The CEO Game

One of the most important skills any aspiring CEO must have is the ability to network. Networking means building a structure of people, at various degrees removed from you, that you can count on or come to professionally. Developing these contacts is important, because oftentimes jobs and opportunities are only really open to people on the inside — by the time that job listing is posted on Monster, there’s a good chance it has already been filled by someone’s niece or friend of a friend. And that is the other important reason to network; every contact has his own contacts. If your contact likes you enough, even if they can’t help you, they might pass you along to someone who can. So here are some tips about how to develop and maintain this web of contacts.

LinkedIn - The Leading Networking Tool

1) Carry a Card. Nothing looks as unprofessional when making a contact as fumbling around in your bag for a scrap of paper to write your contact information on (or to write someone else’s). Not only does it make you look stupid and unprepared, but that little scrap of paper is going to get lost. There are many high-quality, low-cost options around (vitaprint.com, for one). Invest in an attractive, professional card. This means no unicorns and rainbows. Obviously in some fields your card can be more artistic than in others. Use your judgment.

2) Be Interesting. Often people make the mistake of networking with a one-track mind. They think to themselves “I need a job; I better sell myself” and they proceed to do so. In the process, they bore the socks off of the person they are talking to, with the added bonus of making that person feel hounded. Just be interesting. Talking to a person you meet at a professional event or any place with potential contacts, should be much like talking to someone at a tasteful cocktail party — without the sex, drugs, religion, or politics part. A person is much more likely to remember and want to help out a charming, intelligent person they conversed pleasantly with for half an hour than a person who recited their resume at them.

3) Be in touch. Don’t wait until you need something to contact your contact — not only might they have forgotten you already, but it’s tacky. How, you might ask, does one stay in contact with someone they have only briefly met? There are two basic ways, and they both involve email. Always, always email people. It is the most convenient, fastest, and least intrusive way to be in touch with a person. While a written thank you card can be a nice touch, don’t forget to send an email — the email will probably be stored forever, and the person is more likely to respond immediately So, the first way to be in contact is obvious: the holidays. A brief note on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s or the Fourth of July wishing the person or note and their family and happy holiday season is always appreciated. But what if you want to remind your contact about your existence and there is no holiday looming? Find a product, article, or movie about something that you know the person likes, and send them a link with the note “Saw this and thought you might enjoy”. Your contact will be pleased that you remembered that he loves fly-fishing and that you took the time to let him know about this fun story in the Times about it.

4) Be Thoughtful. In the end, everyone likes to be liked. A way to make a person feel liked is to remember things about them. And please, don’t trust your memory. Write down in your contact book, Google calendar, rolodex, whatever, things that you have learned about a potential contact. This way, before you ask them for something, you can ask “And how is Janey doing at Colgate”? It helps.

Any successful entrepreneur has learned how to network. It is a skill that every aspiring business tycoon needs to develop. Good luck!

Tamar.

The CEO Game.

My last series of articles introduced basic methods for becoming a smart, safe and profitable investor or a trader. The objective is to use these strategies before even beginning to invest. In response to my article, I received an email from a good friend of mine who said that he sees himself as an “entrepreneur,” not as an investor.

Investor Or Entrepreneur ?

This article will clarify the differences between an investor and an entrepreneur and explain why the entrepreneur needs to understand the investor`s mind in order to succeed in the business world.

As I previously explained, the investor is constantly seeking value and looking for upsides in long-term investments. Who is going to provide those things to the investor? The entrepreneur, whose job is to create this value for the investors.

An entrepreneur, contrary to an investor, is creating value. There are many ways to create value: It can be done by bringing something new to the world or by improving others` work. For investors, the investment in a new business or startup has the highest return but also the highest risk (they always go side by side); the returns can be 10 times your money and more, but often you`ll lose most or even all of your investment.

Why does the entrepreneur need to understand the investor`s mind?

In order to succeed as an entrepreneur and bring your idea to the world, you need to have funds. There are several ways to acquire those funds:

• Use your own money and savings.
• Get a loan from a bank or a lending company.
• Take a first or second mortgage on your house (similar to a loan except a mortgage is usually fully collateralized – easier to acquire than a regular loan).
• Get private or institutional investors to invest in your company`s future profits by selling them a percentage of the company.

The last option is the one which most entrepreneurs would rather resort to, because they are risking someone else`s money, Because of the appeal of this option, the entrepreneur must wear many different hats and change his way of thinking – if you`ll be able to think like an investor it will be much easier for you to convince investors to invest in you.

How can you get others to invest in you?

Investors see many ideas every day but are looking for opportunities that have the most chance to create long-term profits. As an entrepreneur, you need to understand how the investor thinks and makes decisions in order to convince him/her to invest in your idea.

You`ll do so by understanding and thinking like an investor. Investors are interested in one thing – making money. Smart investors must invest in a diversity of projects or ideas with different risk factors. In this way they level out the risks and maximize their odds for a profit. The expected profits should be higher than returns on the safest form of investment, government treasuries bond. If it is not so the investor will invest in treasuries.

When you talk with an investor, make sure you show the person how he will make money out of your idea, not how this idea will change the world. Changing the world is nice, being part of it is even nicer, but this is a different game. Investors are there to make money and by doing so they help you make money as well. It`s extremely important to remember that both sides need to end up winning. Make it a win-win situation.

The problem most people have when they meet potential investors is that they haven’t prepared financial plans, haven`t shown the cost of the development process, how long the process will take, what is the potential selling price, etc. The financial plans are as important as the idea itself. Showing the investor a good and profitable plan will maximize your chances to attract the investors.

How can the CEO game help you?

In the CEO Game, you will experience running a business, putting your ideas into action and attracting others to invest in your project. In the game you`ll play from both sides – the investor and the entrepreneur.

Assaf Arie

The CEO Game.