A casual chat over an after-work beer and you've found a new business partner or customer—unfortunately, networking doesn't always happen that quickly. Nevertheless, the casual exchange offers many opportunities. We asked startup founders how they approach networking.
A well-known business saying says you should never eat lunch alone. Even busy founders should therefore tear themselves away from their work and prefer a business lunch to a snack in front of the computer. The idea behind it: If you want to be successful, you need personal contacts and a dense network.
The startup culture in particular emphasizes the great benefits of NetworkingFounders can meet their future customers, investors, or employees in passing, so to speak, over lunch or an after-work drink. After all, it never hurts to know as many people as possible—who knows what might arise from a chance encounter?
Accordingly, the range of evening Networking events in startup hubs like Munich. Meetups and fireside chats, conferences, and regular meetings take place practically every evening of the week. The Munich startup Mystery Lunch has also discovered lunch as an internal networking tool for large companies and offers a cloud service that connects employees from different departments using an algorithm. The shared lunch is designed to help employees get to know each other and exchange ideas. The startup's customers already include Allianz, O2, DHL, the Deutsche Bundesbank, and Payback. Even corporations have apparently recognized the benefits of spontaneous chats.
Time-waster networking?
The spontaneity of networking, however, also presents its biggest problem: Networking takes up valuable time, but its benefits are difficult to predict. Furthermore, casual exchanges aren't for everyone. Introverts often struggle with small talk. Others prefer to spend the limited time they have outside of their business with family and friends. Many founders therefore ask themselves: How much time should I invest in networking? Which events are worthwhile, and where am I just wasting my time?
Dario Nassal is one of the three founders of The BuzzardThe platform collects diverse opinions, views, and perspectives on a topic. The goal is to show media consumers different perspectives, even those that differ from their own. For Nassal, networking is primarily a matter of time:
"There are a lot of people in the startup scene who haven't really done anything yet and are just talking. But as a founder, you have to make progress, and that's why time is precious."
Especially at the beginning, the founders had little time for networking:
"During our six months in the Media Lab, we were primarily busy building the team, developing a prototype, and acquiring customers. It was a lot of work and stress, but that's why we made rapid progress."
The licensed physician works in a completely different industry Philipp HeilerHeiler founded the company together with his brother Tobias Brainboost NeurofeedbackThe startup analyzes its customers' brain activity and offers coaching based on this data. Especially in the early days, it was difficult to find time for evening events, says Heiler. The founders often stayed in the office until 8:30 a.m.: "By then, many events are already half over." He therefore advises:
"Especially at the beginning, when time and personnel resources are limited, it's better to focus on specific events in your own industry. I can certainly find interesting people to talk to and exchange ideas with at general startup events. But they often don't have what I need, and I don't have what they need. We've found better matches, for example, at medical meetings, where startups, doctors, and everyone from the medical field meet. At least there I know that someone I'm approaching works in my industry. That's an important factor."
The Brainboost team has a particular time problem:
"At our company, everyone in management is also heavily involved in operational business. This often makes networking difficult. I spend a large portion of my working time conducting treatments and trainings. Initially, I only had maybe ten percent of my time available for business development, including networking. It was important to work efficiently here."
The benefits of networking often only become apparent later
Looking back, however, the effort was worth it, emphasizes Philipp Heiler:
"But now the great added value of networking events is becoming apparent. In addition to the primary network, the secondary network is also being built. And then a year later, someone gets in touch because their colleague saw us somewhere."
This may also be the crux of the matter: Profit The value of the time invested in networking today will only become apparent in the future. Many founders seem to overlook this, especially at the beginning:
"Networking events are extremely important, something we underestimated at the beginning. We tried to position our core service—neurofeedback—there. At the time, however, this was still very specifically geared toward medical cases and also quite expensive. It was an important step for us to develop a product, or rather a showcase, specifically for events: a Carrera track controlled by the brain. This generates attention, and although it's somewhat removed from our actual product, you get to talk to people and often find common ground."
Dario Nassal of TheBuzzard reports something similar:
"I think networking is definitely important. You can't avoid it. That's something we may need to learn even more now."
The time the media startup invests in networking has so far depended heavily on the phase it is in, says Nassal:
"When we were recruiting, for example, we tried to attend two or three events a week and alternated a bit. But we often thought: We'd rather work on the product and talk to customers. We want to focus more on networking now because we've realized how important it is."
“Just have fun”
Whether networking ultimately yields desirable results depends directly on the type of event and its attendees: Stuffy rooms, lengthy presentations, or poor scheduling are enough to spoil the fun for guests. And conversely: The best atmosphere is useless if the audience doesn't mesh well. Philipp Heiler says:
"I have a lot of respect for well-organized networking events. There's always the risk that people will come primarily for the free beer."
The Medtech founder continues:
"For me as a founder, a successful event is defined by interesting business contacts that lead to uncomplicated collaborations. Forced networking, where both sides have to bend over backwards to come up with a common business case, usually only lasts for a short time."
Despite all the considerations, the doctor still has a very simple recommendation:
"But every now and then you should just go to an event to have fun. Often that's when you start a conversation and generate an important contact without even planning it."
