Winning by Un-Networking, the CADRE way

Have you ever wondered whether there was a better way to network with other professionals and peers?  Tired of getting business cards thrust at you and having to listen to dozens of elevator pitches at each networking event?  Frustrated at the lack of follow-up with someone you met?  Feel like you’re wasting valuable time going to the wrong events and talking to the wrong people?

Derek and Melanie Coburn may have found the better way!  They call it Un-Networking, and it’s practiced by the members of CADRE, the community of remarkable professionals that they founded earlier this year.

The idea for using the term Un-Networking came from one of Derek’s favorite business books, Un-Marketing by Scott Stratten. What Stratten suggests about marketing, also applies to networking. In the “typical” networking experience, most people approach others in a way that they would hate if they were on the receiving end. As David Siteman Garland says, a lot of professionals are looking for one night stands at networking events, instead of looking to connect with people with whom they can build meaningful relationships. Most people attending networking events are focused on themselves and what they can get out of it: Here’s my card, do you need what I’m selling, can we meet for lunch so I can tell you even more about how awesome I am, etc.? This approach doesn’t work for top-notch professionals.  Un-Networking undoes some of our existing habits and turns on its head what we have previously accepted as the “correct way” to network.

Un-Networking Lunches provide conducive environments for efficiently and effectively meeting other remarkable professionals who are also committed to developing mutually beneficial relationships. During each dutch-treat lunch of 8-10 CADRE members, each attendee has 5-7 minutes to tell the story about his or her business and how the group can identify potential opportunities. Lunches are moderated by Derek who, by intimately knowing each attendee’s business, can facilitate ideal connections and even chime in to add color to each person’s story.  Feedback sheets are filled out and turned in, and post-luncheon commitments are followed-up on and checked by Melanie to insure accountability.  This last part is key, as it’s the following up part of connecting that often fails.

And what is CADRE? “CADRE” is an acronym for “Connecting Advocates, Deepening Relationships,  Exclusively.”  CADRE is a group of 85+ (and growing) like-minded members who believe in giving first, helping others altruistically, and advocating for each other.  It’s a powerful concept that I have not seen before.

According to Derek, “The idea for CADRE really came about after I hosted a round table lunch in November, 2010. I did this regularly for my clients and strategic partners, as a way to add value within my wealth management practice. About five days after this lunch, which seemed like a huge success, I noticed that no one had really done any follow up. I couldn’t understand. So that evening, I sent out 35 emails re-connected the folks who had met that day. 15 meetings were set up, and at least five acquired new clients, either directly from one of the others, or via referrals. The light bulb went on.  I knew there could be real value in creating a business model that provided a system for helping successful professionals in following up with meaningful connections.”  I was personally so impressed by Derek and Melanie and their concept that I immediately signed on as a member and Advisory Board member, as well.  The experience has been excellent and very rewarding.  It is refreshing to get to know and interact with a group of A Players who believe in helping others, even before helping themselves.

The Coburns’ vision for CADRE is to bring together the best of the best, and adding as much value as possible for them. Derek says, “I feel like we are building a business from the outside in. Most businesses start with a clear offering, try to make money, and then worry about ideal clients, providing incredible service and building a great culture. We are starting with all of these and are excited about how it is unfolding. I recently read a book called Little Bets and it was all about trying a lot of different things within a business, and then build on the ideas that are successful. We are definitely taking this approach within our community. We are getting great feedback from our members as to what is working and what is not, and ultimately, they will mold the vision for CADRE.”

By revolutionizing the way networking is done and the way a startup can be grown, Derek and Melanie are certainly blazing new trails.  Judging by the tremendous buzz generated so far, as well as membership growth and member satisfaction, CADRE will be here for a long time.

What do you think?  Please share some of your best tips for networking and connecting. What works best for you?

Thanks very much for reading.  Please comment below and sign up for my Blog!

Featured image courtesy of Sean MacEntee licensed via creative commons.

3 Types of Startup Founders – a Cooking Metaphor

What do chefs and entrepreneurs have in common?  Both try to use great ingredients, and apply their energy and experience to create masterpieces.

