Growing My Social Capital

1. Zach Dilks

Zach Dilks is someone I contacted who I would consider to be a domain expert in my industry. He has worked in California as a software engineer for various different app startup companies, and that is exactly what my business would be. I found the person through my older brother because they went to school together and are still friends to this day. I messaged Zach and asked to talk to him about getting into the startup businesses and important tips that I could learn to do a better job at the beginning. He responded by telling me his experience moving into the startup app business and how it has had its ups and downs for him, but he's enjoyed it overall. He will increase my ability to exploit opportunities because he is experienced in this business and has done it before.

2. John Smith

I also contacted a friend of my dad's who owns a used sports goods store. I would consider John to be a market expert because a sports store would generally target the same audience as my product. John is someone who went to school with my dad and works in Nebraska selling used sporting equipment. I found the person through asking my dad if he knew anybody who fit a similar criteria. I talked to him about targeting that market segment and what strategies would be most effective for the demographic we are targeting. This person being in my network will improve my ability to exploit opportunities because he is familiar with the target audience and this specific market, and hopefully that can help me familiarize myself with it.

3. Isaac Pape

I contacted Isaac as an important supplier to my industry because he worked at a software company that made an app that was sold in the app store and downloaded by various people. I know him because he is my brother and he has experience programming apps and supplying the industry with an app. I called him and talked to him about the best ways to get your app to sell originally and really get it started off strong so it can grow. I think having him in my network will help once again just because of the experience and the understanding of the industry that he has that I just don't have yet.

This differed from my past networking experiences because these people were all directly involved in the area I am interested in so I could relate more to what they had to say and the opinions that they could offer me. This will help me remember to try and network more towards people that are in a similar industry to me because they can be extremely helpful.