Met a guy at a co-working space in Denver who changed how I think about networking

Went to a co-working meetup in RiNo last Thursday and this older guy started talking about how he built his whole business by just having coffee with one person a week for like 3 years. He said he never asked for anything upfront, just listened and helped where he could. Has anyone else tried that slow build approach instead of the usual speed networking hustle?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_sandra1d ago

That coffee-a-week approach worked for my old boss in Denver too. He spent two years just meeting people before he ever asked for a single favor. By then he had a whole network of people who actually wanted to help him.

gavin_knight391d ago

Yeah I used to think that was way too slow but honestly that makes a lot more sense now.

thomas.cameron1d ago

Man, I gotta push back on that a little. Two years of just meeting people with no asks feels like a lot of time to spend without any payoff. I mean, you can build trust by asking for small things early on, like "hey, do you know anyone who deals with X?" It shows you respect their time and actually start the relationship moving. Otherwise, it just sounds like a lot of coffee dates where nobody really knows what you're after. Plus, if you wait that long, you might accidentally come across like you're hiding something or playing a longer game than you are. Just my two cents though.