Twenty-five years ago, a Harvard Business School case researchstudy included the remarkable networking practices of Silicon Valley businessowner and endeavor capitalist Heidi Roizen. This was before the increase of online social networks and the universality of social media. But today, Roizen states that those advancements have not essentially altered how she constructs and preserves strong individual and expert relationships. Now a partner at Threshold Ventures and a speaker at Stanford Graduate School of Business, she shares the greatest errors that she sees individuals take. She likewise describes the effect of AI and remote work on networking, her most efficient methods for structure relationships, and her frank recommendations for those simply beginning their professions. Roizen is topic of the HBS case researchstudy “Heidi Roizen.”
CURT NICKISCH: Welcome to the HBR IdeaCast from Harvard Business Review. I’m Curt Nickisch.
There’s a case researchstudy that’s been taught at organization schools for 25 years now. It’s entitled Heidi Roizen and information the networking practices of the Silicon Valley endeavor capitalist and previous businessowner of the verysame name. It includes how she cultivates an comprehensive individual and expert network to advantage her and to advantage others.
Now, what’s amazing about this case is that it came out right after the dotcom bust and before the increase of Web 2.0 and all the social networks and social media that followed. At the time there was no LinkedIn, you didn’t have any Twitter fans or Facebook pals.
And yet the case is still taught today since the networking insights in there are as appropriate as ever. Our visitor today states basically absolutelynothing has altered about structure a strong expert network. All that digital innovation and the pledge of smooth scale obscures a basic fact that human connections are puttogether one by one, interaction by interaction.
Our visitor today is Heidi Roizen. She’s a partner at Threshold Ventures, a speaker at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the subject of the Harvard Business School case researchstudy, Heidi Roizen. Heidi, so delighted to have you on the program.
HEIDI ROIZEN: Thanks for having me. It’s a enjoyment to be here.
CURT NICKISCH: Were you constantly a excellent networker? I suggest, clearly we all get muchbetter with time, however are you extroverted? Were your momsanddads excellent networkers? I’m simply curious if you had a head start.
HEIDI ROIZEN: It’s an fascinating concern duetothefactthat I believe veryfirst of all, individuals conflate being an extrovert with being great at structure a network, and I puton’t believe they requirement to be the verysame thing. I believe in reality, often that individual who’s an extrovert who desires to be the center of the space and is constantly talking and all of that, those aren’t always the finest abilities to construct a relationship with somebody else. I have constantly been a individual who’s been interested in other individuals. I believe individuals’s stories are fascinating. I believe conference individuals is fascinating and I’ve constantly gravitated to getting to understand other individuals.
And so I do believe that that is something that assists me or has assisted me progress my own capabilities to, as I call it, construct a relationship driven life. But I have to state, I believe it truly came into focus when I endedupbeing an businessowner of a business that was not moneyed. And every day you get up and believe, who do I have to persuade what to relocation the ball forward with my business? And so it truly endsupbeing do or die when you’re an businessowner.
CURT NICKISCH: What’s your approach on networking? How do you technique it?
HEIDI ROIZEN: I’m going to start by stating I hate the word networking duetothefactthat networking indicates it’s really transactional. It suggests this concept that you’re monkey disallowing your method from individual to individual to get something you desire. It’s the reverse of what I think in. What I think in is that you are a human being and you’re operating the world and till the AI overlords take over, we are still reliant on other people that work with us. And so it’s excellent to construct relationships with other individuals and to construct them based on shared regard and trust and a level of sincerity and all of these things that it isn’t about event the most names.
It’s not about going to a mixeddrink celebration and strolling away with the most contacts. It’s about finding the other individuals in any circumstance who are fellow tourists with you on any specific journey you might be on and structure relationships with those individuals. And so it doesn’t matter if I’m one of a hundred in a space. If I discover 3 other individuals that I resonate with and that I can follow up with and do something favorable in both instructions, then that was a great day.
CURT NICKISCH: So if gathering the most cards or simply stacking up LinkedIn connections is not the method to continue or is one huge error that individuals make, what are the others? What are things that you see individuals doing that simply kind of appear counterproductive to you?
HEIDI ROIZEN: So when I was veryfirst approached about the case, they informed me what they desired to compose the case about, structure company relationships. And I stated, “Well, isn’t that simply kind of typical sense?” And they stated, “Well, typical sense is not that typical. Trust me. It is not that typical.” And so one of the things that I inform individuals over and over onceagain is trust your typical sense. Would you ask somebody for a favor the veryfirst time you satisfy them in a social, in simply a regular circumstance? No. You usually will just ask prefers of individuals you currently understand.
