Andrew Brisbin

Don't be the person who drones on and on. People want to be seen and heard, just as you do. Use some of the questions the other contributors have laid out because they all present exciting ways to engage someone's mind. Great conversations are the ones that make you feel excited, connected, and stimulated (intellectually/philosophically or even comedically haha). Be ok with the reality that you may spend an entire networking event with one person because the quality of that conversation is so high. In my view, it is better to have a deeper connection with one person, than to speed-run the room and pretend to listen to the issues of 100 persons.

In a busy world, people want clear messages with simple prompts to remind them why this matters. You had a conversation, hopefully you already showed how you can offer value to them, and now you need to reinforce that offer of value by showing you are taking action. If you can proffer a connection, resource, or tool that you know will deliver value, start there. If you promised to follow up because you want to help answer their question, be explicit. Don't waste time with vague suggestions. "Lets just chat about our shared field," is not going to encourage people to change their schedule and come hang out with someone new.

Nothing replaces engagement/interaction with the customer and actually documenting customer behavior. You can map everything and anything, but unless its grounded in observed behavior then you are wasting your time. Customers will say that they do one thing, but observing it in action often shows a different side to the issue; not because they are malicious but because our best intentions often don't manifest in reality. Mapping the customer journey based on the actions taken can identify key pain points that often have very valid reasons for existing. Don't discount a step in the journey, explore the rationale behind it, and if you are able to crack it, product market fit isn't far behind.

Microfinance can be a brilliant solution, but it comes with its drawbacks. Inherent to the size of the ticket/financing you provide, are the time and effort expectations of both parties. With small tickets, you are unable to invest extensively in any single transaction because the returns are likely already quite tight. Equally the investee/borrower is also pressured by the requirements of their finite time and hopefully growing success. Recipients of microfinance may be unlikely to have sophisticated systems in place to monitor the progress. Recognize that extensive reams of data will be challenging to come by, and a north star metric/outcome may be the most important data point. Distinguish between the "nice to haves" and the essential.

Don't underestimate the power of a lived experience. Structured data often misses crucial insights into the core of the issue because of the data collectors' biases and the imperfect nature of data collection itself. You don't know what you don't know. A framework is only as useful as the data you ground it in. Engage with those who are frontline to a particular issue and don't get wedded to your preconceptions of what the issue is, even if you are basing it on your own learning.

Startup funds should be treated as non-existent. Every allocation of resources needs to be ruthlessly focused on proving your initial concepts. The budget should be linearly tied to the the evidence you will take to future stakeholders (customers, investors, and etc). Don't overindex on creating a sophisticated budget as reality will quickly adjust your expectations. Focus on cash management to navigate the early years budget. Give yourself breathing room for mistakes and errors that will occur in implementation.