A founder attends a $20 billion e-commerce event in Brooklyn with Aiden, CEO of Skio, meets 9-figure brand founders, and books over ten follow-up calls. He shifts from skeptical to convinced that networking works if you're selective about the room and focus on relationships, not immediate deals.
And here's a day in my life attending a $20 billion e-com event. I usually hate going to networking shit like this, but the quality of people at this specific event was insane. It ended up helping me book over 10 calls. It was a big compound in Brooklyn, so I got an Uber with my close friend Aiden, who's the CEO of Skio. Once I got there, I listened to the Shopify president give his insights on where the e-commerce industry is heading. Then the rest of the day was perfection. Everyone I bumped into was a solid 8, even 9-figure brand founder, having solid conversations over coffee, even going out to lunch with a brand founder. I exchanged numbers, booked some calls, talked to some old friends. This changed view about networking events. I'll continue to avoid most of them, but with the right people in the room, it's definitely worth your time. Don't take it so seriously. Yes, build some relationships, but also have fun. If you don't close deals at the event, it doesn't mean that it's not going to happen in the future.
Episode 3-From Boarding School to Building Platter: Ben Sharf on Betting on Yourself
