Five Rules For Networking Your Startup In A New City

As an expat Canadian (New York City has been home for over 20 years), a question I am frequently asked by foreign startups seeking funding or new customers is “how do I network in the United States?” Oh, if only it was so easy to give a single piece of networking advice for that 50 state question. Here’s why: when it comes to networking, it is as much about location as the people you desire to meet . One set of networking rules does not fit all geographic locations. To be successful at building networks in new cities, you need to understand how the locals interact – as it will improve the likelihood you’ll make the right connections and enhance the interactions you make.

“In Austin, breakfast tacos and craft coffee rule for a first meeting - and don't be too formal as Austin is a super casual city ” – Julia Cheek, founder of digital health platform EverlyWell

Know Before You Go
Do your research on the investors or companies you want to meet, and the city you’ll be meeting them in, well before you book a flight or send a “here’s my pitch deck can we meet over coffee” email. You’ve undoubtedly heard the advice countless times before - and it’s guidance worth adhering to, as it will save you endless wasted hours and dollars in the long run. Google meetups in the city where you’re headed. Sign up for hyper-local event newsletters. Crowd source suggestions through Twitter. Whatever your source of information, study and take a keen interest in how the local entrepreneur community interacts – then mirror their behavior.

“Some of the networks do not mix with other networks. It is important to know which are the most relevant networks for your specific startups and in some cases, you might want to participate in completely different events so that you build connections in several networks.” - Itxaso del Palacio. Investment Director at London-based Notion Capital.

Learn The Unwritten Rules
Nashville's business community prides itself on accessibility and a willingness to meet regardless of seniority , Mucker Capital’s Monique Villa tells me. People who want to be connected within the Toronto startup ecosystem should look to add value , according to Janet Bannister, partner at Real Ventures. As a Canadian I can confirm that we are a friendly, sincere and helpful nation and it is not surprising that the Toronto tech ecosystem reflects these values. The point here is that every city operates a little bit differently and the more you understand those nuances, the more successful your network-building will be. Ask the investors or advisors you already have if they’ve done business in the city you’re headed to – then pepper them with questions about their overall experience (rather than immediately leaping into an ask for introductions).

“People will go out of their way to be helpful and, generally speaking, entrepreneurs, investors and others in the community genuinely care about each other and want others to be successful as they believe that a "rising tide lifts all boats" and the more success stories we have in Toronto, the more likely it is that other successes will follow.” - Janet Bannister, partner at Real Ventures

Skip The Sales Pitch
Your goal is to make long-term connections, not simply to close a funding round or land a business deal. Entrepreneurship is a precarious, challenging and uncertain pursuit. When resources (such as time, money and introductions) are scarce, the default is to invest those scarce resources in those with shared values and a demonstrated commitment to the community. If you’re not prepared to invest in the targeted ecosystem, why should they invest in you?

“Everyone knows everyone, literally. In such a close-knit ecosystem like Singapore, all parties play in the same pool - government, corporate innovation teams, startups, accelerators, VCs, angels... One particular thing that people like talking about (think Crazy Rich Asians) is their family ties and the rich families they know.” – Pocket Sun, Managing Partner, SoGal Ventures

Warm Introductions Work Best
The foundation of strong introduction is trust – and trust does not arise from a perfectly crafted pitch deck[/tweet_quote] or complimentary email or hunting down an investor via a conference app. Avoid conferences is the advice of Singapore-based Anne Marie Droste, partner at Entrepreneur First. Droste, as with many venture capitalists seeks introductions that come from her network, preferably from another startup. “CEO to CEO [introductions] are always best for intros” in her mind. While avoiding conferences may sound harsh, I would suggest avoiding conferences if your only goal is to secure investment. If you’re attending to learn more about the dynamics of a startup ecosystem or further develop relationships you’ve made previously, then by all means, attend those conferences!

“Whatsapp is where it’s at - no one emails. Business cards are less necessary than people like to think - just when you talk to corporations.’ – Anne Marie Droste, partner, Entrepreneur First (Singapore)

ADVERTISEMENT

Understand Communication Preferences
To build a strong network you need to recognize the communication preferences of the other person . Are they a “meet for coffee person” or a 15-minute phone call type? The same is true when it comes to technology. The good news is that many investors share their communication preferences from interviews, podcasts, blogs and tweets. You should be able to discern the best way to engage. Be prepared to adopt their preferred communication tool(s) when necessary. “ WeChat is the predominate messaging app in China and it's the most important tool for networking and getting things done” Tina Cheng, Managing Partner at Cherubic Ventures tells me, adding that the custom in China is to add business contacts on WeChat by scanning a QR code. Figure out before you reach out whether you need to get a QR code, download a new app or jump on a video chat platform, and avoid looking like yet another startup founder who doesn’t know the local networking rules.

