Recently Mark Suster wrote a great post on how to use people’s time wisely. I could not agree more. As anyone in Boulder will tell you, the best thing about Boulder is the humility of its community. Everyone is open to meeting anyone else. It’s one of the things I love the most about being here and fundamentally believe it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep the community flywheel spinning.
As Trada is one of the bigger startups in Boulder now, I get asked to meet a lot with people about their ideas, startups, sales plans, and funding strategies. In general, I love doing this. I think it’s a privilege that anyone thinks I have something of value to share. Some weeks I have 5-8 meetings that have nothing to do with my business (if you want to find me it’s a safe bet to show up to Ozo or Jill’s at 8:30am on most weekdays). Some weeks it’s the other way around. After 100s of these meetings, some awesome, many painful and most in between I put together a little do and don’t list of my own. Some of this is a follow on to Mark’s post and some is an extension of what Brad Feld wrote a while ago about asking for his time. I’ll make the same caveat that everyone else who writes this kind of post makes: while some of these may sound petty and frankly some may sound like rants (who the hell does this guy think he is!), what I’m really trying to share is how to engage someone without creating unnecessary friction so you get the most out of their attention and time.
- Ask the person how they like to meet
I like breakfast. I like it because it gets me out of bed early and it allows me push the start of my day off a little bit. I can think about your questions and challenges much better if I haven’t slid into thinking about mine at the office yet. This is why I dislike meeting people for lunch and almost always refuse after-work drinks and/or dinner. I’m in my Trada zone the minute I step into the office. This sustains until I crawl into bed. Some people are the total opposite: they covet their morning time and are happy to take a break at lunch. The point is – ask the person what they prefer and respect what they tell you. It’s frustrating when I say “I’d like to do breakfast” and someone incessantly asks me to “Go have a beer” with them. A little fact about me: I don’t drink during the week, not even a beer. I save it for the weekend.









