The Power of the Network
The first issue of startupIO was released today and I'm honoured to be the first contributor to what I believe will be a very successful initiative. I thought I should dedicate today's post to the power of the network for those of you that haven't subscribed to the newsletter yet.
Hi everyone, my name is Harry, I'm a geek and it's an honour to be the first to share my thoughts with you. In every publication you will come across articles about how important it is to network. Being a geek and an introvert I've always had a problem with networking.
Put me behind a screen, on a forum, IM, chat and I can be the most talkative person and open up to other people. Put me in a room full of people and I will stay in a corner and chat to the people I already know. Having read all the articles about how to network and how important it is, I thought that something was wrong with me… I had even read that I shouldn't leave an event without having talked to 10-20 people and given them my business card. My average connection rate at events, 3-4 people.
That was until I joined a group called Sandbox a few months ago. In the past 5-6 months I have met around 100 people (real connections not just an exchange of business cards) and I have found myself being very open and sometimes even the centre of the group. So what's the reason that this has worked? Common interests and like-minded people.
When I go to a Sandbox event, I know that I will meet interesting people and people that will be interested in what I have to say. That removes any doubts of what I'm going to talk about and whether I will make a real connection or have yet another boring encounter. This allows me to be my real self and show real interest in what other people have to say.
What's the lesson behind this? To network effectively, you don't have to just go to events and be an extroverted super-connector. You need to find the right groups, the right events and the right places. Once you find the right events and groups to join you will see that chatting away and making connections is easy. Last week I went to a startup event filled with very like-minded people. Before I knew it, we were talking about CPUs (one of my passions), our first computers and the first electronic games we ever played (mine was Oil Panic).
Once you start growing your network you will see that awesome thinks will start happening. The only reason that I'm writing this is because I reached out to Dimitris through our common network and started a conversation. Don't expect immediate results but reach out and talk to people that are like you. Share your passions, your problems, your fears and even your secrets. Once you've opened up, they will be looking for the right time to help you.
And a final note. Being a "networker" is the first step. If you want to really grow, then you need to become a connector. Start introducing and connecting people. Whenever someone says that they are looking for "x" dig into your network and find them the right person to talk to. Don't expect any reward for this, just do it and see the network grow and flow. Before you know it, things will start flowing back to you.