And yet I discover that extremely frequently individuals, the veryfirst time they’ll reach out to me is duetothefactthat they desire something from me and that simply doesn’t feel excellent. That feels kind of nasty. And also, if I reach out to someone the veryfirst time I reach out to them is merely because I desire them to do something for me. It feels like you’re lessening the relationship and focusingon the deal. And that to me is sort of the structure of whatever I talk about nowadays is focuson the relationship, not the deal. And if you have that as your high order bit so to speak, it will kind of assistance you determine whatever you do. And I believe it truly does endedupbeing typical sense.
Why would I anticipate somebody to be kind to me or considerate towards me if I’m not considerate towards them? Why would I anticipate someone to do me a favor if I’ve been careless in the method I’ve asked it and discarded a lot of work on them? So much of this is typical sense that mostlikely you foundout in veryfirst grade or your momsanddads taught you, however we insomeway lost that along the method.
CURT NICKISCH: Well aid us keepinmind here then. So let’s go through simply a couple of the fundamental finest practices you believe for networking. I indicate, often you recognize you desire to reach out to someone or get someone in your network since you do require them.
HEIDI ROIZEN: Because you do require something and there’s no issue with reaching out to somebody and providing them the factor why if you puton’t have a relationship with someone. You can start a relationship with somebody by stating, “I’m reaching out to you duetothefactthat I’ve determined that you are a individual who might assistance me with this. And so I’m reaching out for the particular aid, however likewise I think we might be practical to each other in the future as well.”
So much of this is in the method you do something. So much of this is in the method you ask. Again, understanding your function and understanding in a relationship, what is your function in the relationship? And so if you put it veryfirst and state, “I am not in a relationship with this individual. I would like to construct the relationship with this individual.” Relationships are two-way streets. And so usually you must believe through, “I am coming into their world. I’m coming in with an ask, however what may their future asks be of me? What may the advantage to them be of understanding me?” And that might not be clear in the starting.
There might be, especially with… I offer with a lot of trainees and so especially trainees believe they have absolutelynothing to deal, however I state, “You understand what? Even your appreciation, even being able to articulate something you foundout, even simply being considerate, following up, doing your research before you make an ask. These are all methods that you program regard for a prospective relationship.” And by the method, they must likewise lead to a muchbetter outcome in your ask.
CURT NICKISCH: I was questioning about that since if someone reaches out to you, you’re Heidi Roizen, you were extremely achieved. I suggest, you’re pals with Bill Gates. It might be a two-way street, however it feels like to a lot of individuals, there’s a larger lane on one side than the other.
HEIDI ROIZEN: And by the method, wear’t reach out to me and ask me to forward something to Bill Gates when you wear’t even understand me. I suggest, these are kind of the guidelines of the roadway sort of thing.
CURT NICKISCH: And so what is an ask that you’ve had justrecently where it came from someone at the other end of this power vibrant, if you desire to call it that, however they did it well and you were delighted to aid?
HEIDI ROIZEN: So the veryfirst thing: if you’re asking someone you wear’t understand for something, they desire figure out who you are. And so making yourself simple to discover is truly essential. For example, I believe individuals’s LinkedIn profiles are extremely, really essential. I state that you must have a click to your LinkedIn profile unless you’re a really widelyknown individual or the CEO of a business or something. If you’re not that, popular, put a link to your LinkedIn profile in your e-mail signature. So I get an e-mail from you, I puton’t understand who you are. With one click I can findout about you and you control the message on LinkedIn.
B ut I believe making yourself simple to discover, making yourself simple to aid. This is another thing individuals do that I believe is a huge error. When they ask for assist, they dump the work on the other individual duetothefactthat we’re all hectic individuals. So when you desire to ask somebody for assist, you draft the e-mail demand or the voicemail or whatever utilizing the least quantity of your own time when the considerate thing to do would be to bundle up the demand and the foundation for the demand. So that’s simpler for the other individual to do.
I see this all the time in e-mails, best? Here’s an e-mail that I would like you to forward to somebody else, or even evenworse to 3 other individuals. And then the requester is anticipating me, the favor provider, to invest time working on those e-mails or altering them or accommodating the reality that it’s expected to be for 3 individuals, however you can’t sendout one e-mail to 3 various individuals, particularly when they’re rivals. So I simply believe… Again, another suggestion is when you’re asking somebody for assist, think through making it as simple for them to assistance as possible.
If someone makes a really generic demand… My joke is, if you might title the e-mail Dear Occupant and still sendout it, it’s not a excellent e-mail. You requirement to believe about why am I asking this individual? What is it about them that makes me think they can assistance me? That’s really engaging to individuals. We are wired to be handy, however it’s mucheasier to be handy when there is a distinct tie or factor. It provides you a structure to construct on in that helpfulness.
And then I do believe individuals simply resonate with: We’re all people veryfirst and we’re our tasks 2nd. So a human component, and that doesn’t mean informing your life story on something, however simply discussing. For example, when individuals describe to me, “I’m reaching out to you duetothefactthat you were a lady who began a tech business in 1983 and I’m now attempting to start one 40 years lateron than you, and I’m still