I don't have a great story, but from my own experience I see the key as being a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. Do (if not embrace) the things you tend to avoid doing as a lone developer.
An example: I never liked meetings with new people, but I knew I needed to talk to people in my industry about what I was building and about what their problems were.
So I set up "office hours". Zoom meetings where I talk to one or two people a week. Randomly, anyone in my industry who wants to talk to me can book a slot using Calendly.
I promote this occasionally on LinkedIn and on my website, and it's led to many interesting conversations and collaborations.
Same with making videos, giving presentations, putting yourself out there and telling people what you're working on.
Generally, do (some of) the things you don't want to do.
An example: I never liked meetings with new people, but I knew I needed to talk to people in my industry about what I was building and about what their problems were.
So I set up "office hours". Zoom meetings where I talk to one or two people a week. Randomly, anyone in my industry who wants to talk to me can book a slot using Calendly.
I promote this occasionally on LinkedIn and on my website, and it's led to many interesting conversations and collaborations.
Same with making videos, giving presentations, putting yourself out there and telling people what you're working on.
Generally, do (some of) the things you don't want to do.