I love to cook, and I love to watch cooking shows.  Maybe it’s because I worked in my Dad’s restaurants as a young kid.  Anyway, I have found that there are 3 basic types of chefs:  1.  Scientist, 2. Magician, and 3. Artist.

To make a meal, the Scientist is the left-brained chef who meticulously measures and weighs ingredients, and follows religiously a 50-step recipe.  The Magician has no recipe and, in fact, has no preconceived idea what kind of meal she’s going to cook. Instead, she goes to the market and sees what’s fresh and in season, then she goes back into the kitchen and conjures up a creation on the spot.  The Artist is a combination of the first two. He has a general sense of what he wants to make, and how he wants to make it, and works within these guidelines to create his meal.  He dosen’t work off an exact recipe, but instead relies on instinct and creativity to work within his themes.

Having observed, invested in, and worked with dozens of startups over the years, I theorize that Startup Founders also fall into 3 categories, each one similar to those in the cooking metaphor above.

For example, the Startup Scientist may have a super detailed business plan and 30 pages of financial projections including a dozen pages of assumptions (ok maybe I’m exaggerating, but you get the drift).  Some years back, a good friend of mine sold his company for a tidy sum and used the 12 month noncompete period to develop a detailed business plan for a consumer-oriented startup.  He raised $10 million in venture capital. His business plan was amazing, and every possible contingency and possibility was covered, this even before his company earned Dollar One.  What happened?  Within 2 years, he burned through all of his cash and folded the venture.  Why?  I think the Scientist and his team were enamored by his plan, they hired too many executives too soon, and failed to be flexible and responsive to clients needs.  I really think his “awesome” business plan worked against him, and he stuck with it even though he should have pivoted and iterated. The bottom line is that startups are not a “science,” and this approach works better for large companies than startups.

The Startup Magician has NO PLAN.  He has a business idea, and gets to work, whether it’s developing a killer app, or acquiring customers and adopters.  He is open to change and creativity, and pivots and pivots until he finds something that works.  This kind of startup has no real business model per se.  Can this kind of company succeed? Remember Google? They had no business model until a year or so before they went public.  What was Facebook’s business model 2 years ago?  Does Twitter have a business model today?  Most would say it is undefined, but it has to be considered a very successful startup.  These are exceptions.  My personal feeling is that it’s very difficult to build a hypergrowth enterprise in this manner.  Some Startup Magicians create successful businesses, some create nice lifestyle businesses, but most either stagnate, or fail, usually because of a lack of direction.

What about the Startup Artist?  This entrepreneur has rough guidelines for what she wants to achieve in her business.  She knows her product or service, her company culture, the kinds of people she wants to hire, and the markets in which she will compete.  She has a general mission and vision for the startup, and a set of core values which serve as guiding principles.  Maybe she doesn’t have an awesome business plan, or a 10-scenario DCF analysis, but those things are not only NOT NEEDED in a startup, they will in fact inhibit growth and innovation. Ideally, she and her team work off a one-page plan with a couple of key areas of focus, and then they concentrate on EXECUTION.  I believe this type of startup has the best chance of winning because it allows for flexibility and adaptation to changing market and business conditions.  The company also has a general sense of its direction, culture, and style, which will keep it from meandering aimlessly.

The lesson here, I think, is that it’s best for a startup NOT to be to be too exact, nor too free form.  Planning is great, but the plan itself should not be Gospel. The benefit of preparing a business plan is in the planning process itself, where you and your team think carefully about your capabilities and differentiators, your customers, your competitors, financial assumptions, and markets.  But, it’s imperative to keep in mind that the one true thing about any startup’s business plan is that things will NEVER turn out as planned.

To build a hypergrowth company, you must be ready to pivot, to develop new solutions, to move into markets you didn’t originally foresee, and to take on other opportunities without being beholden to some preset plan which was made in theory to begin with.

Thanks for reading, and please leave a Comment below.  What style of Startup Founder do you think has the best chance of succeeding?  Am I being too critical of the Scientist?

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Note:  This Post is dedicated to my good friend Derek Coburn (@cadredc), Founder of CADRE, the UN-networking organization of remarkable advocates.  Thanks D, for suggesting I write a Post about this topic!