica) is a developer and maker who loves trying new things, building useful tools, and exploring AI and open source. She enjoys experimenting with ideas and sharing what she learns along the way. Happy to have her here at The Startup Café!

@thomasbnt French web developer and long-time DEV mod. Still finds time for Astro, AI experiments, Discord bots, and a good cappuccino. Has been writing useful posts for years. Glad you’re here.

@hadil Software engineer and technical writer. Her articles have reached hundreds of thousands of readers. Turns complex topics into clear writing and has worked with many startups. Currently exploring AI agents. Welcome!

@hemapriya_kanagala Creator of the Dev Opportunity Radar series. Every week she helps people discover fellowships, hackathons, and resources they might otherwise miss. Also runs the friendly DEV Pet Corner posts. Happy you’re in the café.

@nyaomaru Frontend engineer (React, Vue, TypeScript) who cares about clean architecture and useful open source. Behind projects like is-kit, DSA View View, and the Necoz organization. Always building something thoughtful. Welcome!

@thebitforge The people who helped bring The Startup Café to life. They write long practical posts about roadmaps, architecture, APIs, and building real products. Glad you’re officially part of the crew.

@devstackhub Loves UI/UX, AI tools, and SEO. Compares tools so the rest of us don’t have to. Deep dives on design-to-code tools, LLM gateways, proxies, and more. Welcome to the café!

@pjdeveloper896 Young builder who’s already published a lot. Open-source guides, philosophy-of-coding posts, small tools, and idea threads right here in the café. Keep going.

@star123 JavaScript enthusiast currently diving into Python. Writes fun energetic posts and has already become a Trusted Member on DEV. Your energy is contagious. Glad you’re here.

@mt_indiedev Spent 8+ years in game QA, then decided to switch sides and start building his own games. Shares honest UE5 devlogs and thoughtful posts about public building and free assets. Welcome to the maker side!

@no1guangming Independent maker focused on privacy-first tools. Currently building MingList, a classifieds and pen-pal platform where you never have to give out your real email. Love the “less talking, more building” energy.

@technogamerz Software engineer (and IIT Bombay alum). Writes thoughtful, personal posts about coding, community, and the small moments that make building feel human. Already very active in the DEV community. Welcome to the café!

@malkiel Founder of Skinive. Building medical-grade AI for skin health screening and providing Computer Vision APIs so other developers can add dermatology diagnostics to their apps. Exciting work. Glad you’re here.

@otu_jacob Fintech and digital product professional with 7+ years in digital banking and payments, plus an MSc in Data Science. Already shared a thoughtful post about testing a fraud trust score. Looking forward to more of your insights.

@mestonecold CSE grad who builds with code, experiments with AI, and still finds time to sing. Currently working on DevContext, an AI-powered codebase explorer. Welcome to the café!

@eppofahmi Quiet presence so far, but every community needs people who listen and build. Glad you joined us. Looking forward to hearing what you’re working on.

What we’d love to see

Drop a comment (or better, a post) and tell us:

  • What are you building right now?
  • What’s something you recently learned the hard way?
  • Any tools, ideas, or experiments you’re excited about?

This place works best when people actually show up and share.

Want to join The Startup Café?

We’ll be happy to have you.


One more thing

A few days ago I posted this discussion about what if DEV had a launch system (kind of like Product Hunt, but for developers). Got some really good comments from nyaomaru, Hadil, and others.

The idea is simple: something a bit more structured than a regular #showdev post. A clear launch day. A place where launches don’t just disappear into the feed.

Some people liked the idea of better discovery for builders. Others worried it could change the friendly vibe of the community. Both sides make sense.

Here in The Startup Café we already try a small version of that. Share what you’re building. Get real feedback. Support each other. No rankings required. Just people who care.

If you have thoughts on the launch-system idea (or just want to show us your current project), the comments are open.


That’s it from me for now.

Grab a coffee (or tea, or whatever keeps you going), say hi to the new faces, and keep building.

Build in public, share ideas, and grow together over coffee.

See you around the café ☕

Top comments (18)

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fawadkhan_ profile image
Fawad Khan The Startup Café • • Edited

Hello and Greetings to everyone!! Really appreciate the warm welcome! ☕ Glad to be part of The Startup Café and surrounded by people who enjoy building, experimenting, and sharing ideas. Looking forward to contributing, learning from everyone, and being part of what we're building together. Here's to great conversations and exciting collaborations ahead! 🚀

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

Really glad we're doing this together! ✨✨ Excited to see where we take this little café. Lots more to come! ☕

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fawadkhan_ profile image
Fawad Khan The Startup Café •

More success and blessings to come my dear friend ❤

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

thank you so much, my friend! ❤ Hmm, I’m sure we’ll both launch something really amazing very soon. Hopefully, lots of exciting things are ahead for both of us. Wishing you even more success and happiness! 😸

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fawadkhan_ profile image
Fawad Khan The Startup Café •

Excited things coming soooooon🍀❤😸

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pjdeveloper896 profile image
Prasoon Jadon The Startup Café •

It’s a real pleasure being one of The Startup Café members! ☕

The whole concept of this community is something that I absolutely love as there’s no way building anything is going to be easy without people who could help to exchange ideas, experience, and solve problems.

As for my background, it’s been mostly related to web development, open-source projects, and entrepreneurship. I strongly believe that there is something new to learn every time you encounter a builder.

Here’s to sharing experiments, learning from each other, giving feedback and maybe even working together on something cool!

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

Really glad to have you here, Prasoon! Looking forward to learning and building together! ☕😸

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pjdeveloper896 profile image
Prasoon Jadon The Startup Café •

same here 💫

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hadil profile image
Hadil Ben Abdallah The Startup Café •

Hey @hanzla 🙌🏻 Thank you so much!
This is the best welcome ever 😍

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

glad you liked it! 😄

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mestonecold profile image
Shruti Shahi The Startup Café •

omg this is such a sweet post! Thanks for having us, @hanzla !✨😸

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

so glad to have you here! 😸☕❤️

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mestonecold profile image
Shruti Shahi The Startup Café •

haha, i found so many cat lovers within 2 days of joining this platform😭💓 kawaii desu~

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

😅😅😂

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technogamerz profile image
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 The Startup Café •

I am glad to be here! :D

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

: )

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star123 profile image
Sᴛᴀʀ⭐ The Startup Café •

Thank you bro🥰🙌🏻❤️

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hanzla profile image
Hanzla Baig The Startup Café •

WELCOME : )