“Hack the Thermostat” and Other Advice from Tech Cocktail Boston
Friday Jun 29, 2012 by Susan Johnston - Contributor, VentureFizz
On Wednesday evening, Tech Cocktail hosted its second Boston event, entitled Relationships Matter: Harnessing The Power of Your Network to Build Your Startup. Close to a hundred students and entrepreneurs gathered at the Microsoft NERD Center to hear tips and stories from Laura Fitton, Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Evangelist, and Matt Douglas, Founder and CEO of Punchbowl.
First Laura Fitton (known as @pistachio on Twitter, after the horrible paint color of an early home office) revealed her five guiding principles for building relationships:
- Start with people closest to you and work
outwards.
The people who know you best can be stronger advocates because they know you and believe in you. - Give before you ask.
Promote other people’s work before you ask them for a favor. Fitton said being bullied in school made her post-“I care what people think of me,” so she’s fearless about introducing herself and putting herself out there. - Get to know someone first.
Fitton acted out a scene from The Little Prince in which the little prince gradually gets to know the fox and gives him his space. Fitton said Twitter is a great application of that concept because you can view someone’s tweets before you interact with them. - Be scrappy and act on all opportunities.
According to Fitton, entrepreneurs are people who are driven to get up and fix a situation, even if it’s not their job. For instance, in a conference that’s either too hot or too cold, the entrepreneur is the one “hacking the thermostat.” - Don’t go alone.
Fitton told several stories about reaching out to people after hearing them speak at an event and winning them over gradually. Her 100,000+ Twitter followers would seem to prove her point.
 | Matt Douglas (@MattDouglas on Twitter) followed Fitton’s presentation with several anecdotes of his own. “First make a relationship, then do business,” he urged. Douglas demonstrated this by asking attendees where they’re from, what they ate for breakfast, and other tidbits which he later worked back into the conversation to build rapport. “What you’re doing is going to change, but if we’re having a conversation I can get to know you as a person,” he explained. |
Among Douglas’ other memorable (and much tweeted) advice was “if you’re having a bad day, go to bed. You’ll feel better.”
For more on the Tech Cocktail Boston Sessions, check out C. Todd Lombardo’s sketch notes from the event. The next Tech Cocktail event in Boston is July 17.
Susan Johnston is a journalist and contributor to VentureFizz. You can follow Susan on Twitter (@UrbanMuseWriter) by clicking here.
** Photos courtesy of TechCocktail.
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