Networking for Military Leavers - and Everyone

This is one of a series of posts on useful tools for entrepreneurs leaving the Armed Forces. Here is the full list and links.

A couple of years ago I started speaking to military leavers about how to prepare for the transition to civilian life. Most often this has been through Heropreneurs events and visits to serving military units, and addressed to servicemen and women who want to start their own businesses.

But one piece of advice applies whether you want to set up your own business or not - and whether you're serving or ex-military or a lifelong civilian: the value of networking.

Back to Kevin Bacon

In 1994 Kevin Bacon famously claimed to have worked with everyone in Holywood, but since then the world has become much more connected. In summer 2012 I went to Linkedin to find that I was 3 removes from Kevin Bacon - 7 people I knew knew someone who knew one of the 142 people he listed as connections. 6 months later I knew 11 people who knew one or more of his 204 connections.

Now in October 2014, Kevin Bacon's status as an icon of networking has been raised by his advertisements for EE, the mobile network. Meanwhile he now has 234 connections - and my third degree connections have jumped to 42.

Bringing Home the Bacon

You may not be looking for a role in Kevin Bacon's next film, but whether you're leaving the armed forces or developing your career options, remember that networking brings you inevitably closer to opportunities. So it's essential to keep building relationships with people you like, admire and can learn from.


Networking is about meeting people and pursuing connections and interesting leads. My advice to everyone whether ex-military or not, is to set up a LinkedIn profile and start to build their community of shared interest. Especially for those leaving the armed forces, this is a very quick way to secure introductions among people who will understand your background, your values and your ability.

And in case of doubt, I'm not stalking Kevin Bacon, or earning commission from LinkedIn!

This is one of a series of posts on useful tools for entrepreneurs leaving the Armed Forces. Here is the full list and links.

Linkedin and Coffee - two essential tools for ex-military entrepreneurs

Linkedin and Coffee

This is one of a series of posts on useful tools for entrepreneurs leaving the Armed Forces. Here is the full list and links.

For people leaving the Armed Forces, one of the most important - and time consuming - activities is developing personal networks.

If you have spent most or all of your career in the military, it is likely that most of your friends and professional contacts are also military themselves. But in creating a career beyond the Armed Forces, it pays to reach out further afield.

Networking

The most powerful personal networking tool I have found is Linkedin - a website used by over 100m people to manage their professional profile and engage with others. One of its key features is that it enables you to see who connects you to people who you may want to engage with - and so who can help you with introductions. It is also a great source of information about personal and organisational interests and priorities.

Many service leavers have extensive networks within the services, but if you are moving on to civilian life it is best to focus on developing a network that gives access to the key shapers of the environment you are entering. This helps with recruiting potential mentors, introducers, customers, advisors, competitors and even regulators. And if you explicitly set out to increase your network you will quickly identify key contacts who are themselves great networkers and can open many doors for you.

6 Steps to Kevin Bacon

To illustrate how far networking can reach, I decided to check on how many removes I am from the Holywood actor Kevin Bacon. In 1994 he famously claimed to have worked with everyone in Holywood, but since then the world has become much more connected. In summer 2012 I went to Linkedin to find that I was 3 removes from Kevin Bacon - 7 people I knew knew someone who knew one of the 142 people he listed as connections. 6 months later I now know 11 people who know one or more of his 204 connections.

In other words, it is possible to build very broad networks as soon as you recognise the value your contacts can have by introducing their own contacts - so always end a meeting by asking for introductions. This is the alchemy of networking.

Caffeine Rush

Investing time in meeting people face to face is a great approach, and to adapt a military phrase, "time spent in coffee shops is rarely wasted". Getting to know people whose activities shape your environment is essential, and learning from their experience is usually less costly than trying to work everything out alone.

Coffee has played a part in networking for hundreds of years - in fact many of the great trading and banking institutions of the City of London grew out of coffee shops in the 17th and 18th Centuries, as did the RSA, which still does a fine job of promoting networking more than 250 years after it was founded. For more on the value of coffee in the generation of good ideas, see is video of Steven Johnson.

This is one of a series of posts on useful tools for entrepreneurs leaving the Armed Forces. Here is the full list and links.

For an entrepreneur starting out - some tips with hindsight

In September 2000 I was just setting out on my first entrepreneurial venture.  I was working as an investment banker at JP Morgan at the time, but on a skydiving trip Perris Valley I had hatched some plans with Matt Cooper.  We returned to the UK and set to work on evenings and weekends. 

10 years on we have sold the business we created then.  Older and a little wiser, I'm writing a note to my 2000 self and sharing the benefits of hindsight.  If you're an entrepreneur getting ready to jump, I hope you'll find it useful.  And if you've already jumped please share your comments below.

