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5 Steps to Becoming a Networking Superstar - The Peter Pham Interview

If you want to know the value of having a good network, take a look at what it’s done for Peter Pham’s new company, BillShrink:

  • Networking helped him find a co-founder who is a former venture capitalist.
  • Networking helped him land a top creative director without having to pay a recruiting fee.
  • Networking helped him get an adviser who successfully sold a startup in the industry Peter wants to dominate.
  • Networking helped him get his business funded.

Here are 5 of the steps he took to become a networking superstar. (Listen to the full interview for more.)

Go where they are - To get hooked into the web startup community, Peter went to tech events. He met his co-founder at the very first event he went to, the TechCrunch party in Michael Arrington’s house.

Once isn’t enough - Even the shiest networker can start building contacts by consistenly going to similar events. People start to recognize you and relationships naturally develop.

Everyone knows the host - After going as a guest to a few events, Peter switched roles and started hosting his own dinners. When you’re a guest, you get to meet a few people at an event, but the host gets to know everyone.

Tap their lists - To broaden his guest list, he co-hosted his dinners with two other connections: Mike Jones, CEO of userplane and Keith Richman, CEO of Break.com

Watch it grow - Word started to spread about his small dinners and people started asking for invitations. So Peter and his co-hosts created bigger events. The most recent one had over 150 guests. There’s even a web site, now betasouth.org. It’s a “.org” because the goal to make connections, not profits.

What are your networking tip? Add them to the comments.

Right click to download this interview

September 24, 2008 | Filed Under Interview, podcast 

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2 Responses to “5 Steps to Becoming a Networking Superstar - The Peter Pham Interview”

  1. What He Did After He Sold His Company - The Ryan Scott Interview : Mixergy.com on November 5th, 2008

    [...] H also said that he considers the personality and reputation of the entrepreneur behind the company. Will s/he crumble in a crisis? Do people think s/he is a jerk? Is s/he someone Ryan would want to work with? (Peter Pham has more on that.) [...]

  2. “Almost Everyone I Counciled Got Funding” - The Adeo Ressi Interview : Mixergy.com on December 9th, 2008

    [...] for your company. Once you have that list, Adeo says get to know them BEFORE you want their money. (Download this interview with Peter Pham to hear a smart way to do [...]

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