May 16
Meeting new, relevant people –– the numbers game
When we arrived to the Bay Area a few weeks ago, our primary objective was to learn about the ways of the Valley and that we most certainly did. One of the most challenging things for me was to start networking with all these strangers.
Coming here as a part of a group is quite different than organizing the trip yourself – both kinds of trips might be as hectic and successful, but setting up meetings and knowing who to talk to is very different when you’re on your own.
Events: the cornerstone of getting to know new people
To get to know new people your best bet is to go into events. That should be a no-brainer, but finding relevant events is harder than it might seem. There are events for pretty much every day of the month, but they are scattered around the Valley and their topics and quality varies a lot – and so does the price. That’s why it’s important to know what you’re after.
The best events attract people with excellent guest speakers but also almost invariably cost a lot. There are free events, but most of them cost from $20 up to $700, per attendee. There are discounts available and the earlier you book the more you save.
Planning your trip ahead is thus a good idea and it saves you money. The problem is that when you are arranging your first trip you might not know exactly what you are looking for.
However you look at it, your main objective with the events is most likely meeting as many important people as possible. As all people cannot possibly be relevant for you, you need to go through a lot of people to find a handful of people actually taking you forward.
As meeting a person just once usually isn’t enough to deepen the relationship, be sure to gather their contact information and follow-up immediately in order to set up a meeting.
Meetings: deepening the relationship
Meetings are usually scheduled (and rescheduled) with a short notice, so be sure to check your emails often – even just 5 minutes before the meeting!
The first meeting with a person much determines where the relationship goes from there: it is much more difficult to book a second meeting if you cannot deliver value to the person you are meeting. That’s why you should consider how you want to spend those 10-20 minutes.
Doing background research on the person you are meeting can help in finding common interests and maybe even ways you can help that person. For a first-time entrepreneur it might be very hard to actually help more established people, but just having a helpful attitude goes a long way.
Intros: making meetings actionable
Often the meetings themselves do not offer anything concrete to go forward with and this is why introductions are so important. As it is very rare that there is an exact match between the interests of you and the person you met, it’s a lot easier to ask if they know anyone who would know more about your field of interest.
When you get an introduction, be sure to respond to immediately.
Tips and lessons learned
The hardest part in meeting new people as a Finn seems to be finding the right combination of relaxedness and politeness. You can annoy people by being too pushy, but you can also spend events by just talking to people you already know.
I guess it just takes practice, observing your behavior and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone.
Resources for finding interesting events:
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