Earlier tonight, John, my $50k team leader, asked me to go to a IDG
Ventures sponsored networking reception that is organized specifically
for selected few second year MBA students and some $50k participants.
Being more serious about embarking on the entrepreneurial career path,
I decided that it is time for me to learn the art of schmoozing.
I am a good communicator and I hold up on my own pretty well, but I
think I am still a little light on the game of schmoozing. In a VC
sponsored event, the person on the top of the food chain has to be the
venture capitalist himself. There is a tendency that everyone at the
event, me included, wants to reach out to this person. There's a
saying: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." I could vouch for
this adage from my observation earlier tonight. I discovered that if
one's conversation involves someone that the VC knows, the conversation
is usually going somewhere. Eventually, this person gets a business
card from the VC. Conversely, a good sense of humor is good, but
sometimes my dry and self-deprecating jokes maybe too much for some
people in such setting to bear. Oh well... it's just another networking
event. Never get too
serious about it.
The whole schmoozing thing in business school is fascinating. My
friend, Siobhan, once reflected her experience in recruitment events
sponsored by investment firms at NYU Business School. She said that
going to a recruitment event is like going to the bar. You need to play
game and schmooze with the recruiters. If they like you, you get a
business card from them or they will ask you for your business card. A
day later, you email them telling them that how great it was great to
meet them. If you are still in good standing, you get your first
interview (or the first date). The whole experience relates very much
to dating.