David Homan: From CRM to Connection: Why Most Networking Tech Gets It Wrong

Business. Business. Business.

Business.

Welcome to Go to Market, a podcast for RevOps, sales, and marketing leaders to dive deep into industry insights and best practices. Go to Market is sponsored by Fulcast and Silicon Slopes. I am absolutely thrilled to introduce David Homan, president and founder of Soar Connect. David, how are you?

I'm having a decent day, but now it's much better. But now that we're talking, well, thank you.

And I'm glad that you have your drink because I have mine too. So we can, we can just have a nice, like, easy chat. And I just really appreciate you coming on the show.

Of course.

Well, so when I structure the show, I do 3 basic questions. And the first one I'll ask you, just right out of the gate, what is your background and what got you interested in doing Soar Connect?

So I have a very unique background to become a founder in my mid-forties. I am a working classical composer who got into the world of international arts philanthropy and then family office. And as I mastered the city of New York where I live, for which I've now been 25 years. I built what most friends would call an absolutely insane network that led me to build a private global community of people called Connectors or Super Connectors. And the thought was, even now, 10 years into running this community, that there would be something that existed in the world of connectivity or connector tech that worked not just for those that connect well, but those that don't. And after probably 120 tries of looking at other tech and hoping it worked, I decided to build my own because I wanted to solve something that solved the systems problem of measuring trust and helping us understand not just what we can do from that trust, but how we can build larger communities, have more effective action from it.

Oh my gosh, this is so timely for me because I have been on the hunt for the right tech for this. So I want to ask you like a whole bunch of questions about this, but first tell me more about being a classical composer.

So when you're a classical composer, first reaction you get is, oh, that's so cool. But you know, the person won't listen. Then my daughter Eva will get upset and go, all you have to do is say, hey Alexa, play the music of David Homan. It's that easy. And you know, so I live in a world where I live in something that's between a hobby in a career. I do get paid. I do get commissions. I have a retrospective of my works for ballet coming out this March with a company in Florida. But I write the same way I connect. I try to create that one melody that might sit with you and give you an inner journey towards passion and purpose. And my whole world, which is what I call orchestrating connection, is that world of trying to make the right intro, same way I try to write the the right melody.

Oh my gosh, that's so interesting. So my background is also classical. I was trained as a classical violinist since the age of 3, and I had a whole first career where I was a soloist. I did 12 shows a week, 2 shows a day. I was a studio violinist. It was wonderful. And then I realized I needed to— I was kind of getting bored playing the same thing over and over again every day. And I was like, I need something to just really stimulate my interest. And so if I could go back, I would learn so much more about music theory, be able to compose on the scale that you're doing. Like, I find that so fascinating.

And the other thing— So let me just interject to say—

Yeah, yeah, tell me more.

Music theory did not inspire me. I actually quit when I was 12. Really? It was Kurt Cobain and Nirvana with Smells Like Teen Spirit that got me back into music.

No way.

And I went into grunge rock and rock and pop, and I would play all these pieces from the Chili Peppers to Aerosmith to Dave Matthews to all of this. And then I'd start to improvise my own more classical versions of it. And suddenly Smells Like Teen Spirit was 28 minutes long, and then I had my own work derived from it. So the love of actually rock and roll kept my passion alive and got me really back into music.

Oh my gosh, I love this. So a couple of people that I am inspired by, number one, Dave Matthews. Absolutely. Like some of his, some of his jazz chords. And he like has one song that's like, you know, like, like I think it was like 8/7 or something like that. It's, it's crazy. And I love Sting. I think Sting does some really complicated melodies as well. So wow. Well, there's a whole other podcast that we can talk about just about music. For sure. But one thing that I find interesting about a lot of us classical musicians is that tech is just one step away. And many of the same principles that we use for music, we can also use for technology. And it sounds like you've done that.

So I've actually never thought of my tech this way, but here's the truth. The way that you measure a successful piece of music is the amount of time you can engage somebody to be focused on it. And then how long it is from end of the piece to their reaction. Because you actually don't want a standing ovation right away. You want people to be in such a deep place from your music that they were moved. And so I would always wait 10 seconds. One time it took about 30 seconds for one of my more well-known string quartets. And then from that, people came out of their state collectively. And what I realized was lacking in the world of technology and relationship intelligence was how to understand trust based on time, how much time you spend with people, not just how long you've known them, but not whether they're an Instagram follower or a LinkedIn first degree, but what it means when you've had regularly for 10 years, an hour-long call or a 2-hour-long lunch every 3 months. How many people fit that bill? So we measure all of this to understand and build what we call our SOAR score. SOAR stands for Strength of Authentic Relationships. And that gives you a baseline to know then if you had to make a call, who would pick up?

Mm-hmm.

At what degree do you have a relationship? And is this something you should maintain because they are demonstrating trust towards you, or you need to do more so to them? So that element of time is crucial in terms of how we built our tech.

