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How to meet influential people before they become famous
Executive overview
Most people wait until someone is already famous to reach out — by then it's too late. The advantage goes to those who find interesting people early and invest in the relationship before it has any return.
The best time to connect with future influencers is before they become one.
Three rules from meeting Tim Ferriss early
- Build a public presence first — it gives others a reason to introduce you
- Help people for 30 days or a year before asking for anything in return
- Find people doing interesting things early, before they have large audiences
How to get warm introductions
- Ask your smartest friends: "Who's the most impressive person you know in [specific city/field]?"
- Make the request specific — vague asks get vague answers
- Invite everyone named to a single happy hour; let the network grow from there
Becoming the hub
- Host events — chess tournaments, wine nights, dodgeball — anything that brings people together
- When you're the organiser, people introduce others to you, not the other way around
- Noah built Entrepreneur27.org and CommunityNext.com this way; met founders of Box, Firefox, Kabam
What kills a potential connection
- Not following up — 99% of people never do; do the report, send the email
- Generic offers to help ("let me know if I can do anything") signal no homework done
- Figure out what the person actually needs and bring that — customers, subscribers, referrals
How to start reaching out today
- Make a list of 10 people you want to meet
- Send a specific compliment — how their work impacted you, and why
- Brainstorm how to help them; start helping before asking for anything
- Build a public presence (newsletter, tweets, YouTube, podcast) to become a magnet
The Bill Gates story
- Every Microsoft intern was invited to lunch at his house; Noah wanted it badly enough to follow up monthly until he got an internship
- Persistence over months turned a closed door ("no business internships") into an offer
- The lesson: follow up religiously; most people give up after one attempt
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