Networking

"I keep being offered UNPAID speaking gigs." Okay. Here's what to do!!! ↓ Btw, I hear these almost daily... 🗣 "[Organiser] wants me to speak for free." 🗣 "[Company] say they have no speaker budget" 🗣 "[Host] claims it's a good opportunity." (I've been there myself). Let me be CRYSTAL CLEAR. Speaking for free without a strategy? = A big fat epic waste of time Speaking for free with purpose? = It could make you MORE money Here’s the 3-step plan I give my clients... STEP 1: Ask yourself 2 questions - Is this the right audience for me? - Will I get something valuable in return? If it’s a hard NO → decline. If you’re not sure → keep digging. STEP 2: Categorise the gig There are 4 types of speaking opportunities: 📢 PROMOTION→ You get to pitch your service/product. 💡 PROOF → You get testimonials / marketing content. 📰 PR → You get brand awareness / media coverage. 💰 PAID → You get money for your expertise. Most people obsess over the latter. (They want instant ROI). But the other 3? Done right... They fuel the paid gigs later. (And could make you even more $$$$) STEP 3: Negotiate for VALUE "Exposure" isn’t enough. Even if you don't get paid in money (you can get paid in other ways)... Ask the organiser: - Will you intro me to decision-makers in your network? - Will you cover my travel / video / photography costs? - Can I pitch or promote my services to the audience? - Will you feature me on all your marketing materials? - Will you record my talk (and give me the footage)? - Will you provide written + video testimonials? - Will you share the attendee list (+ emails)? If they say yes to even 2-3 of these? That gig might pay for itself later. You can use this to: Get high quality speaker video footage. Deepen relationships with your ICP. Look more 'bookable' as a speaker. Hone your signature talks/delivery. Stack credibility and experience. So next time you’re asked to speak for free? Don’t panic. Don’t people-please. Don’t say yes instantly. Assess the opportunity. Negotiate for value. Play the long game. Every stage has a price. But if YOU don’t set it (+ on your terms)... Someone else is. Don't get screwed over.

Most people freeze when they want to reach out to someone influential. Here’s the 5-step formula I’ve used to connect with the CEO of Scribe, the co-founder of Leland, the content team at Notion, and even creators I admire 👇 1. Follow first. Connect later. Don’t just hit “connect.” Follow them, spend a few weeks learning from their content and activity. Be a quiet observer. 2. Find your entry point. Look for a personal connection - a post you loved, a campaign you admired, a shared background, a comment thread you can join. 3. Create context. Once you find something specific, DM them with a message that shows: → You’ve done your homework → Why this moment made you want to connect → What you admire or learned from them 4. Make the ask polite + specific. Don’t write paragraphs. Respect their time. Example: “Would love to ask you 1 question about your work at [company] – totally okay if now’s not a good time!” 5. Nurture the connection. Even if they don’t reply, keep engaging with their content. Most of my opportunities came weeks after my first message. This method helped me land internships, collaborations, interviews, and lifelong mentors. Try this 5-step system and tell me what worked. #linkedin #network #tips

I constantly get recruiter reachouts from big tech companies and top AI startups- even when I’m not actively job hunting or listed as “Open to Work.” That’s because over the years, I’ve consciously put in the effort to build a clear and consistent presence on LinkedIn- one that reflects what I do, what I care about, and the kind of work I want to be known for. And the best part? It’s something anyone can do- with the right strategy and a bit of consistency. If you’re tired of applying to dozens of jobs with no reply, here are 5 powerful LinkedIn upgrades that will make recruiters come to you: 1. Quietly activate “Open to Work” Even if you’re not searching, turning this on boosts your visibility in recruiter filters. → Turn it on under your profile → “Open to” → “Finding a new job” → Choose “Recruiters only” visibility → Specify target titles and locations clearly (e.g., “Machine Learning Engineer – Computer Vision, Remote”) Why it works: Recruiters rely on this filter to find passive yet qualified candidates. 2. Treat your headline like SEO + your elevator pitch Your headline is key real estate- use it to clearly communicate role, expertise, and value. Weak example: “Software Developer at XYZ Company” → Generic and not searchable. Strong example: “ML Engineer | Computer Vision for Autonomous Systems | PyTorch, TensorRT Specialist” → Role: ML Engineer → Niche: computer vision in autonomous systems → Tools: PyTorch, TensorRT This structure reflects best practices from experts who recommend combining role, specialization, technical skills, and context to stand out. 3. Upgrade your visuals to build trust → Use a crisp headshot: natural light, simple background, friendly expression → Add a banner that reinforces your brand: you working, speaking, or a tagline with tools/logos Why it works: Clean visuals increase profile views and instantly project credibility. 4. Rewrite your “About” section as a human story Skip the bullet list, tell a narrative in three parts: → Intro: “I’m an ML engineer specializing in computer vision models for autonomous systems.” → Expertise: “I build end‑to‑end pipelines using PyTorch and TensorRT, optimizing real‑time inference for edge deployment.” → Motivation: “I’m passionate about enabling safer autonomy through efficient vision AI, let’s connect if you’re building in that space.” Why it works: Authentic storytelling creates memorability and emotional resonance . 5. Be the advocate for your work Make your profile act like a portfolio, not just a resume. → Under each role, add 2–4 bullet points with measurable outcomes and tools (e.g., “Reduced inference latency by 35% using INT8 quantization in TensorRT”) → In the Featured section, highlight demos, whitepapers, GitHub repos, or tech talks Give yourself five intentional profile upgrades this week. Then sit back and watch recruiters start reaching you, even in today’s competitive market.

