Although I learned the lesson, I still think I have not spent enough time talking to customers. I am a shy guy and would rather coding than talking to people.
If you are an entrepreneur, you will have to overcome that psychological barrier. Go to some local events and talk to everybody who is willing to listen to you. Some of them might be your potential customers.
I recently moved to SF Bay Area. I live in Fremont (cannot afford to live in SF). I don't know any good places to hang out with peer entrepreneurs. I guess I should try harder.
I have lived in Fremont for 12 years. I can tell you it is not the best place for entrepreneur networking. Most of the networking events are in south bay or in San Francisco. A meetup group I recently came across that focuses on entrepreneurs in Fremont area is Brown Bear Meetups (https://www.meetup.com/Brown-Bear-Meetups/). It is a relatively new group and all their events are free. Since you are in Fremont, it is worth checking out.
If you are serious about networking and do not mind driving to the south bay, you will get a lot more options. Personally I would recommend the following ones.
1. Startup Matchup and Networking Event at Founders Floor (https://www.meetup.com/Silicon-Valley-Startup-Founders/). It is a monthly event and is always on Tuesday evenings at Founders Floor. Try to be there at 6pm so that you can park on streets for free (or stay in your car until 6pm if you arrive early). You should expect to see about 50 to 100 people. They charge $15 and provide dinner. When the event starts, the host will ask everyone to do a self-intro (about 1 minute). This is the part I both like and dislike. I like it because it kind of gives you a chance to know everyone. I dislike it because it can easily take up to 2 hours so that there is not much time left for networking.
2. Monthly Mixer: Find Your Cofounder (https://us.techcode.com/events/2017/2/8/meet-your-co-founder). This is also a monthly event and is always during lunch time on Wednesdays. The good part is you don't need to worry about traffic and it is also free to attend. The bad part is that no food is provided. So be sure to eat something before you go. You should expect to see 30-40 people. The format is similar to the Founders Floor event. Usually it will be around 1:30pm after the intro session is over. You can stay there networking afterwards (that is why you need to eat something before you go!). Parking at TechCode is free.
3. Lifograph SV Networking : find cofounders, investors, developers, growth hackers, freelancers, customers (https://www.lifograph.com/events). This event was once combined with the Founders Floor event. But recently it is moved to Mindrome in Santa Clara. It is very similar to the Founders Floor event and you need to pay to attend. The host, Dea Wilson, is a very charming lady and always makes the event fun to attend. Parking is free.
4. Entrepreneur Mixer and Happy Hour at Sports Page bar near Google (https://www.meetup.com/sventrepreneurs/events/249922641/). This event is also monthly and happens on Tuesdays (5-8am). It could be challenging if you live in Fremont as you need to get there during the rush hour. You don't need to pay to attend the event. But you may feel obliged to buy some drinks in the bar. There will be no host and you are on your own once you step into the backyard of the bar. You just walk around and find people to talk to. Because the bar is open to the public while the event is on, you need to be sure that the person you are approaching is there to network (many Google engineers come out for drink during that hour and may not want to be disturbed by you). The parking lot in front of the bar is rather small. You may want to arrive early.
5. Silicon Valley TGIF Business and Social Networking (https://www.meetup.com/Silicon-Valley-Startup-Idea-to-IPO/ev...). This event is also monthly and happens on Fridays (8pm - 11pm). This event is one of my favorites partly because Bay Area traffic usually clears out after 7:30pm (important for those who live in Fremont). The event is free to attend and there is no fixed agenda or format. You just get into the lobby of Hyatt Regency Santa Clara and look for people with name tags on their chests. Talk to whoever you want to talk to. And there is no hard stop. You can hang out there as long as you like although most people would have left by 11pm. You can park your car for free in the parking lot right in front of the hotel.
6. Founder Hiking Monthly @ Stanford Dish (https://www.meetup.com/sventrepreneurs/events/248758563/). This event used to be at Wunderlich Park. This year they moved it to Stanford Dish. If you are an outdoor person, this event is a good fit for you. Due to the nature of hiking, most likely you will stay with the same person(s) throughout the morning. Although that leads to some in-depth discussion, it does limit the number of people you can interact with.
Other than those mentioned above, there are also a few other networking groups in south bay. I just did a quick search on meetup.com and here is the list (disclaimer: I don't know much about events of those groups; the list is just for your reference).
So far I only covered the south bay and did not mention a word about San Francisco yet. There are many good networking events in SF and you can easily find them by searching meetup.com. I used to go to SF a lot. But I quit going after a robbery accident on BART as I came back from an event in SF (luckily I was not targeted). Most SF networking events happen at night. It could present challenges if you live in Fremont.
