What are your friends NOT talking about publicly or sharing on social media?
It is far more interesting (and valuable) to know what the smartest people in your network are working on instead of what Tommy or Sally had for breakfast.
In our microwave society where business advice is shilled out on TikTok by pointing randomly in mid-air, adding teeny bopper background music, and hovering text where your fingers are in editing (can you taste how salty this email is getting? lol)…
I’m most interested in the projects, new companies, and technical innovations that are too time-consuming and cutting edge that only your closest confidants know about for months before any public announcements.
If you’re only looking for opportunity online, you’re missing out on all the hard work, open doors, and “early days” of new companies, side hustles, and breaking news that’s being forged through late-into-the-night phone calls, socially distanced coffee meetings and multi-hour Zooms.
You’re missing out on brilliant ideas that are otherwise rough around the edges, looking for new perspectives to assist in polishing those ideas into marketable missions and assets. Why shouldn’t you be part of those conversations?
Well…
You don’t know what you don’t know. And so…
My challenge to you today is to email, DM, or text 5 of your smartest friends and ask them what they’re working on right now.
Look beyond the surface and see if they’ll tell you about their new passion project, marketing channel, book idea, or new “stealth” business.
Maybe they can hire you! Perhaps you can work with them and co-create the next billion dollar brand with them by joining their crusade during the garage years.
At the very least, you’ll come across as a more caring friend who will subsequently be “in the know” (and knowledge is power).
-Jared
P.S. - keeping my email short and sweet today because I want you to TAKE ACTION and try this out today.
Message 5 of your smartest friends, find out what they are working on, and see how you can be helpful. I’d be SHOCKED if you don’t walk away smarter and/or with new business opportunities by way of consulting, investing, or partnering with one of those friends on a new venture.
Jared Kleinert is the founder of Meeting of the Minds (motm.co), as well as a TED speaker, 2x award-winning author, and USA Today's "Most Connected Millennial".
Meeting of the Minds curates "super-connectors" and subject matter experts as invite-only attendees to 3 day summits in places like Napa Valley, Bermuda, and elsewhere, as well as “deep dives” such as this Marketing and Biz Dev strategy & implementation workshop. Members of the MOTM network include CEOs of 7, 8, and 9-figure businesses, creators of globally-recognized brands and social movements, New York Times bestselling authors, founders of pre-IPO tech unicorns, c-suite execs from Fortune 500 companies, and others.
Jared's career began at 15 years old when he started his first company, and took off at 16 while working as the first intern, and then one of the first 10 employees, for an enterprise SaaS company called 15Five, which today has raised over $40M and has almost 2000 forward-thinking companies as monthly recurring clients.
Later, Jared would become a delegate to President Obama's 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Malaysia, write multiple books including the "#1 Entrepreneurship Book of 2015", and speak at TED@IBM the day before he turned 20.
As a highly-sought after keynote speaker and consultant, Jared’s clients range from organizations like Facebook, Samsung, Bacardi, Estee Lauder, IBM, Cornell, Berkeley, AdAge, and the National Speakers Association. His insights on entrepreneurship, networking, marketing, and business development have been featured in Forbes, TIME, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, NPR, Entrepreneur, Mashable, Fox Business and more.
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