Networking 101

Seth posted a great networking post that I could have written myself...    In fact, I pretty much did write all that in my failed attempt to write a book for college freshmen.  However, he's written it a lot more concisely worded (I tend to be overly verbose, if you haven't noticed) and tailored it to the VC world.

I'll add a few notes directly to his, and then I'd like to include a snippet from the book I was writing about what exactly you want to get accomplished when you sit down and have a networking meeting or call--the information you want to walk out with.

One thing I would add on to #5 and #6 is using Pubsub.  If you meet someone that you'd like to go the extra mile with in terms of staying in touch, create a Pubsub feed via RSS that includes their name, the name of their company, and their industry... perhaps even a competitor or two.  This way, you get relevent news that you can share with them up to the minute and comment on.  That will keep you current enough to be interesting.  There's nothing worse than sending stale articles to people in an effort to try and impress them.  (Well, I suppose there are lots of worse things, but its just an expression...)   

Ok, so here's what I wrote about what you should be talking about in a networking call or meeting, and its written to be relevent across industries. 

You might think that questions like "What do you do?" are too obvious and the kind of thing that you should have figured out before the interview, but to be honest, I don't think that outsiders really know what a firm does until someone inside explains it to them.  Now, obviously, you don't want to come to us and say, "What is Union Square Ventures?", but perhaps you could still ask stuff like, "So I researched about what your investment strategy was and I see that you invest in IT-enabled services, but can you give me a little more detail on what kinds of companies fit into that catagory as you define it?  How did you come to the conclusion that was the best place to invest?"

Ok, so its much wordier, but that's essentially the "What do you do?" question.  You just can't ask "What do you do" because you're supposed to have researched this beforehand.  Truth is, its really hard to research exactly what someone does unless you're a very experienced person in their industry, and since we're talking about networking as a younger person starting out, I don't think some improved verson of "What do you do?" is such a bad thing.

Ok, so here's the passage from my book that didn't go anywhere...

"Ok, so no coming out and asking for a job upfront. We’re just doing research at this point, right? So, what do we actually want to know from these people? The four most relevant questions a student can ask networking contacts are:

1. What do you do? The Old Standby. It’s the easiest question to ask and get answered. The key here is that when someone tells you that they are an astrophysicist, you need to make sure you know what that means. Some follow up questions to make sure you have the answers to make sure you understand exactly what someone is doing include:

a. Who do you do that for? (Are they self employed, work for the government, a firm, etc.?)

b. Why would they want that done? Why does it help them? (Of course, don’t ask if the answer is obvious. If someone is a firefighter, don’t ask why the city wants fires put out, lest you come off like a pyromaniac.)

c. Does everyone who does what you do work for the same type of company that you do? (Some lawyers work for law firms, others work for corporations, and because of that, their jobs are somewhat, but not entirely different.)

We’re not interested in only what someone does for a career. Remember that we said our idea of success involves your whole life, and that who you are isn’t simply defined by what you get paid to do for a living. What does your contact do outside of work? Do they have a family, a hobby, or are they involved with a charity or volunteer work? It is important to get a sense of the whole person that you are talking to, not just one facet of their lives.

2. How did you get into that? This question will give you answers about their past, but may uncover some helpful clues that you could use for your future. How they got into what they are doing now basically outlines the steps you might need to take should you be interested in pursuing the field that they are in now. It is also important to understand whether or not they actually planned on getting where they got into, or whether they pretty much fell into it. What seems to happen a lot is that the actual job they do is unexpected, but it often stems from poking around in some related area. This is why the message behind this book is not to start planning, but just to start poking.

3. Where do you think it will lead you? Obviously, no one can predict the future, but most people at least have an idea of where they would like their jobs to lead, or at least whether or not they want it to lead somewhere else. Is this the last stop on the line, or just one of many?

4. Now that you have a sense of the present, past, and future of this person’s self navigation, you need to measure how genuine it is. Maybe this person is at a place in their life that is the exact opposite of where they actually want or intended to be. It is important for you to ask how ideal their situation is and what, if anything, they would change about it, besides the pay, of course.

5. Possibly the most important thing you can ask every contact you speak with is for a recommendation to speak with someone else. This will ensure that your network grows. Whether the recommendation comes from your indication of interest in a particular field, or just your contact’s idea of what you find interesting, trying to get each contact to lead to a new one is a great way to build up your network and increase your chances of coming across something great. Just ask the person if they know of anyone that they think you would be interested in talking to. Keep it open-ended.

Keep in mind that networking is a two way street as well. What you tell them is just as important as what they tell you. By telling people about your interests and your search to find out what it is that you want to do, you accomplish several things. First, you impress people that you are an ambitious, motivated person who is trying to be thoughtful about the direction they set themselves out in. Having people think well of you isn’t such a bad thing, of course. Second, it gets the word out about your interest. Every person you talk to then becomes a scout for you. In the back of their mind is now an alarm set to go off when an opportunity for you comes their way, and the more people you talk to, the wider you cast a net that might catch something that might prove interesting to you.

At this point, for the average freshmen, networking should be all about asking a ton of questions. Yet again, this requires us to throw away antiquated ideas about what’s cool and what isn’t. Remember how, in high school, two minutes before class ended, you’d get all annoyed about that one kid that had to ask just one more question. Well now, asking questions are a sign of intelligence. Smart people ask questions—they know what they don’t know. You’re at college to learn—not just in the classroom, but in every facet of your life. You should be out meeting new and different kinds of people, asking them about where they came from, what they want for themselves, what they value and who they want to be. When you are at the gym, you should ask people to show you new ways to fend off that freshman 15. When you walk by an open door in your dorm and someone has a great inflatable couch, ask them where they got it. Learning off of other people is a great skill to have, and all it takes is a little effort.

So how does this work? Do you just call up everyone in your newly created contact list and rattle off five questions? No, definitely not. First off, unlike a telemarketer, you want to have some consideration for trying not to catch the person at a bad time. Contacting the person beforehand to schedule a second conversation is the best way to go. In general, e-mail is a great icebreaker if you have their e-mail address. I find that when people drop me an e-mail, I can answer it on my own time, and an e-mail will never inconvenience anyone. With a phone call, you never know what they might already be up to when they pick up the phone. Everyone is different, though. You should try and judge it based on your knowledge of the person. Drop someone a call or e-mail just to see if they might be willing to answer a few questions about their career and when it might be convenient for them to talk. Never send anyone questions. You want to actually speak with these people, because that forms a better connection. When you have a good conversation with someone, as we said before, it builds a real relationship. When you e-mail questions, it becomes more of a one-way relationship about what they can get you.

Setting up a time to talk in the future also gives the person an opportunity to get mentally prepared for what they might talk to you about. Even if you don’t give them the questions beforehand, knowing that they will speak with you about what they do will probably cause them to do a little thinking about it beforehand.