Wow. That's so interesting. I know that feeling when I think the best the best example that I've ever performed was the theme to Schindler's List, when at the end with that beautiful, beautiful violin melody, people sit and think and they're in the flow. And 20 seconds later, that's when they come out of it. And so I know exactly what you're talking about. That's so interesting. So with your call, with Soar Connect, with, is it, is it a community platform like Circle or is it more of a call intelligence platform? Like Gong?

So it's, it would be everything you wish they had all been combined into. Because I don't believe that referral tech is enough. I don't believe that a circle tech or a CRM is enough. Social media has connected people, but not with trust. We have loneliness actually amplified by it. And all of the big tech, which have done monumental work to connect us together, it's all sitting into one device, which is our phone, and nothing synthesizes it all. So we came up with a theory, which is the opposite of a lot of big tech theory, which is that we as a company will never see, own, sell, or use any of the data provided into each user's system. Each user has their own moat, their own castle where their data, your data, Amy, would just be yours. And by giving you enough empowerment and trust within that, when you and I choose to connect, when I choose to connect with anyone that you introduce me to, you're starting at a higher level of trust, which running a community now, a very high-powered community for 11 years, I can say that getting access is what everyone wants. It's what we pay for. It's why we sponsor conferences, why we go. And the way I have built that access globally to known billionaires and celebrities and athletes and the rest was all done with the same process that this technology makes every user do to get opt-in consent, permission, second permission. And once you follow that process with having a huge toolkit, our belief is that we're gonna not just simplify how we build trust, we're gonna encourage more of it augmented by AI and Agendix.

Oh my gosh, this is so interesting. So basically what you've done is you've taken 25 years of best practice in relationship connection and communication community building, and you've put that into a technology platform that basically provides the guardrails so people need to use those best practices. Is that accurate?

That is exactly it. You, you have to use them. You can't look at another user on the system. You can't cold message somebody. You can use all other tech for that. But if you want a warm intro, then make an ask, which is what our system is primarily designed around. And once you make what we call this impact ask, the system helps you understand who may be able to help you. And as you build that ripple effect down, what I've seen in the data science now the last 10 years is the right intro, the one you've been waiting for, is generally, it will take about 2 to 5 years to make and 3 to 5 people in the chain of connections to get there. But what happens when you run into somebody at a conference and learn that they were also on your podcast and that they also used to be a musician. And then I go, oh, well, let's both message Amy. I'm a pianist. She's a violinist. You're a cellist. I actually have a work for a trio of the two strings and piano. Let's get together. And then the next question is, hey, Amy, that person you interviewed in episode number 40, could you get us to that multimillionaire VC? And you'll go, actually, they're a violist. Let's have a quartet. Let's have a piano quartet.

And so, you know, you're just—

Let's do it.

We're gonna scream for us.

And all of this comes about from how people transfer trust. And so, does this have to be sacrosanct to be, this is your identity, your relationships, you choose where to put that trust in others, and let us help augment it, track it, and honor it? That's the cycle that we've built.

That's so interesting. So in terms of trust, right? So I wanna pivot a little from the technology, talk a little bit more about developing trust. Are there some things from what you have done in the past, you know, couple of decades of building trust that are like, you must absolutely do this one thing or you must absolutely not do this one thing.

So I actually wrote a bestselling book on this, which is what, if anyone's watching, the background is behind me. My book is called Orchestrating Connection, and it was a bestseller last year in 2025.

Congratulations.

For me, there are 5 principles, and I'll give them in brief, brief, which is as you engage with people, you have to be curious and vulnerable. You don't have to be strategic. You don't have to showboat. You just have to show that you listen and you care enough to build enough trust so that they can then come back to you and say, when you ask them, here's what I need, which means you have to be generous. And then from that generosity, you either have to express gratitude back if something's done onto you or give that honor to others who have helped you if you were the one being asked. And so those 4 are sandwiched between the, one of the other founding principles, which is diversity, which is the more diverse your network, the more you're around people who don't look like you and talk like you, the more opportunity, opportunity strategically your network brings you. So all of this is based on one founding thing, which is trust is based on action. That's the only thing I believe that actually earns trust. Otherwise, it's a world full of empty promises and failed attempts when you achieve something to help somebody, that is the greatest way to earn and maintain trust.

Wow. I really love that. Put your money where your mouth is, provide services for others. Let's go over the 5 one more time for our listeners. The first is being curious and vulnerable.

Yes. Well, those are the 2 in combo.

Curious and vulnerable. So those are 2.

You have to be both. And then you have to seek a diverse network as much as—

Seek a diverse network. You have to be grateful.

Grateful, but you have to be generous and you have to be grateful. The two Gs.

So generous, grateful, curious, vulnerable, and as diverse as you can in your network and, and, and make it, make it an action. Trust is an action.

Trust is an action. And from that, you gain insane connectivity as I have to Olympians and all-star athletes and You know, over 60 people have signed the Giving Pledge, all of whom trust me because I actually did something they rarely get, which is ask them for what they need. And then I helped them with no expectation in return. It's the nature of my network. And by not coming back with an ask, I now have an unlimited ability to come back with opt-in and permission and say, hey, I know that you know this person. Ex-NFL Super Bowl champ. Would you mind introducing me to them? And the answer is 100% of the time, of course.

