Growing Your Social Capital

1) One person must be a domain expert in your industry. This would be someone who's engaged in the same type of business activity as you would like to be. They may own the same kind of company that you would like to own, or they may be a technical expert who knows a lot about the kind of product or service that you would like to produce.

3) One person must be an important supplier to your industry. This would be someone who is selling products and services to other organizations/firms in your industry. 

What constitutes 'contact'? Social capital exists in the "potential goodwill" that exists between two people. For you to establish "potential goodwill" for this exercise, you need to have obtained feedback from each of these people on your business idea so far. For instance, this could include meeting with them to show your elevator pitch or your idea napkin. 

One last catch: The three people you add to your social capital cannot have participated in any other exercise you have completed as part of this course. 

How to write up this post. Break up your post into three parts, one for each person. For each person, describe:

1) Who they are and what their background is.

2) Which 'slot' you are filling with each person (i.e., domain expert, market expert, supplier), and how the person fills the spot.

3) A description of how you found the person and contacted the person.

4) The nature of the exchange you have with the person -- what favor did they do for you? What is the return expectation? 

5) How will including this person in your network enhance your ability to exploit an opportunity?

1) Patrick DeJong is an advisor at University of Florida. He works with students of all ages to guide them through the process of college and hopefully lead them to a successful career. He is the domain expert of my industry because he has worked with my target audience for years. I found this person in the advising office of UF. He was the advisor for the college of Design, Construction, and Planning. I contacted him by setting an appointment with him and seeing him face to face. I talked to Mr. Dejong just as an interview. I explained to him the assignment and he was more than happy to help! Interviewing Mr. Dejong helped me because he has been working with my customer for a long time and knows their wants and needs.        

2) Lenae Price is the Nonprofit Divisions Lead, Head Trainer, and Coach for Cork Communications. Cork Communications works with college seniors and graduates to teach soft skills like communication, storytelling, and building relationships to people who know the fine details of their field, but not the best way to express their ideas or get their point across. She is related to a close friend of mine, and after a handful of interactions I became interested in her work. I received her number through my friend and we scheduled a long phone interview. Mrs. Price explained to me the best ways to reach out to people in this target age group and how to identify the ones that will best benefit from my services. In exchange, Mrs. Price and I worked out a deal to basically combine lists, since we can benefit our customers in different ways that will further their careers. If I help college graduates get jobs, I will refer them to Mrs. Price to receive better soft skills to improve their ability to complete their new job. On the other hand, she will refer her customers to me if they are still in the job-finding process.

3) Mike Garland is the COO of FanFirst. FanFirst is launching a sports lifestyle social media app and is currently looking for representation on college campuses. Mr. Garland is targeting college students so he can get the word out about the new app. He is my important supplier because he already offers college students opportunities and gives them chances to network with other people in the sports industry. I found this person because he reached out to my fraternity because he was looking for help on college campuses. I emailed Mr. Garland after he first emailed my fraternity. I talked to him for a while about how he networks, and in return, I will be working on campus as a representative of FanFirst. This person enhances my ability to exploit an opportunity because he adds to the people I know and will be a great person to network with.