Ask HN: Deaf wannabe entrepreneur faces networking issues. How to work with it?

I'm almost completely deaf and it severely inhibits my ability to meet groups of people to the point that I avoid groups. Despite this, I'm still willing meet people or at least understand the transition process of making ideas reality.

Is anyone deaf or met one that is deaf as well? How deaf are you? What was the experience like? As in, were you able to understand in groups? And also able to pitch ideas well? How do you handle using phones/teleconferences?

Ask any question of me if you want. I don't mind any questions.

edit: guess html not enabled, strange '<p>'