In the U.S., you can grab coffee with a CEO in two weeks. In Europe, it might take two years to get that meeting. I ’ve spent years building relationships across both U.S. and European markets, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: networking looks completely different depending on where you are. The way people connect, build trust, and create opportunities is shaped by culture-and if you don’t adapt your approach, you’ll hit walls fast. So, if you're an executive expanding globally, a leader hiring across regions, or a professional trying to break into a new market-this post is for you. The U.S.: Fast, Open, and High-Volume Americans love to network. Connections are made quickly, introductions flow freely, and saying "let's grab coffee" isn’t just polite—it’s expected. - Cold outreach is normal—you can message a top executive on LinkedIn, and they just might say yes. - Speed matters. Business moves fast, so meetings, interviews, and hiring decisions happen quickly. But here’s the catch: Just because you had a great chat doesn’t mean you’ve built a deep relationship. Trust takes follow-ups, consistency, and results. I’ve seen European executives struggle with this—mistaking initial enthusiasm for long-term commitment. In the U.S., networking is about momentum—you have to keep showing up, adding value, and staying top of mind. In Europe, networking is a long game. If you don’t have an introduction, it’s much harder to get in the door. - Warm introductions matter. Cold outreach? Much tougher. Senior leaders prefer to meet through trusted referrals—someone who can vouch for you. - Fewer, deeper relationships. Once trust is built, it’s strong and lasting—but it takes time to get there. - Decisions take longer. Whether it’s hiring, partnerships, or leadership moves, things don’t happen overnight—expect a longer courtship period. I’ve seen U.S. executives enter the European market and get frustrated fast—wondering why it’s taking months (or years!) to break into leadership circles. But that’s how the market works. The key to winning in Europe? Patience, credibility, and long-term thinking. So, What Does This Mean for Global Leaders? If you’re an American executive expanding into Europe… 📌 Be patient. One meeting won’t seal the deal—you have to earn trust over time. 📌 Get introductions. A warm referral is worth more than 100 cold emails. 📌 Don’t push too hard. European business culture favors depth over speed—respect the process. If you’re a European leader entering the U.S. market… 📌 Don’t wait for permission—reach out. People expect direct outreach and initiative. 📌 Follow up fast. If you’re slow to respond, the opportunity moves on without you. 📌 Be ready to show value quickly. Americans won’t wait months to see if you’re a fit. Networking isn’t just about who you know—it’s about how you build relationships. #Networking #Leadership #ExecutiveSearch #CareerGrowth #GlobalBusiness #US #Europe

The salesperson of the future isn’t just a seller. They are a creator and a builder. When I was in sales, I’d constantly ask marketing to publish some of my content ideas as a way to reach prospects. I’d chase our sales engineers for custom demos to make interactions feel personal and relevant. They got what I was asking for, but eventually, stopped replying. Honestly, I get it - they could'nt respond to every sales request. If I were starting over in sales today, I’d do things differently. I would be a creator and I would hit “post” myself. The best salespeople I know build trust by sharing what they see: their customers’ challenges, market trends, and lessons from the field. They’re turning LinkedIn into their most powerful sales channel. According to HubSpot’s State of Sales report, salespeople now consider social media their most effective sales channel. And instead of leaning on sales engineers, I’d build what I need. With AI and no-code tools, that’s finally possible. Salespeople are designing custom demos, using synthetic data in demos, experimenting with AI agents, and creating smoother buying experiences, all on their own. The job has changed. The old boundaries are gone. The new salesperson isn’t waiting for support — they’re building it. They’re creators. Builders. Sellers. And, maybe, a little easier to work with for their friends in marketing and sales engineering.

