A few nights ago I was talking to a truly amazing young woman who is only a freshman in college. I was blown away by her and quickly found myself giving her the same advice I’ve given to hundreds of other people. As we talked I said something I had never said before. It was so simple and obvious yet it isn’t something I think I had ever articulated before. I said “look the goal is to become an amazing networker. If you become that person you will find amazing people who are willing, if treated correctly, to become career investors. However, the goal is not to convert every person you meet from a contact into a career investor. The goal is to find those diamonds in the rough.”
The reason I said this was she had built a great relationship with a professor who was really helping her out. She didn’t understand why other professors weren’t being helpful despite her approaching them the same way. She assumed it was her fault. For every contact I’ve made probably less than 10% ultimately became a career investor. Some people just are not going to be helpful. Most will be helpful up until certain point and it is up to you the networker to find where that point might is located.
The reason I created D.C. Hopefuls Fellowship and D.C. Boot Camp is to teach you how to make sure you are treating/approaching people correctly and maximizing the potential in each person. Doing things the right way will help you find those amazing career investors out there and maximize those less than helpful contacts.