"The Warsaw start-up scene and investor community love networking. the language of communication is English. It is easy to get a meeting with any investor out there, people are very open. Just send an email ." - Kinga Stanislawska, founder and managing partner, Experior Venture Fund

Source: https://www.forbes.com
Image Credit:  Getty | Getty Images


ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

Successful Leaders Share How to Get the Most Out of Networking

Going to a big conference event can be intimidating – and overwhelming. There is so much to do, so many people to see and so little time.

Ahead of our Entrepreneur Live event, our day-long conference filled with information, inspiration and innovation to help you achieve your dreams, we reached out to some of our speakers, all conference pros, to ask their advice on how to make the most out of these events.

Check out what a few of them had to say.

Focus on you.

You're here to talk not listen -- even when you don't have the stage. Every entrepreneur knows that you need to tell your story to anyone willing to listen in 30 seconds or less. Go! You never know where it may lead you.

-- Cindy Whitehead
CEO of The Pink Ceiling, a strategy and mentorship program for female business owners


Have a plan.

Before the conference, ask yourself: what does my ideal future look like? Think about that ideal future a lot. Envision it. Now, at the conference, back out the steps that will take you there. Focus on those steps. Zoom in on related info, ask questions related to those steps and develop new relationships who can continue to guide you on the path to your ideal future.

-- Bert Jacobs
CEO of Life is Good, an apparel company focusing on inspiring its wearers

Be authentic.

Genuinely get to know the person sitting next to you. People like doing business with people they like. You never know who might be your next investor, partner or customer, but don’t make that your objective. Make friends first. Later you can invite them to become part of your advisory board, leadership committee or another counselor position. This invites a deeper dive into the organization, which then may create interest in becoming an investor, partner or customer.

-- Keith Krach
Chairman of DocuSign, an electronic signature company

Be curious.

Network and meet as many people as you can. Also, take genuine interest and really hear the stories of people.

-- Peter Kim
CEO of Hudson Jeans, premium jeans for men and women

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com

Image Source: Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

An Introvert's Guide to Highly Effective Networking

You can still get great results without draining your social batteries.

What are some effective networking tips for introverts?

Answer by Helen Min, Head of Marketing at Quora:

Everyone will tell you networking is important, but for introverts, networking is an especially effective way to increase the number of inbound opportunities which decreases the number of times you'll have to "put yourself out there" to reach a professional objective.

It's not an option to skip networking, so find ways to grow your network that you can live with. In general, find ways to redirect in-person networking to online interactions:

• Get really good at connecting people through email. Don't skimp on introductions, get initial contact off to an enthusiastic start, and make clear that the two parties should take it from there.

• Develop meaningful 1-on-1 relationships with master networkers. Invest in the relationship and share thoughtful analysis with them each time you meet. Because they enjoy networking, they will appreciate having smart analysis to pass on with proper attribution.

• Ask thought-provoking questions and share perspectives with people you want to reach online. Quora is obviously a great place for this.

• Fill out your social media bios. Make it easy for others to identify common interests you may share and possibly reach out as a result. This means fighting against your natural tendency to be private.

• Do a talk on a topic that you can absolutely nail. Reach the audience you want to network with through this form of one-way communication and end the talk with a clear way to reach you online (it's fine to ghost immediately after you give the talk, don't feel pressured to stick around for 1-on-1 questions).

Westchester Networking for Professionals

 Source: http://www.inc.com  
Image Credit: Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

Want to Build Relationships? Find Ways to Laugh Together.

 A new study finds that laughter is the key to creating social bonds. 

Humor and laughter can be incredibly effective tools in the workplace. A study from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania found that people who were comfortable cracking jokes in the office were perceived as more confident and competent. Another study, from VU University Amsterdam and the University of Nebraska, found that meetings filled with laughter lead to more productivity and more innovative solutions.

Now, researchers from the Turku PET Centre and Aalto University in Finland and the University of Oxford in the U.K. have found that when people laugh together in social situations, it releases endorphins in the brain that create pleasurable and calming feelings that make people feel safe and bonded together.

