You may think that building relationships with awesome and accomplished people is about having amazing interpersonal skills…
But actually, to get close the best and brightest, there’s something else that’s far more powerful…and the reason why this is the case might be hard to hear.
REALITY: Most people that have already “made it” probably have enough friends and people to hang out with. In fact, at the highest levels, probably the last thing these people want is another person trying to get a piece of their time…coffee date request anyone?
That’s not to say that you’re not unique or don’t have the capacity to add value to their lives, but at a certain point, being socially-skilled just doesn’t cut it in the bigs.
What …
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Two days ago I found my favorite podcast episode ever <3333
It was an interview with Noah Kagan on Patt Flynn’s Smart Passive Income.
Amongst all the awesomeness Noah mentioned, he brought up the coffee challenge. If you’re not familiar, it’s an exercise meant to help people get more comfortable with rejection. Basically you go to a coffee shop and ask for 10% for no reason…Oh hay guaranteed rejection!
I love this idea because I think the fear of rejection and failure is the biggest thing that holds people back from getting everything they ever wanted. So 15 minutes after listening to the podcast I decided to give it a whirl!
Some quick notes:
The first time I did the coffee challenge was …
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Once upon a time, I was an introduction fool. I made every classic mistake in the book…and in the process probably pushed people away from me that I ultimately wanted to build a relationship with : (
Photo Credit: jo3design via Compfight cc
To demystify some of the mistakes I made, I’m sharing a 12 minute video on The Do’s and Don’ts of Making Introductions.
This is taken from the relationship building section of my new series on How to Land A Business Development Job and serves as a follow up to the last video I shared on the challenging realities of landing startup jobs.
Relationships are important for countless reasons, but within the context of landing a startup job, they’re incredibly value because they …
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I’m teaching a one-time class with one of my closest friends Ryan Denehy on August 7th, at 8pm at We Work Labs.
The class / jam session is called Making It Rain In Business Development: Closing Business Development Deals and Avoiding Blunders (details below crazy awesome event picture).
Photo Credit: Denehy’s Legit Design Skills
A few reasons why I’m stoked to teach this class:
We plan on giving real-life stories from the trenches on both successes and failures (so you can learn!)
I’ll be sharing a few tactics I’ve never shared before on my blog etc
This is the first time I’ve spoken on “closing”
If you can’t tell by the photo, we plan on making this fun and entertaining. We’ll probably be drinking beers too (club soda …
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I get about 5 emails or facebook messages a week from people looking to get advice on landing startup jobs…
I guess playing excel like a concert pianist gets old pretty quick.
Photo credit: RateMyPlacement
To combat this inbound assault, I created a free 8 email series that includes some of my best tips on how non-technical people can break into startups (sign up here!).
Besides being a free resource overstretched startup folk can point their friends too, this email series is an introduction to apply for a 5 week program I created on how to break into startup business development.
2 Dynamics People Trying to Break Into Startups Must Understand
Today I wanted to share 4:38 of video from the 5 week program …
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If you like buritto bowls, behavioral psychology, and life hacks you will like this article.
Few things interest me more than human behavior and getting more chicken and guac in my buritto bowls. I could eat burrito bowls all day long.
Fresh off reading Influence by Robert Cialdini for the 2nd time, I had lunch with my fellow carnivore buddy Charlie at this new burrito place Guac Star. I noticed that he ordered a chicken bowl without rice AND BEANS.
As a “just black beans” with meat guy, I was intrigued…
…I started thinking about the contrast principle from Influence and whether there was an opportunity to leverage this concept in this situation.
The Contrast Principle states that humans make relative judgements instead …
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A bunch of people that subscribe to my newsletter have told me that their favorite part is the business tactics I share in the “Tactic of the Month” section….
So I thought I’d share the first 5 on this here tablet in case you missed them.
Business Tactic 1: Good Cop / Bad Cop
In business development you’re bound to encounter some situations where you’re not going to make the other party happy (i.e. you can’t accomodate a request, you need an update on where a deal stands that they’re not ready to give etc).
People like doing business with people they like.
Thus, it’s in your best interest to be likeable. This why playing good cop / bad cop can be such an effective …
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A little less than 3 years ago, I decided I wanted to become an entrepreneur.
If I’m truly honest, the catalyst for this pursuit wasn’t motivated by seeing young people accomplish amazing things, but rather serious dissatisfaction with my first job.
My first job in a nutshell:
I was bored as sh*t. I felt like my ideas were never taken seriously and my capacity to create progress within the business was limited by bureaucracy.
I felt like I was wasting my life. It was terrible.
I wanted something more fulfilling I wanted to have ownership of something. I wanted to feel the tangible impact created by my efforts. I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself and be excited about work each day.
These feelings …
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