6 ways to grow your network

While cold outreach plays a growing role in private capital, the vast majority of deals—over 68% according to Harvard Business Review—come from contacts in your firm’s network.

With the size and quality of your network closely tied to dealmaking success, networking is a priority for venture capital firms of all shapes and sizes. So it quite literally pays to craft and hone strategies that enable dealmakers to become more effective networkers. 

In this article, we’ll dive into the value of professional networks in the world of private capital. And how you can successfully grow your firm’s professional network to find, source, and close more deals. 

The importance of building your professional network

We often think about professional networks in the context of career growth or skills development. 

But in relationship-driven industries like private capital, the size and quality of your professional network can also be indicative of deal success. Deals often come together when someone knows another someone with an opportunity that’s the right fit. For Sergio Monsalve, Founding Partner at Roble Ventures, a network-driven approach means that 88% of the firm's deals come from a tipoff or a referral from someone in their network. “We think of our entrepreneurs as the center of our world,” he says. The more investors, entrepreneurs, and partners that you know, the more likely you are to open doors to bigger and better opportunities. 

A robust network also functions as a natural vetting process for the opportunities in your pipeline. “Allowing our network to show value pre-investment is a good way for us to help support and win a deal, but it’s also a really interesting way for us to gather feedback from our own individual limited partners (LP) on working with that founder, ” shares Sakib Dadi, Partner at Stage 2 Capital as part of a conversation about sourcing untapped deals.

Beyond supporting your deal sourcing efforts, growing your network also influences the number of resources and expertise available to your portfolio companies. “Our advisor network is very important to us,” says Monsalve “We use Affinity to really cut the data in such a way that is very granular. For example, one of our companies was really thankful to us that we knew an advisor that was [top] of funnel, SMB, enterprise software for application layer, in financial software. To be that granular, you need to have a big network.”

That’s why the highest-performing deal teams don’t just focus on sourcing deals, they focus on building the long-term relationships and networks that translate into successful investments. And as their network grows, so do the opportunities in their deal pipeline. 

6 tips to grow your network 

Contrary to popular belief, networking can be learned and honed over time. While some people may find it easier to network than others, the most effective networkers aren’t always overly extroverted or talkative. Rather, they conceptualize networking as a science. 

They have a strategy for their networking efforts and purposefully engage with their contacts. In doing so, they create more personal and professional opportunities for themselves. 

Here are some tips and best practices to help you and your team expand your professional networks. 

1. Do your research before networking events

Arriving at a networking event unprepared is a recipe for disappointment. With only so much time, it’s not feasible to meet and forge relationships with everyone. 

While there’s certainly a bit of spontaneity and flexibility that comes with networking, the most effective networkers arrive at events prepared with a well-crafted strategy for who they’re going to connect with and how. 

Before the event, take the time to understand who will be in the room. Then use relationship intelligence to go beyond the who. Tools like Affinity help you determine which relationships have the highest potential value, so you can put together a networking strategy that allows you to focus your efforts on the biggest potential impact.

You can also use relationship intelligence to understand the extent to which you’re connected with high-value contacts. By understanding the strength of your firm’s connection to key contacts you can skip the cold conversations and uncover paths of warm introductions that can close deals up to 25% faster.

2. Focus on your LinkedIn profile

Networking goes beyond in-person interactions. It’s easier than ever to create new connections virtually. 

LinkedIn is easily one of the most valuable social media platforms for professional networking. An up-to-date and active profile can help potential connections find you digitally. 

Even when meeting new people face-to-face, many will turn to social media to learn more about you. It’s highly likely that you’ve Googled or searched for someone online after meeting them.

LinkedIn also doubles as a portfolio of your experience and expertise. It’s a reflection of who you are and your personal brand. It provides a platform for you to interact with the people in your network and publish content that establishes you as a trusted connection in your industry. By scrolling through your profile, contacts can easily spot points of interest that can lead to deals or referrals. 

On the flip side, you can use LinkedIn and other social media platforms to research prospects and potential connections so you can add value and better tailor your networking strategy. 

3. Engage with your network

Networking isn’t just about collecting contact information or business cards. The goal is to build lasting mutually beneficial relationships— continuing to engage with your network beyond the first point of contact.

This doesn’t mean you need to pack your calendar with networking dinners or fill your inbox either. There are many ways to keep your network engaged in person and online, including:

• Sending 1:1 follow-ups and updates.
• Inviting contacts for coffee chats.
• Staying on top of personal milestones and key business events.
• Publishing interesting content and thought leadership.
• Sharing updates or industry insights via newsletter or social media.
• Hosting industry events, webinars, or panel discussions.
• Creating a networking forum, mastermind groups, or online communities.

The key to keeping your network engaged is delivering value, so it continues to feel like a reciprocal relationship. If you only reach out to your contacts when you need an introduction or to drive a deal, the relationship quickly becomes transactional, which can minimize its value.

4. Don’t ignore your current contacts

While growing your network is key to generating deal flow, many opportunities can come from within your existing network. If you let those relationships lapse, you can miss out on lucrative deals and referrals.

