Warning: a casual chat with a guy at a Denver startup mixer wrecked my view of networking

I was just making small talk with this founder, Mike, about his new app. He said, 'I stopped trying to collect business cards and started just asking people what they're stuck on.' He told me he helped a guy fix a shipping problem for free, and that guy later sent him 5 clients. It hit me that I've been building a list, not a network. My whole plan was just to meet X people per month. How do you actually start helping first without feeling like you're getting used?

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.troy1mo ago

Hold on, this whole "help first" thing is a nice story but it's a terrible plan. You're basically telling people to work for free and hope for a tip. Most of the time you just waste your time fixing someone else's problem with zero return. That guy with the shipping issue got five clients, but that's pure luck. You can't build a real business strategy on hoping for random good karma. Setting a goal to meet people is at least a real, clear action you can track.

quinn_nelson2mo ago

Honestly, that whole "help first" idea feels like a leap of faith, doesn't it? I tried it once by giving some free advice on a website bug. The guy never said thanks, but his friend later hired me for a bigger job. You just have to accept that some help won't come back to you directly.

rileyw572mo ago

Yeah exactly, it's like karma with extra steps. I fixed a friend's car for free once and his cousin ended up being my mechanic for years.