In January of 2019 none of this existed.

I had not bought my first business yet.

And I had not sent my first newsletter.

Fast forward to today, I own 21+ businesses generating over $100M in revenue and I've grown my audience to 160,000+ readers on social media. Mentioning my social media audience here seems silly. But I'll explain why it's important in a moment.

I am often asked about my business journey. How did I end up here?

The answer is simple.

I've been laying the groundwork for this business over the last 12 years.

Here is a bit of backstory.

When I started my first business in college, it took me 4 years to build a business to $3 Million of revenue.

I can now start a business that reaches the same $3M in revenue in 12-months or less.

Here is my secret.

My success comes from my network and mentors.

Without the incredible people I've surrounded myself, I would be in a different place.

Here are some lessons so you can build your own powerful network:

But first, I want you to understand a few things.

I've been lucky in many ways in my life. But I wasn't born into a network. My mother came from the Soviet Union with me when I was a baby. She became a dentist in the US. I didn't learn about business until late in my college years. And I didn't go to a fancy Ivy League for undergraduate school. I went to an average state school called UCSB. I loved it. But it didn't give me a network of elite people who run the world.

Let's talk about the Mentor Team everyone needs. Here are the avatars of your mentor team:

• The Wise - you need two mentors who are ~15 years older and further in their career than you
• The Fuel - five mentors who are 1-3 years ahead of you in their career
• The Youth - you need two people in their 20s on your mentor team to keep you "in the know"

First lesson -> Be prepared to cut

The people I considered my mentors when I was 20, are no longer mentors to me. It's hard to do, but you need to cut people.

You don't have time for everyone in your life. If they're not serving you as a friend or a mentor then you need to move on.

It makes sense. The people I meet in my 30s are more relevant to me today than the people I had access to when I was 20. So I make time in my calendar for the new mentors & friends.

I've observed most people fail at this part and are stuck with mentors and friends they got at age 20 for the rest of their life.

Here are some places you can look to develop your network. Some are free, or low cost. Others cost money.

Free or low cost to you

Whenever you meet someone, your goal is to build a relationship. As you build a relationship, you both will get more value from getting closer. So don't be shy. Ask for someone's phone number. Invite them to coffee. Go to an event together. To get truly closer to someone for your Mentor Team, you need to see them once a month for at least a year.

Where do you find incredible people for your team?

Build an Audience

If you told me this 4 years ago I would scoff at you. I was foolish. I thought building an audience is for vain people who love the sound of their own voice. I was (mostly) wrong.

Building your own audience is one of the highest leverage activities you can do.

Once you get to 5,000+ true followers on any of these platforms (Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram...etc), your network starts to grow with very little effort. The mere act of having thousands of followers gives you more credibility online.

If you message (DM) people, they are more likely to respond! It's like having "Harvard" on your resume. It opens doors. But it's free to you.

Host an Event - the best way to build new relationships, and establish credibility is to host an event. Co-host it with someone you respect. They can invite some interesting people, you do the same. Make sure you have clear criteria for the types of people you want to invite. If you host two dinners a month for a year, you will have dozens of new people in your network.

Host a Mastermind (can be virtual) - Masterminds are industry specific groups. Imagine a group of CMO's meeting together once a month to discuss key challenges and opportunities in their industry. You can organize these easily, and people love to join them. I used to host one of these when I was 23. It allowed me to meet a lot of incredible CEO's in SF.

DM or cold email people you respect - if you want to have a good network, cold email people you respect. I've learned that 95% of people have never cold emailed anybody. So if you start cold emailing people to meet them, you are in a small group of elite people.

Industry Meetups or Conferences - these can be hit or miss. But if you go to enough of them you'll start to see the other players in your industry. And you'll connect with interesting people

Being a student is a super power - most of you aren't in school. But if you're in college or high school you have a major advantage. School clubs designed to meet people. Join them and get active. Also older people love to help students. So when you reachout over email or DM, you're more likely to get a response.

Pay to play

Professional Groups & Masterminds

If you don't want to organize your own Mastermind, or you're shy, there are some pay to play Masterminds. Here is a list below from easiest to hardest to get into

Entrepreneurs Organization

Vistage

Hamptons

YPO

Tiger 21

Hire Coaches

When I was in highschool, I hired a private coach to train me in basketball during the summer. He changed my game, was a father figure for me, and we became close friends over time. The same thing applies to building your network and business.

If you want to become closer to someone you don't, try to hire them as a coach.

Many people I respect either have a service they sell or offer consulting calls. One call won't be enough. Get in contact with them and see if they will do a monthly (paid) call with you for a year. After six months you'll be close enough to text each other...then your relationship can blossom from there.

To see if someone offers coaching DM them on Twitter to ask! Or, try a service like UseIntro and book a call (i've never tried this one).

Industry Focused Trips

I've been on a few trips organized for entrepreneurs. Most of these were paid trips for 5-10 days. Some (do your homework) are a high value use of time. When you're on a trip with someone for a few days, you can compress months or years of relationship building into just a few days. People have their guard down and are looking to make friends.

I'm going to host an event for our shareholders early next year. It's an event we host once a year to talk about investing, buying businesses and more. We have interesting speakers. We play fun games. And we allow a lot of time to let the amazing people who attend the opportunty to get to know each other. Keep an eye out. Every time we host it I open up a few spots for my readers.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that my network has allowed me to grow my business fast. You may be wondering, how do grow your business once you have a network?

It's a little hard to explain. I can't put my finger on everything. But here are the main benefits I've observed about having a high-value network:

1. Learning. I learn a lot from them. These are people who are curious, always evolving and sharing their learnings. Their ideas inspire the work I do.
2. Investors. Friends I've made over the years have developed a trust for the work I do. Now when I raise money for one of my projects it's much easier to raise the capital.
3. Customers. I learn what my networks wants which allows me to develop products that will serve them. I can count on customers for a product before I launch it.

🔑 I'm hosting a Webinar on how to build your business to sell with Nick Huber.

I wish somebody told me this when I was starting my first business.

To build a great business, first, you need to understand what a buyer wants to see.

When you go on a new journey don't leave your house without the map.

We're going to talk about how to figure out what the right map is for YOUR business journey.

I've bought many businesses. Nick has started many businesses. Between the two of us, this is going to be a high-impact session.

If you are a future or current business owner, this session is for you.

​Sign-up here (free).

🔑 interesting read of the week

Michael Girdley is one of my favorite follows on Twitter. Like us, he owns a private holding company. His businesses span Fireworks, Software, Coding Education, Recruiting...and more.

He recently started publishing his life and business learnings in a newsletter (read past issues here).

You'll learn tactical tips on running a business, hiring, fundraising and more. Also the occasional quip about how to live a better life. Use this link to sign-up to his newsletter.

​Have a great week,

Sieva

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ps: I'm overwhelmed with sadness about the massacre of hundreds of young people at a festival and the attacks on Israeli civilians this week...I can't take my mind off it. Here is the note I shared on this.