Most people know I’m always looking to meet new people. It’s one of the primary reasons I joined the Accra Hub of the Global Shaper Community under the World Economic Forum. This affords me the opportunity to meet people from other hubs (there’s about 403 active hubs in 154 countries. With an active network of 8,472 Shapers. That means I have (more or less) direct access to all these people and whichever country I visit, I’d know at least one person who can connect me to someone there. Having this global network is quite a top priority for me and the Global Shapers network is just one stepping block for me. Below is from an article I’ve kept for at least 5 years. Has been my go-to for networking.
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There are no shortcuts to building a strong network. You can add all of the random connections on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn and your network could still be worthless. A network is only as strong as the individual relationships and connections you have. If you only have weak ties, it’s unlikely you will be able to leverage them in a time of need. In other words, quality > quantity. The Silicon Valley mafias exist because those people went to war together in the trenches. They created strong bonds through good times and bad while building startups into empires. Not everyone can have that type of shared experience, but there are other ways you can build your network with authentic connections:
Create value for others
Stay connected
Never be afraid to ask
Don’t limit yourself to one network or domain
Always be supportive
Say yes and don’t expect anything in return
Be proactive and connect others
I’ll talk more on each these down the line. But keep in mind.
Article List—Articles to take note of that I’ve read in the past 24 hours or so
How to beat procrastination: “You know yourselves. You need to read this.”
Prosus investors must understand Tencent’s uphill struggle: “Imagine buying a stake in a company for 32M$ in 2001 and 20 years later, that stake is worth 134B$?????? Well, that’s Koos Bekker for you who made one of the smartest bets ever seen in venture capital. At least, one that has made the craziest return. Anyway, they’re listing Prosus (which has that Tencent stake) in Europe for 100B$. Look into it.”
WeWork CEO Returns $5.9M To Company, Promises To Add Woman To Board After IPO: “Finally, there’s some sense coming back into this company. That was a very silly deal. I’m sure the investors didn’t trust the judgment of Adam after seeing that. Pure nonsense. Anyway, short WeCompany when it lists. Adam is not Jeff.”
A Story of Stories: “Back to reading Wait Buy Why posts. Which is your favorite? This one is a whole study on human psychology. I’d need to read it another 5 times for it to make complete sense. @waitbutwhy is my hero.”
Is One of the World’s Biggest Lawsuits Built on a Sham?: “Africa, Africa, Africa. When will we change? Read this article and see why we can’t solve the problems on this continent.”
The banks in Nigeria are working together with the central bank to limit the success of MTN money.: “The central bank won’t allow these homegrown banks to fall to the feet of an foreign company, so makes sense.”
Why Emmanuel Macron has to tell Alpha Condé to stop: “Is he going to go the way of Kabila or dos Santos? Read my two previous posts to understand warrisgoinon.”
Podcast— Quit listening to radio…listen to podcasts. Your quality of life will increase. podcast channel listened to this morning
This Week In Startups: Basically, my second uncle Jason (Jason Njoku is number 1) is one of my mentors. Mostly known as the scout that found Uber for Sequoia, he’s got a podcast where he interviews the dopest VCs in the valley. And once in a while, he has “Office Hours”, where he gives advice to up and coming companies and adds them to his accelerator program. I want to do something similar at 8v, but time. Soon though. I want to help people think through their business models, especially looking at these markets in which we play.
Book—What I’m reading now or in the recent past or want to read…my book list is nearing 1000 books 🌚
Jeph lent me Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future and it’s about to be a long night. I paused my other readings to handle this first.
Remember folks: “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.”
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