Stop (only) applying for jobs. I'm serious. While everyone will help, here is what actually works: ✅ Spend that time building relationships with people at companies you want to work for. Here's the math no one talks about: 100 applications = 2-3 callbacks (if you're lucky) 10 genuine connections = 5-7 opportunities How do I know? Hiring and getting hired are very similar. So far, all my hires were referrals and introductions. All my clients came through the same. I've placed hundreds of designers. The ones who got hired fastest? They weren't the ones with the most applications. They were the ones who: → DMed designers at target companies about their work (I've hired people who did this at Miro) → Commented thoughtfully on posts from hiring managers → Asked for 15-minute coffee chats, not job talk at first → Built relationships BEFORE they needed them (that's the actual gold here) Real example from last week: The designer spent 3 months engaging with the design lead's content. When a role opened up? She got a DM: "We have something perfect for you." Never even posted publicly. Meanwhile, 847 other designers are fighting over the LinkedIn posting 👹 But here's the part no one teaches you — WHO to reach out to: ✓ Someone I aspire to get to know ✓ Someone's career I aspire to have ✓ Someone who works where I'd like to work ✓ Someone who may be going through similar challenges ✓ Someone I will have lots to talk about And here's how I prioritize companies and roles: First, I map out my network: → Find all my previous colleagues — where do they work now? → Find all open roles — what's relevant and what sounds like the best fit? → What can I see about those environments from JDs and career websites? This gives me a targeted list of: ✨ Companies where I already have warm connections ✨ Roles that actually match my skills ✨ Environments I'd thrive in (not just survive) Smart networking > no applications > successful hires. Every. Single. Time. The best jobs aren't advertised. They go to people already in the conversation. So stop being application #248. Start being the person they think of first. Your time is better spent building one real connection than sending 20 applications into the black hole. Trust me on this one. 💬 How did you get your last role: application or connection? Tell me and let's do some market research together ⬇️

I attend 30+ data and AI conferences every year, and for the longest time, outreach was complete chaos. Spreadsheets everywhere, notes scattered across tools, follow-ups slipping through, and the worst part was sending generic emails that got ignored. It did not matter how many events I attended, the system just did not scale. So I rebuilt everything inside Airtable. I created a simple but structured system with conferences, sponsors, and contacts all connected in one place. Now I could actually see who I met, where, and what needed to happen next. That alone made things cleaner, but it still required a lot of manual work. The real shift happened when I connected it with Claude. Now I start my workflow in Claude. It pulls context directly from my Airtable base, understands the sponsors I am targeting, the events I am attending, and the history of interactions. Then it goes out, does research on each company, looks at what they have recently announced, and brings back insights that actually matter. From there, it writes everything back into Airtable. New sponsor ideas get added. Outreach emails are drafted with real context. Follow-ups are created automatically based on status. Everything stays structured, tracked, and easy to act on. The biggest change for me is I am no longer jumping between tools or starting from scratch every time. I think in Claude, execute in Airtable, and then go back to Claude to refine messaging or strategy. That back and forth is what makes this powerful. This is how I now manage conference partnerships at scale. Not by adding more tools, but by connecting the right ones in a way that actually works. Learn more about it here – https://lnkd.in/gFCDbR7T #airtablepartner #data #ai #claude #theravitshow

I’ve reviewed 1,000+ LinkedIn profiles over the past 5 years. Here are 8 tips to turn your LinkedIn profile into a job-generating machine: 1. Upgrade Your Profile Picture Like it or not, your profile picture is your first impression. Make it a good one: - Upload your PP to Photofeeler .com - Analyze the feedback - Reshoot/edit your picture based on the data Repeat until your scores are good! 2. Leverage Keywords The right keywords help you show up in more searches. Here's how to find them: - Find 5+ job descriptions for target roles - Paste them all into ResyMatch.io's JD scanner - Save the top 15 skills Weave them into the rest of your profile! 3. Write A Killer Headline I like to use this headline formula: [Keywords] | [Skills] | [Results-Focused Value Proposition] Example for a data scientist: Data Scientist | Python, R, Tableau | I Help Hospitals Use Big Data To Reduce Readmission Rates By 37% 4. Write A Killer About A great About section has 3 parts: - A short paragraph that speaks to your job, years of experience, and value prop. - Five "case study" bullets that showcase specific results. - Your email w/ a CTA for people to connect with you. Include keywords! 5. Leverage Your Featured Section It’s hard to convey your value on a resume or in an About section. This is your chance to show people what you’ve done on your terms. Include things like: - Case studies of your work - Content you’ve created - Posts you’ve written 6. Skills Matter LinkedIn uses profile Skills sections to rank candidates. Here’s how to boost your rank: - Add every keyword from your ResyMatch scan - Choose the top 5 most relevant skills - Ask colleagues, friends, family, & classmates for endorsements (aim for 5) 7. Engage & Support Others Comments can generate tons of profile views! Here’s how: - Find 10+ thought leaders in your target space - Bookmark their post feed - Check their feeds daily - Leave a supportive, valuable comment on each new post Repeat for a minimum of 30 days 8. Create Content! Content is networking at scale. One post can reach more people than your entire connection base. It also allows you to showcase value in your own words, on your own terms. It can feel scary, but only 1% of people do it—and the returns are huge.