In the study, participants brains were scanned twice. The first scan was conducted after they sat alone in a room for 30 minutes. The second followed after 30 minutes of watching comedy clips with close friends. The study identified an endorphin release in three different parts of the brain after the session of social laughter.

According to the researchers, this kind of relationship building practice is unique to human beings as a species. And, it’s contagious.


“Other primates maintain social contacts by mutual grooming, which also induces endorphin release. This is however very time-consuming,” University of Oxford professor Robin Dunbar explains. “Because social laughter leads to similar chemical response in the brain, this allows significant expansion of human social networks: laughter is highly contagious, and the endorphin response may thus easily spread through large groups that laugh together.”

So the next time you want to make a new friend, tell a good joke.

Grow with Westchester Networking for Professionals

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com
Image Credit: Getty Images


 

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business networking association dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs develop, expand and grow. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

8 Essential Qualities Necessary to Be Great in Relationships

The variable we most control in relationships is ourselves.

 Great businesses are built upon a foundation of great relationships. Do you ever wonder how some people seem so natural and at ease in relationships, while others really struggle to maintain them? Is it a difference in temperament, like introversion or extroversion?

It could be, but as a psychologist, I can say the approach to relationships for each temperament is different; yet, both hold the same core beliefs. To follow is a list of the things we need, regardless of temperament, to be great in relationships.

1. Not defined by our past.

We all have a past. It is only when we cannot accept, have not yet healed or forgiven our past that it has the power to negatively impact our relationships today. We need to use our experiences to grow so that we stop repeating negative or unproductive patterns.

We run our own lives. It is imperative we acknowledge and work to mature the more unrefined and defended aspects of our personalities, where we tend overcompensate for the insecurities developed from our experiences.

Use your past to positively change your future. Establish the self-awareness necessary to create mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships.

2. Know who we are.

To be great in relationships we must have emotional depth. To develop that depth, we must soul-search and be unafraid to show our imperfections.

We are all human. We all bleed the same color. When we accept this, we will expect less perfection from ourselves and stop demanding perfection from others.

When we’re authentic, we don’t need to try so hard to look good in the eyes of others. We can show up as who and what we are, flaws and all. When one of our flaws creates an issue, we must acknowledge this with ownership, an apology and a plan for what we will change in ourselves to not let it happen again. When we know who we are, we can self-correct, which serves to build trust.

3. Independently content.

A person who is content on their own is the best type of person to be in a relationship with. Relying too much on other people to build us up or make us feel valuable makes us difficult to be in a relationship with.

It is our responsibility to feel good enough about who we are, on our own. We cannot enter relationships putting the responsibility of our success or happiness onto anyone else. We must respect that each and every person we connect with also needs to be responsible for their own success and happiness. The formula for relationship success is: We take care of ourselves for other people, and we expect other people to take care of themselves for us. This way, each person brings a whole, intelligent, educated, and responsible Self to the table.

4. Contribute rather than criticize.

One of the most common reasons people leave relationships is because they feel someone is constantly trying to change them. Relationships cannot function well under constant criticism.

The more we focus on inspiring, the more likely other people are to manifest the change we desire from them. The more we micromanage, put people down and ignore what they’re doing right, the more unhappy, unproductive and rigid they become. When we contribute, rather than criticize the motivation is different; we are giving people information to help them, rather than to change them to serve us.

When we focus this way, the changes inspired in others are the productive changes all involved are looking for, including the person who is making changes.

5. Show vulnerability.

One the best ways to establish positive relationships is to be vulnerable. When people view us as perfect, we come off as less approachable and more intimidating. This is not a relationship-building formula.

We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Letting our flaws show makes it easier for others to connect with us. When we show our vulnerabilities, others feel more open in expressing theirs without fears of recrimination. Why would we open up to someone who is not ever open about who they are? We wouldn’t. We must allow others a peek into our humanity. This open quality builds a trust that cannot be reached with a thousand words.


6. Generous.

Nurturing others, making deep connections and building solid networks is how we grow a great business.

To nurture means to give. We must give willingly, and not make our giving seem like a major unwanted sacrifice to our receivers. We can look at giving in two ways: as sacrificing something we don’t want to share and subsequently being bitter; or, we can give generously and view it as something positive and necessary that can only serve to benefit all parties, including us.

This shift in our mindset allows us to give without strings of hostility or resentment attached. When we give in this manner, we get to enjoy watching what we give help others to become more successful. People in great relationships uplift each other.

