# Grove Network Mechanics – Incentivize Community & Referrals (Nodes)

The Grove network incentivizes community & referrals by enabling participants to gain outsized exposure to founders they choose. Because of the highly asymmetric nature of founder returns,{^1} every founder needs to be part of the primary Grove network. However, founders may also wish to join an existing node, or create a new one. Nodes will be comprised of founders who are part of the primary network, and who choose to commit additional future liquidity into a node. How much of the node liquidity the new founder will receive will be determined by the value they contribute today given their contribution percentage {^2} to the node, their current valuation, and the aggregate value of the node based on the respective contribution percentages and valuations of other founders in the node. Nodes can be based on network (e.g., founders who are going through an accelerator & create a node for their cohort), on geography (e.g. a node for startups based in India), or on industry (e.g. a node based on climate tech companies). With smart contracts, different nodes will be able to have differing entrance criteria which are determined at the time of node formation.

Nodes achieve two purposes. First, founders will gain significantly more exposure to fellow node participants, enhancing their desire to join nodes with founders they know, align with, trust, or aspire to learn from. Second, because nodes will be drastically smaller in size than the central Grove network, these will also serve to build smaller financially aligned communities within the Grove network.{^3}