Faux Networks

In my daily routine, I get the opportunity to chat with college students.  They are both undergrads and graduate students.  Usually, they are business school students but sometimes they are engineering students and sometimes they are just liberal arts students.  I enjoy meeting them.  I get to learn about things as much as they do so really, it is a two way street.

I always ask them how their school’s network is.

When I went on college tours with my children, every single college that we toured said they had a great network that would help your kids.  It might be possible but I doubt it.  Some networks are better than others.  In the Midwest, Notre Dame has a tremendous network.  So does Michigan.  They hew to the “blood is thicker than water” ethos.  No questions asked.

The Ivy League schools have legendary networks.  The service academies are called “ring knockers” and each of them have strong networks.  I have heard the USC network in LA is strong.  Others I have heard are good but have little experience with are the SMU network in Texas and the Tulane network in Louisiana.

Sometimes companies have good networks.  How many times have you heard a person described as an “ex-Googler”?  Some consulting firms and investment banks have good ex post networks.  That helps the kids who went to colleges with no networks, or crappy networks.

In other instances, it’s particular colleges inside a school that have the network.  There is a Northwestern mafia in the entertainment industry for example because Northwestern has a very good fine arts school with a lot of performers.

Jason Rowley wrote a piece on partners at VC firms.  You can see how networks really matter.  If you want to work in VC, you need to go to three schools for undergrad or graduate school; Stanford, Harvard, or Penn, specifically Wharton.  The next closest school is MIT, but the drop off from the top three is huge.  Ironically, Harvard and Penn already inhabit the Ivy League network and both Stanford and MIT purportedly have really good ones.

In order to have a network, the older people in the network need to make it work.  I was speaking with a person who is a college student who tried to use their colleges network to get some advice and mentorship.  The person on the other end was very very frustrated that they would even call them.  Then, they said, no way can they meet up or have a phone call.  Finally, they agreed to meet, but it had to be for fifteen minutes but only super early in the morning.

On the day of the meet up a half hour before the meeting, the person cancelled.  Kinda jerky and doesn’t exactly make you feel a warm fuzzy for your ol’ alma mater.  Makes you wonder why you pay the money to go there.

Maybe it was isolated. My experience in talking to people that try to use this particular colleges network though is that the network sucks. Yet, it’s a top school with successful graduates.  However, it’s not the only experience like this I have heard from students from this school.

By the way, I find a lot of people set meetings and then cancel when it’s close to the meeting.  I also find a lot of people say a lot of stuff but never follow through.  Coming from the floor where “your word is your bond” it’s a tough transition to get used to.

If I have the time, I try to meet with students and help them out.  I know when I was a student if I’d even had known how to network it would have been invaluable to a person like me.  Simply talking to people about their experience and career, assuming they speak candidly, about it can make a huge difference.

Hopefully when that person gets older and in a position to help someone out, they will.  It nice to give money and you should, but the time is just as important.

We have been really purposeful building an entrepreneur network in Chicago.  Silicon Valley has a very good network for entrepreneurs.  When I was on the trading floor, I was part of one of the greatest networks ever assembled in the world.  It was amazing.  You could get access to anyone and anything.  It might cost you some money, and you had to have the ability to return a favor.  But, people gave freely and you’d be surprised at how it hummed.  If you hit a bunch of roadblocks in the Chicago network, I’d like to hear about it.  Virtually every VC and entrepreneur I know gives anyone a hand up that wants to take it.

We also have tried to be very conscious of trying not to be like typical Chicago networks which are closed.  We want it to be open to anyone from anywhere.  Just have that give before you get ethos and try and build something great.

Of course, there are always people that take and take and take.  The “Give Before You Get” ethos is important to instill in a network from the start.  Without it, it will fail.  I find it interesting that the Bible talks about networks in an obtuse way.  When I searched for the phrase, “Give Before You Get” on DuckDuckGo, I got this Bible verse:  “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”

It takes a long time to build up a viable network that is powerful. It starts with empathy, the want to share a conversation, and a true intent to try and help someone in an actionable way.  It starts with two people.  One of them can be you.

I’ll be in the bleachers today at Guaranteed Rate Field.  My one trip to the South Side this summer.  If you see me, feel free to stop by and chat.  I am sure there will be plenty of room.