You Need To Increase Your Luck Surface Area – Frank Gruber At Spark.Me
You know how they say: all good things must come to an end. It’s been a while since Spark.Me ended, and today we present you the last of the articles showcasing speakers that have participated in the conference. It’s been a wonderful experience bringing you closer to the amazing people that have shared the Spark.Me stage throughout two days in Budva, Montenegro. The last speaker we want to tell you something about is Frank Gruber, the CEO of Tech.Co and his speech titled “Startup Mixology”, as he likes to call it.
“I’d Never Blog.”
One of the first things Frank has said, that actually made quite a bit of audience laugh or at least giggle a little, is that he actually promised himself that he would never, ever blog a while ago. Of course, as life would have it, he has been blogging and writing every single day for the last five years. You could say that he was a little bit off in his assumption there.
We all know how addictive blogging can be, so we’re quick to agree with Frank on the addictiveness of writing things that matter to you. It’s actually one of the things we love doing the most and something you love to read, considering you’re visiting this blog.
Frank Gruber started Tech Cocktail a while back, as a web publication and events organization for startups, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts. Its aim was to help entrepreneurs enjoy the startup journey from start to finish, and provide them the assistance they need. Starting in 2006, it rebranded as Tech.Co as we know it today, marking the company’s shift towards editorial. Tech Cocktail still does exist as a part of Tech.Co, serving as its dedicated event brand that hosts conferences, festivals, breakfasts and other fun and creative activities aimed at making the startup scene network and interacts better, thus making the tech community better informed, recognized and connected.
It’s A Matter Of Luck – Or Is It?
When he’s not making headlines with his business ventures and helping startups network in the best of ways, Frank gives advice on how to actually network. We’ve seen this in quite a few presentations on this years’ Spark.Me, and we can’t stress how important networking really is. He uses the principle called Luck Surface Area that revolves around “putting yourself out there”, as Frank says. His advice is to do as much as you can to increase the chances of success, be it blogging, commenting, interacting with comments or anything similar. The more things you do, there is more chance that someone will recognize you, and that can be your key into whatever goals you might have. This doesn’t work only for startups, of course, you can take this principle and apply it to whichever part of the business you want, from marketing to graphic design.
Aside from luck surface area, Frank also spoke about how important it is to focus on people and developing your personal network. We can’t stress this enough, and the importance of a good network can really blow your mind sometimes. You need to actively socialize if you want to remain memorable of course, but that just means that you need to invest your time in other people if you want to be remembered.
You really can’t make it on your own in the tech sector, so you really should go outside and meet some new friends, be it over some Tech Cocktail event, or at a conference such as Spark.Me.
Go Out There And Introduce Yourself To People!
As to how to do it, it’s pretty simple. There are a few shorts steps Frank said that can increase your success in networking:
First, you need to figure out who you want to meet of course and why. It’s better to go out and socialize with people when you know who they are so you don’t risk some unnecessary conversation back alleys.
Then, you should think of a great intro. You can give yourself some thought or you can just do a quick Google search of the best ways you can introduce yourself without sounding weird.
After you meet the people you want, that’s it! Socialize, grab a drink or lunch, and most importantly, stay in touch with them.
You need to give first and listen to what people have to say. A lot of times new and aspiring startups bombard their potential networking targets with information that really means nothing to those people. You should aim to connect on a personal level first, and then you can gradually talk about business when the time is right. This is much better because it’s always better to engage with people other than simply present your ideas.
So there’s the last of the Spark.Me showcase posts everyone! Hope you had a great time reading and that we managed to bring you just a little bit of the atmosphere from the conference and in the end taught you something that you might use in your business adventures.
Until the next Spark.Me, keep up with the .ME blog!