Balance enthusiasm to jump with readiness to "cut away"

Entrepreneurship is like skydiving - you have to be willing to leave the safety of employment and leap into the unknown.  That takes enthusiasm and courage, but personally and professionally it is very rewarding.  Determination and confidence when dealing with uncertainty are vital - as a friend recently explained to me "you have to be ready to make 100% of the decision with only 50% of the information".  The unpredictable movements of markets, competitor activity and the breathless rate of technological and regulatory change all keep you fit and on your toes.  Cut through this complexity and uncertainty by sticking to your aim and avoiding distraction.

But sometimes a skydiver has to be prepared to cut away a malfunctioning parachute and rely on his reserve.  Focusing on your aim is very important, but if the environment changes, your aim may need to too.

Hindsight:  Our environment changed when our major competitor secured additional funding in 2003.  While we were very happy to take on larger and richer rivals, their access to a $100m fortune made a difference that even the most determined and focused challenger should think carefully about!  At that point we lost the opportunity to dominate the market, but we still achieved excellent growth and profitability.  But when a second major rival (with even bigger reserves) began to prepare to enter the market we knew it was time to prepare our exit.

Capitalise - and choose a big market

A simple rule of thumb is that VCs won't invest in businesses in a market worth less than $1bn per year.  So unless you can finance your growth by other means, avoid markets that don't have massive potential.  Capital is vital to ensure that you can develop your business with a longer term vision, rather than basing every investment on immediate cash-flow constraints.  You wouldn't jump out of a plane without investing in a decent parachute.

As well as providing funds, raising capital can also introduce additional talent - and passion - into the team.  There is nothing like having "skin in the game" to make people share your aim and work to realise it.  You can apply the same rationale to your advisors and suppliers - try to structure your deals with them so that they share in your success - it's a great indicator of their commitment. 

Hindsight:  The total projected value of our market in the UK was £50m - well below the threshold to interest most larger investors.  We designed our business so we could quickly run from operating cashflow.  Before 2003 our better capitalised rivals were losing money fast and many of their first-round investors wrote off their investments, so raising finance would have been difficult for us.  After 2003 the market appeared over-priced and any returns on new capital were likely to be negative or low.  We were able to eke out good returns on our original investment because we continued to deliver excellent growth and margins, and developed an exceptionally lean operating model.  But we were unable to attract new money.  Talking to potential investors was a constant source of stimulating and challenging ideas, energy and enthusiasm though.

Innovate and benefit from the innovations of others

Keep new ideas coming, and stay abreast of the latest trends and technology.  Moore's Law determining the falling cost of computing power, and the constant innovation of others ensure that what is impossible or prohibitively expensive now can quickly become cost-effective.  Anticipate this and be ready to integrate the innovations of others.

If a high proportion of your costs are technology-related, be ready to be bold with your strategy.  When cost structures change this can create opportunities for bold new entrants with disruptive models.  Be ready with branding and pricing policies that take advantage of these changes.  Above all, continue to invest in research and development so that you stay at the cutting edge of your market.

Hindsight:  We generated plenty of new initiatives in our battle to outmanoeuvre our rivals - service extensions, affiliate networks, disruptive pricing and an array of exit options.  Meanwhile, we stayed at the cutting edge of technical innovation and stripped out cost at every opportunity.  With free or nearly-free tools from Google, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and with the reducing costs (and increasing reliability) of cloud hosting, we reduced our operating costs even as our business volumes grew at a compound annual rate greater than 50% for several years.  We stood on the shoulders of giants whenever we were able to do so.

Network, network, network

One of the best things about starting a business is that you get to meet great people.  Your first customers will be, by definition, "early adopters" and you get to meet people who specialise in a wide variety of areas.  Their willingness to explore new possibilities is a great source of encouragement and a real learning opportunity.  Time spent talking (and especially listening) to people is very rarely wasted, and if someone has interesting things to say that don't directly relate to your current plans it's still worth developing a dialogue if you can.

Competitors deserve a special mention here - of course you are rivals, but in fact you have more in common with each other than with anyone else.  It's well worth keeping a dialogue going with your competitors - one which is respectful, and maybe even playful.

Hindsight:  I've met some amazing people in the last 10 years.  But I wish I had devoted even more of my time to getting to know people.  It's tempting to focus on service design and delivery - especially when you are understaffed - but every business is really about people.  And it's the most fun bit too!  I've recently qualified to skydive in formation, so I can now build networks in the sky.  I've been very lucky to be a member of some great teams in the Royal Marines, at JP Morgan and with Bmycharity, and now I'm looking forward to joining my next team...

Looking forward to 2020 vision

Writing with hindsight is easy - but I wonder what I'll write to current self 10 years from now - with the benefit of 2020 vision.  I could use some tips on swimming technique and my cooking has a long way to go - but I'm sure there are plenty of business lessons still to learn too.  I'm confident that networking in particular will remain central - after all it's in dealing with other people that we are able to create lasting value.  So I hope to deal with many more great people over the next 10 years, while building the relationships of the last decade too.  And I hope I'll be a much better skydiver by 2020 too!

If you've any tips you'd like to share with your earlier self when you set out as an entrepreneur please share them here.  I'm grateful to Jason Baptiste for the idea of writing a letter to my younger self.