Find Your 9others

It’s all an incremental process. You start with what you can handle given the time and resources available to you, and you slowly grow, develop and evolve. The startups that succeed begin by serving one small group of people and then working out their next valuable move. It’s true for niche businesses that service a delighted, core audience, but it

To them, and to everyone, we’re always very clear that 9others is about contributing. We expect those who come to our dinners to contribute to the conversation, to the atmosphere and to the costs of running the event.

What gaps do I have in my network? If you can identify gaps, then you can make a plan to fill them. At which point, think about when you’re going to tackle these gaps, where you’ll find people and how you’ll get into the right situations.

It’s easy to get seduced by the success, scale and indeed money being achieved elsewhere, but you need to remember that each of those is the product (by and large) of a business having its own clear mission and sticking to it. It is the product of the founders having a clear mission for themselves that they can achieve through the business. You can

What do I already do every day? What would I like to do every day? What would I like to stop doing? This triad of questions will really help you get to grips with the things that are actually taking up your time. Once you know that, you’re in a position to make decisions about what goes, what stays and what gets shuffled about.

What am I doing this for? Are you seeking external validation? Warren Buffett has some wise words to share here: ‘Would you rather be the world’s greatest lover, but have everyone think you’re the world’s worst lover? Or would you rather be the world’s worst lover but have everyone think you’re the world’s greatest lover?’2

I’ve always strongly believed that people do business with people, not companies.

What do I expect of others around me on a regular basis? It might be similar to the previous answer, or it might be very different. Thinking about this question and clearly articulating an answer will make it much easier to bring others with you and help avoid frustration.

Most people/founders want to do something they enjoy, earn good money and decide what to do with their time. I genuinely think VC is one of the worst ways to achieve those

Rule 5: Off the record We adhere to the ‘Chatham House Rule’, i.e., people share whatever they’re comfortable sharing in the room, and people are free to share points made in the discussion, but not to reveal who made any particular comment. Everyone explicitly agrees to this rule at a dinner, and it helps build trust in the room.