Growing your network and nurturing it doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive either. Take the time to follow up with people in your network, share relevant updates, and provide value in the form of resources or referrals. Even something as simple as sending a note when you see a positive update or milestone can go a long way in keeping a relationship warm.

Rather than maintaining every relationship manually, Affinity helps dealmakers keep every relationship active with quantifiable relationship scores. Affinity automatically creates a record of every interaction, so you automatically get a notification if your relationship score drops and it’s time to reach out. 

5. Listen when connecting with new contacts

Listening is one of those skills that’s simple in theory but often harder in practice. Yet, it’s such an important part of building meaningful relationships with your network.

Only about 10% of people listen effectively. Our natural impulse is to speak first and listen second. Even when we think that we are listening, we’re often just thinking about how we can respond, make a judgment, or share our own personal anecdotes.

There are two distinct types of listening: listening to respond and listening to understand. Most people listen to respond. The most effective networkers, in contrast, focus on listening to understand. People who listen to understand tend to forge stronger relationships because they make a conscious effort to step inside others’ shoes and understand their perspectives. This enables them to build trust and conveys a sense that they have others’ best interests at heart.

A great way to demonstrate that you are listening to understand is by echoing back what the person said—whether it’s an interesting piece of information or something as simple as their name. For example, when you meet someone new, repeat their name at the beginning and end of the conversation. “Hi Anne, nice to meet you” and “It was great to meet you, Anne”. 

This seemingly simple strategy can pack a one-two punch in demonstrating that you are listening and boosting your memory.

6. Give as much as you take

It’s easy to approach networking from your own goals and priorities, whether it’s closing a deal or trying to secure a referral. But relationships are always a two-way street. When you shift your perspective to how you can help versus what you can get out of a relationship, you’re able to build a much more meaningful connection with the people in your network.

In the book "Give and Take", Adam Grant describes three types of people: givers, takers, and matchers. Givers tend to give more than they receive, whereas takers tend to reap more from others than they give. Matchers fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. 

Grant’s research revealed that givers tend to be the most successful leaders, as well as team players. They are able to build the strongest relationships because their focus is outward and their primary concern is helping others. When givers help others, it incites a powerful domino effect, whereby the recipients feel compelled to help them and see them succeed.

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How to make the most out of your network with Affinity 

The value of your network is what you make of it. It might sound like a cliché but when it comes to private capital networking, it holds true. The most effective dealmakers know how to turn their network into a dealmaking machine. They use relationship intelligence and data to swiftly evaluate their network and make deal decisions with confidence. By analyzing the factors that make up the most valuable relationships and the highest potential deals, they can reach into their networks to accelerate deal flow.

At the same time, private capital dealmakers are managing thousands of relationships at any given time. Their trick to growing their network and driving portfolio success? Using the right network-building and dealmaking tools.

Affinity helps dealmakers harness the power of their firm’s collective network to source and close more deals. Made for private capital dealmaking, Affinity CRM helps deal teams network smarter with:

• Dealmaking insights and a centralized database of key firmographic data, from industry trends to historical growth trajectory. 
• A complete history of contact activity and engagement to better understand the strength and nature of every relationship.
• Pipeline management features to stay on top of relationships with key investors, LPs, and entrepreneurs.
• Integrations with the tools you use every day, to make building relationships and growing your network a seamless part of your deal workflow.
• Access to enriched data right in your pocket with a mobile app to help you build and engage your network from anywhere.

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Network building FAQs

What does it mean to grow your network?

Growing your network means building relationships with people who can help you reach your professional goals—whether that’s carving out a new career path, finding mentorship opportunities, meeting founders, or closing deals.

In relationship-driven industries like private capital, having a strong network can be critical to reaching your deal goals. With a large number of deals stemming from existing networks, building new professional relationships is a priority for finding and sourcing deals. The depth of your network can also influence your ability to effectively resource and support your portfolio companies, from introducing founders to mentors to connecting them with potential partners or customers.

It’s worth keeping in mind that growing your network isn’t just adding new people to it, it’s also nurturing stronger relationships with the contacts you already have.

What are the benefits of professional networking?

The benefits of professional networking include:

• Creating career development opportunities.
• Learning from other experts in the industry.
• Building a network of experts to support the companies and founders in your portfolio.
• Unlocking deal flow, new opportunities, and referrals.
• Accessing industry insights.
• Finding partners to collaborate with down the road.
• Meeting like-minded people and discovering different perspectives 

How do you build good professional networking skills?

There are many ways to build good professional networking skills. Some top networking tips include attending networking events, improving your listening skills, engaging with your existing network, and thinking about relationships as reciprocal.

Why is networking important in deals teams?

Networking is important in deal teams because it can impact deal flow and portfolio success. Private capital is a relationship-driven industry, with the vast majority of deals coming from leads in a deal team’s existing network of contacts. Dealmakers need a robust network of investors, entrepreneurs, and other VCs in order to drive steady deal flow and unlock high-potential opportunities. 

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