7. Let things go.

Forgiveness is the marker of a healthy relationship. We cannot be good with people in tandem to holding grudges. There is nothing productive in continually punishing another person into feeling guilty or ashamed for a past wrongdoing.

If some unforgivable deal-breaker has occurred, cut ties with that relationship and move on. If a relationship can stay intact after a mishap, we must keep in mind people cannot work to their full performance if we are micromanaging every little fault they have, or every little thing they aren’t doing perfectly. We must not sweat the small stuff in our relationships. We must make room for imperfections and areas of weakness, and do what we can to support people in those areas.

8. Lighthearted.

Relationships that are too serious are not enjoyable to be a part of. Yes, business is serious stuff, but to build successful teams and develop great networking relationships, the work environment must have a sense of playful lightheartedness to it.

Make work a place you and others look forward to each day. Strive to make meetings, business trips and other engagements as interesting and enjoyable as possible. Humor bonds people because humor is almost always spontaneous and impulsive. It’s fun to share positive experiences and memories with our colleagues, so it’s important to smile and to be friendly.

When we are lighthearted, people want to be in our company and to play along. No one wants to be left out of what is fun, growth-promoting or exciting. To be great with people, and to build lasting networks and connections, we must be attractive to others from the inside out.





Source: http://www.inc.com
Image credit: Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business networking association dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs develop, expand and grow. We offer affordable opportunities to help create a positive impact and advancement in your business interests and personal quality of life to take you to the next level.
Stay Connected with WNFP!

To Make Networking Less Awkward, Make It A Date

Most people hear the word "networking" and flashback to a corporate event at a moderately swanky bar full of young professionals. Everyone wears a name tag and tries to drink in moderation and give the most entertaining summary of their job. Occasionally these events are interrupted by short speeches by members of company leadership that are paced so no one knows when to laugh or clap or both. Sometimes guests are forced to comply with the event planners' decision to implement some kind of ice breaker, or worse, a game to the already awkward proceedings.

If you're lucky, you'll meet maybe three relevant contacts to your business idea and land a meeting with only one. I'd give chances that this meeting produces any tangible results or benefits at, eh, one in four. Sure, this approach to networking lands us a lot of free drinks and an excuse to leave the office on time, but that's hardly the intention. For how focused the startup world and the firms funding them are on demonstrating potential scale and profitably, we sure are committed to a networking ritual with an extremely low ROI. It isn't that networking events are inherently broken, it is that in the effort to make them less awkward, we often produce precisely the opposite effect. The advice I am about to give on making things less awkward is going to sound even more ridiculous than the most incoherent drunk guy at the open bar but bear with me: treat networking like you would treat dating.

Now don't get ahead of yourself and start thinking of ways to compliment that VC guy's hair or ask about where his parents live and how often he visits. What I mean is, if you're any good at dating, you come up with thoughtful activities that both of you will enjoy where you can actually be doing something instead of just wringing answers out of each other over drinks or dinner for two hours. Social media investigation and rapport building brings out a lot of information about people's favorite activities and their interests. If someone you want to meet runs marathons, offer to train with them if the relationship is close enough. If a new contact is known for their love of fine art, suggest a very quick drink then head off to the latest small gallery opening of an up and coming painter. These meaningful engagements translate into opportunities to have a more meaningful twice the engagement with them while also demonstrating you're not just another couple of drinks in a company hoodie.

And don't forget that your interests can be used as catalysts to engagement too. In addition to my entrepreneurial and business interests, I use my Twitter feed to showcase the photography I do as a fairly serious hobby. It inevitably comes up in conversations as it is somewhat unexpected from a guy running a publishing tech startup. More than once, these conversations have turned to offers for me to take photographs of the person in a park or on a rooftop, anywhere that would make a nicer headshot than the white background with a collar showing on LinkedIn. I've taken portraits of bestselling authors, entrepreneurs who sold their company for hundreds of millions and of top-tier VCs investors who invest in unicorns. Once the picture retouched and sent to their inbox, it's the start of a completely different relationship. It is not a transactional vibe; just snapping photos and talking in a scenic location reveals our full humanity and the values we bring with us to a potential partnership.  Though it can feel strange at first, once you see the value of thinking outside the box for networking activities, it becomes easy, second nature even. I fear I can't say the same about playing ice breaker games.

Source: https://www.inc.com
Image Credit: Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business networking association dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs develop, expand and grow. We offer affordable opportunities to help create a positive impact and advancement in your business interests and personal quality of life to take you to the next level.
Stay Connected with WNFP!