In my experience, 90% of everything is crap. There are plenty of dysfunctional hacker spaces. Most of them either die quickly or become self-sufficient; they're a way for hustlers to hustle each other.
There seems to be some cores. There's usually someone out there who's actually good at selling, even if they don't have a plan nor a product. You end up with legit YC alumni actually leading the pre-pre-YC prep programs. These are more dangerous and can sustain for years, especially with that whole cockroach surviving on ramen thing.
Smaller ponds have smaller fish. What a friend does (who I met on HN!) is to bring in an existing online community offline. That seems to work quite well, and it sustains until one of the dysfunctional communities collapses and swarms the popular communities.
I also find that being relentlessly helpful drives off some of the bullying types. HN-style guidelines seem to help. Assume goodwill. Don't talk down, educate. Don't assume someone hasn't read the article (or isn't educated enough), quote a part of the article or link to a tutorial. Time out the people who start a lot of fights; some are just passionate. But the unapologetic bad apples should be handled quickly.
There seems to be some cores. There's usually someone out there who's actually good at selling, even if they don't have a plan nor a product. You end up with legit YC alumni actually leading the pre-pre-YC prep programs. These are more dangerous and can sustain for years, especially with that whole cockroach surviving on ramen thing.
Smaller ponds have smaller fish. What a friend does (who I met on HN!) is to bring in an existing online community offline. That seems to work quite well, and it sustains until one of the dysfunctional communities collapses and swarms the popular communities.
I also find that being relentlessly helpful drives off some of the bullying types. HN-style guidelines seem to help. Assume goodwill. Don't talk down, educate. Don't assume someone hasn't read the article (or isn't educated enough), quote a part of the article or link to a tutorial. Time out the people who start a lot of fights; some are just passionate. But the unapologetic bad apples should be handled quickly.