Networking organizations

Entrepreneurs are invited to join dozens of networking organisations, which have hundreds of meetings throughout the year. If you want to get any work done, you should choose carefully which meetings to attend, and perhaps more importantly importantly: which networks to join.

Networks or Gross works?

On a recent the invitations for a New Years reception, the Chamber of Commerce (Voka) bragged about the number of local entrepreneurs that would show up. A lot of new people to meet! But does an entrepreneur want mingle with 700 people and exchange business cards? Do I want to spend two or three hours of my valuable time talking to people from unrelated sectors, that I will undoubtedly never meet again? What is the value of undiscriminated local networking for a global business owner?

VMA lists some high profile members and has networking events in famous companies. These events are announced as "In the boardroom with ". Yes, it is nice to talk to somebody who has achieved something in life, but it is not nice to have to fight through a few dozen groupies in order to shake hands.

There is a fundamental problem with organizations like Voka and VMA. Voka attracts new members by explaining how many of the local companies are Voka members. Will this attract new visionary members that try to find their own way of building a business? Or does this attract bookkeepers and management consultants that want to sell their services to all those companies? I am a member of both Voka and VMA, but I feel increasingly like I don't belong. Oversimplifying things, Voka focuses on quantity, VMA gets its quality from a select elite.

Curator

So which networking organizations are more useful? The answer is blindingly simple. You want to join an network who's value comes from the combined value of its members. That is why it is called a network. Ideally, this network organization would have a good curator. Curator is the word used by TED's lead Chris Anderson. It is a bit unconventional, but very to the point. Wikipedia teaches us that a curator (from Latin cura, care) is the overseer of a cultural heritage institution. And a network is very much about building and preserving a culture.

Let me give some examples of a few clubs and their curators. I've mentioned TED, and I have had the privilege of participating in two TEDx events. I know this is not the real thing, but it gets close. It gets close in the same sense as eating the best paella in Gent gets close to Spanish cuisine. TED events consist of a series of talks by world experts, with lots of long breaks. These breaks are really opportunities to meet with people and discuss what has been said in the talks. There is lots of emphasis on the audience. Take away the speakers and you'd still have a crew that will change the world. Take away the audience and TED would be degraded to a National Geographic recording studio.

Another high quality project is Bryo. I have had the honor of joining the Bryo pilot project back in 2007. Like TED, Bryo events include some high profile guests. These guests give a short talk about their experiences in entrepreneurship. More importantly, the Bryo participants get a lot of face time with these guests. (Focus on people and on networking!) After a while we noticed that much of the value of the Bryo network comes from the Bryo members. The members are a small group BRight YOung entrepreneurs, carefully selected by curator Eric Kenis. He has nurtured the group an built a tight network. Another thing: what happens in Bryo, stays in Bryo. Because we have committed to keep things confidential, we can talk openly about our challenges and successes.

Third, SO Kwadraat. SO Kwadraat is a non-profit organization that helps high-tech starters launch their business. The three curators are successful entrepreneurs. Successful in the sense that they have sold their business and made a good buck out of it. They meet with future entrepreneurs and help them in building an entrepreneurial team and in writing a business plan. After starting a business, founders are invited to become members of the SO Kwadraat Business Club. The only people at business club are three curators and entrepreneurs that have consulted with SO Kwadraat in their startup phase. You have a very select audience, with the same level of thrust and confidentiality as in Bryo.

So, lets summarize some common traits of good networks:

• there is a certain filter that keeps uninteresting people out,
  
• there is a trust, people can speak openly,
  
• there is a certain bond, a common trait that the networking members share.
  

We all know that TEDsters are of nobel price quality. But I am convinced that within the next decade, people from the Bryo and SO Kwadraat network will kick some serious ass too.