Recently I went to a party at a bar in New York City.
The party was organized by a successful businessman that I recently met. He was visiting New York, and put together the event so he could catch up with a lot of his old friends.
I didn’t really know anyone at the event which was a little awkward at first. But everyone was real nice, and I soon got to speaking with several of the guests.
And what I learned from speaking to person after person was this — the quality of the people in the room was incredible. Lots of extremely successful people in all fields such as business, medicine, law, etc.
So, why am I telling you this?
Because you need to be attending events like these.
Why? Because virtually all of the attendees could have been investors in your company. And many of the attendees had significant rolodexes and could introduce you to other potential investors, partners, employees, etc.
The fact is that successful people generally hang out with other successful people. So, you must find at least one successful person and hang out with them as much as possible. Not only will they introduce you to other successful people, but their success will rub off on you. I truly believe in the saying “you will become the average of the five people you hang around with most,” so make sure those five people are successful.
I know what many of you are thinking right now as you read this. Sure Dave, it’s easy for you to hang out with successful people, but how can I do that; I don’t know any really successful people.
My answer is to get Advisors. Find successful people, perhaps local business owners, executives and industry “celebrities.” And invite them for a 15-minute conversation over coffee where you get their advice about your company. Many folks are very receptive to these invitations because it strokes their egos.
And if you develop good rapport during the conversation, ask the person to become an Advisor to your company. And once you get them as an Advisor, you have your successful person. They can then spend time with you and introduce you to other successful people.
I’m currently finishing up a new guide teaching entrepreneurs the best ways to raise money. In the guide I spend a whole chapter on how to get Advisors since it’s that important.
And finally, I want to comment on the title of this blog post. I say that entrepreneurs need to drink more beer in that they must get out there and hang out with successful people in social settings. If you want to drink wine (or soft drinks) in these settings, that’s fine. I just happen to enjoy beer more (and for other beer enthusiasts, last night I drank Sixpoint Sweet Action which I highly recommend (pretty good reviews on Beer Advocate)).
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