Oh, that is fascinating. And it is so true in daily conversation. I remember having a, I just finished a large event supporting and the CEO of a company called Cornerstone was really just did a wonderful job getting you know, all the AV put together, it was flawless. And I sent him a text message and said, "Hey, thank you so much. You're awesome. You did a great job." And I didn't ask for anything in return. And he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that I would just say, "Great job." That's it, you know? And so I find that fascinating.

It's, what's astounding is the things that shock us that rarely happen to us, we don't think we should give unto others. Most people in a position of power never get gratitude or thanks. They rarely get asked for what they need. And most of us, when we go somewhere, if we are curious, 7 out of 10 people are never curious back to us. So we live in a world where what is sitting in front of us is the ability to change that by simply embracing these principles. And when you do that, you build a better network. The better network you have, the better opportunities you end up getting. It's not an accident. And our view was technology needs to augment this and show us how the best practices enhance a sense of a purposeful and intentional community, each of our communities, as well as those we belong to. And this is why I've been building a system around trusted connection for the last 15 years.

David, this is just absolutely phenomenal. How can we learn more about the technology that you've developed?

So the beta site is soarconnect.ai, and in that has the very basics of why we built this and what we're doing. And we're in the middle of beta testing now with hopefully a product launch in the next several months. And I'll be first bringing on the 2,500 or so of my private community to help hone the tech and become those first alpha users. And then I hope to bring this into any type of connection that has impact. So this is not just for family offices or VCs to raise more funds or find better deals. This is so people who are connecting around a major fundraiser for their kids' school find the right connection to the bank to donate something. I wanted tech that had an impact at the core, not just an access, because most tech tries to say they'll get you to some of the biggest people on the planet, like Ray Dalio or Steve Coward or others. Uh, my tech won't do that. but I have those relationships, but you have to build trust first and then hope that everything can match together based on the ask.

Oh, I really love that. Well, clearly you are at the top of your game. So my last question for you today is how do you stay there? Do you write classical music to get into the flow? Do you talk to your daughter to pump you up? How do you stay at the top of your game?

You know, it's a really hard thing when you're doing way more than you should and you have to be a positive leader when the world is always bringing you down or making things harder. I'm an active dad. I show up for my kids before I show up for anything else. I work incredibly hard because this is my passion, Amy, and I know that this is my purpose. But more than that, every single day, a couple people to several dozen people send me a note to say how I changed their life because of an introduction. And that fuels me because my kids see being a connector as a job. Which most people don't. And my entire community come back and go, I did not know this was possible to happen in my life. You orchestrated it. And all I do is sit back and go, no, I built the system. You asked, your merits got you there. But everyone knows it's the ethics and the integrity in which I've run this that I have to stay at the top of. I'm not always perfect, but I do this for a greater purpose. Which is that I am disgusted by the amount of opportunity that come to those who don't deserve it. And I think that those in this world, especially minorities, women, people of color, those from lesser means, are the ones that are probably going to actually change the world for the better. And the only way to do that in my world is to elevate everyone based on what they need and their passions, not where they come from. And what they think they deserve.

Wow, David, that is making me emotional. Like, that is just the most wonderful purpose. And I love how you're putting your money where your mouth is. You're providing a platform for people to be able to get access. And that, that was such a meaningful, such a meaningful purpose. I really appreciate that for all of us who are trying to make the world a better place. Thank you so much. Is there anything I, anything else we can do that would help people learn more about you and more about your platform?

So everything else I put out besides the startup is around my world of what's called Orchestrated Connecting, which is the private community that I run. There's videos, there's articles, there's a book, all of this. But I'm about to tackle something incredibly hard that's not been solved, which is this probably multi-billion dollar opportunity of connector tech. If anyone resonates with the way that I said my mission needs to be, and the fact that diversity is a word I am not shying away from in this day and age, I am trying to build something that works for everyone, not for me to benefit with some big exit and everyone think I was a smart connector who got the right access. I want to change the system, which means if somebody knows somebody who is running a large-scale community that could be, you know, 20,000 churches as one friend named Pastor Mike runs to somebody else who has an entire world of women investors. The more I meet those people who understand the power of community and have been waiting for something like this, if I do this with everyone, then everyone will benefit. If I build something that people hope will get there, then we will all hope I get there. I built a community so I could get out of the way. I want to build a tech so everyone can use it better and have it work for them better than for me. And that's what I would encourage anyone listening if they want to step forward. I'm easy to find and reach. I just want an intentional outreach. And I want to build something that makes a difference in the way that we combat loneliness, have more impact, and put everyone's reputation in full view for the good that they do. I think it's about time.

Well said, David. Thank you so much for joining us today. And I really appreciate everything that you're doing to make community real, interconnected, full of trust.

Thank you, Amy. I appreciate you having me on.