Networking vs. Building Relationships

Some advice to all the new founders out there: Most “Networking” events are bullshit.

To clarify, I’m not talking about the social events put on by a group of founders and operators. I’m not talking about the dinners and happy hours hosted by local VCs to get the community together.

I’m talking about those massive, faceless “industry mixers”, “founder nights”, and anything where the invitation actually includes the word “networking” in the title. I’m talking about those hotel-ballroom, glorified career fairs that are hosted across every Tier 1+2 city in America. These are the true wastes of time.

Sure, you might meet a few interesting people at a large event. But, for the most part, everyone is there for the same reason: To identify and track down the one or two people that would be useful to them and their startup. The size of those events can make every interaction feel transactional. As a result, you only get to know a handful of people at surface level.

But, that doesn’t mean that you should avoid meeting new people entirely.

“Networking events” may not be useful, but building a good network should be a priority of every founder at every stage of growth. Personally, so many of my best friendships and partnerships started with 1:1 coffee meetings or small group dinners.

My challenge to you is this: For the next month, commit to getting to know 1-2 people a week over coffee or a meal. They can be acquaintances, business contacts, other industry professionals, or complete strangers. What’s most important is that you use the opportunity to build a relationship with them on a more personal level.

At the end of that month, I think you’ll be shocked by the depth of the connections that you can build using this approach.

By investing the time to meet people when you DON’T need something, you’ll later have access to a diverse network of new friends when you DO need help/support.

Try it out and report back to me in a month. You won’t regret it.