Building a Network
Recently @bradcoughlin asked me this on Twitter:
I’m pretty interested in the the subject and thought it merited a blog post. In my opinion the strength of your network is directly proportional to how effective you can be.
When I first came to SF I realized that tech was the first thing I’d ever been really excited about. At the time I was in pr (a career I couldn’t have been more ill-suited for) and had to make the tough transition into product.
One of the main reasons I’ve been able to start a company is via support from my friends/advisors/mentors. Here are a few of the lessons I found in building an effective network.
- Know your stuff: being well-read matters. You have one chance to make a good impression, seize it! Devour RSS. Read every tech, VC and relevant consumer publication you can find. When I was a broke intern, I used to park it in the magazine section of Borders and spend 1-2 hours a day reading (buy one or two if you feel guilty).
- Get out there: For the first 1-2 yrs I probably went to two mixers or education events a night. Have as many meaningful conversations as possible. Seek out people who are doing things you’re excited about and learn about their experiences. This gives you a basic understanding of what you’re interested in.
- Follow-up: One-on-one chats are the best way to actually learn about someone. Most entrepreneurs I know meet with at least one new person per day.
- Ask someone to tell you their best story: founder types LOVE to tell stories. They thrive on passion + a certain amount of risk, which usually means they have at least a handful of hilarious, mind-bending stories about building their business. These stories are often the best lessons (which should be learned over delicious beers and a good meal in my opinion) and are a good way to really get to know someone.
- Be a good friend: Connect people to other friends who might be useful or interesting. Offer to help someone if they need it (things like pulling together a marketing plan, talking through a piece of strategy or product spec). By helping others I’ve found it strengthens your friendship and comes back around many times over. It also feels really good.
- Do what you do well: The more capable you are, the more respect you’ll get.
All pretty straightforward stuff. I’ve found that people in the tech industry are enormously open and eager to collaborate and share, so you won’t have trouble once you put yourself out there.
There’s definitely a separate post on how to do this if you want to reach out to other tech communities, let me know if you’re interested in that.
Good luck!
Melody