Grid bottlenecks are a feature — not a bug — of the energy transition. For years, we viewed economics as the main hurdle to scaling clean energy. High costs for wind, solar, heat pumps, and storage dominated the conversation. But the world has changed. Thanks to extraordinary innovation and dramatic cost reductions in renewables and electrification technologies, the bottlenecks we face today are different. They’re no longer about whether clean energy is affordable — it is. Instead, the challenge is whether our energy systems can evolve quickly enough to integrate it. A recent Financial Times piece highlights this clearly: across Europe, the rapid build-out of renewable generation now outpaces the ability of grids to move electricity to where it’s needed. Curtailment, congestion, and long queues for grid connections already cost billions annually — and without decisive action, these costs will grow. This isn’t a sign of failure. It’s a sign of success. It means the transition is happening faster than the infrastructure built for the fossil era can handle. The rise of decentralised, variable renewables and electrified heating and transport requires a fundamentally different approach to planning — one that anticipates growth rather than reacts to it. The EU’s move toward more coordinated, top-down scenario building and cross-border grid planning recognises exactly this. Better alignment between countries and system operators, faster permitting, and prioritisation of critical projects are essential steps to unlock the full value of cheap clean energy. Because every euro lost to bottlenecks is not a cost of climate action — it’s a cost of not modernising our grids fast enough. The more successful we are in deploying renewables and electrification, the more urgently we must upgrade and expand our grids. Grid constraints are not a reason to slow down. They’re a reason to speed up the transformation of an energy system that was never designed for the technologies now powering our transition.

I'm surprised more people don't start their own coaching or consulting business using LinkedIn. So many of my corporate friends have incredible expertise. They solve complex problems daily, lead teams, drive results. But when I suggest they could turn that into a coaching or consulting business, the response is always the same: "Who would pay me for what I already know?" And then there are the coaches I know who already started their business but are stuck in feast-or-famine mode. Great at what they do, but struggling to get clients consistently. Here's what I've learned after working with both groups: Your expertise isn't the problem. The challenge is that most of us were never taught how to package our knowledge or consistently find the people who need it. That's where LinkedIn comes in. I used to think LinkedIn was just for job hunting. Turns out, it's the best place to connect with people who have the exact problems you've been solving for years. It is THE best place to build a coaching business organically (no ads required). A few months ago, I teamed up with other successful 6/7-figure coaches Adam Broda, Daniel Botero and launched something called the LinkedIn Coaches Accelerator - a 12-week program to help people turn their expertise into a thriving coaching business using LinkedIn. Some highlights from our first cohort blew us away: -Someone landed 25 clients -Another client made $30K while in the program -Several people landed their first $5K-$25K clients within weeks One person 2x’d their followers and increased their LinkedIn reach by 18,279% (yes, this number is correct) On average, people in our first cohort got an average of 4 high-ticket clients while working with us. The common thread? They all started where you might be right now…either thinking about coaching or struggling to get consistent clients. We're now accepting applications for our second cohort. It's designed for two types of people: → Corporate professionals ready to monetize their expertise → Existing coaches who want consistent client flow (no more feast or famine) What we cover: → How to package your experience into something people will pay for  → LinkedIn strategies that feel authentic (no sales-y tactics)  → How to have sales conversations that don't make you cringe  → Building a business that works around your life, not the other way around Our promise: Help you land 3 clients in 12 weeks, or we keep working with you until you do. If you've been thinking about this transition or you're tired of the client rollercoaster, now might be the time. Application here → https://lnkd.in/gzY6-yYj P.S. I'm dropping my LinkedIn strategy guide below.  Use what helps, ignore what doesn't. Just wanted to share what's been working! ⬇️