As a business law lawyer, I do this often in the startup space. Everyone builds business their own way, and mine involves a lot of networking. What I have learned is that, when YOU are truly excited about your project - product, service, whatever it is you are doing - all you need to do is to find people active in the same space and talk about it. Often, all that is needed to tag someone's interest in what you are doing is to be interested in it yourself. If you are networking simply to "build community" it is even easier, because you aren't trying to push your product (i.e. make a sale) right away (which is where sounding needy and pushy normally comes in). In addition to sharing the interesting (and hopefully innovative) thing you are interested in, you should listen attentively and actively to the things the other person is doing. The best members of your "community" will be people who have complementary projects and knowledge to yours. Simply having this truly enthusiastic and authentic conversation, and following up/maintaining the relationship, is how you make connections that last. Happy to chat further if you like.