Leveraging LinkedIn for Funding, Talent, Customers, and Mentorship

How do you navigate networks for entrepreneurial success?

This session, curated by GEN + Exponeur, offers a practical guide to building the right relationships at the right time — using LinkedIn as your launchpad. Based on 15 years of experience at LinkedIn and Techstars, this masterclass will walk you through how to strategically grow and activate your network to secure funding, recruit top talent, find customers, and access mentorship and knowledge-sharing communities.

Whether you're just getting started or scaling your venture, you’ll leave with clear, actionable steps to turn online connections into real-world outcomes, including practical insights into:

• how to leverage LinkedIn to expand your ecosystem; and
• how to build effective relational networks to meet your primary needs as an entrepreneur - funding, talent, customer acquisition, knowledge sharing, and mentorship. 
   

Session Recap: Strategic Networking on LinkedIn

Energizing the audience early in the day, the speaker, a seasoned expert with thousands of presentations under his belt and experience from roles at LinkedIn and Tech Stars, dove into the critical importance of building and leveraging a strategic network. He shared insights tailored for various audience members, including entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, government representatives, and corporations, promising to address needs like funding, talent, customer acquisition, and mentorship. The core message revolved around utilizing LinkedIn's often-underappreciated features to connect with the right people effectively, emphasizing quality connections over quantity and detailing specific search strategies to find investors, talent, and sales opportunities within one's existing network.

Outline

• Speaker's background and experience at LinkedIn and Techstars
• The importance of building a network before it is needed
• Critique of LinkedIn's user interface and emphasis on leveraging the free version strategically
• The power of 2nd-level connections, where 85% of opportunities lie
• Identifying and leveraging the four primary affiliations (Friends/Family, University, Shared Work Experience, Professional Support) to navigate to 2nd-level connections
• Utilizing LinkedIn's "search with filters" (the old navigation) for more effective discovery
• Applying Boolean search principles (like AND/OR) to refine searches within connections
• Specific strategies for entrepreneurs to find investors using LinkedIn:
 • Filtering 1st/2nd degree connections by Venture Capital & Private Equity industry
 • Searching for keywords like "angel investor" on profiles
 • Using LinkedIn University pages to find alumni in venture capital
• The strategy of asking potential investors for advice first to build emotional connection and become "qualified deal flow"
• Strategies for recruiters to find talent within their 1st/2nd degree networks using location, skills, and keywords
• Strategies for sales/business development professionals to research companies and find decision makers using LinkedIn Company pages
• The "backdoor" due diligence method leveraging former employees of target companies for insights
• Reiterating key principles for network building and entrepreneurial success

Notable Quotes

• "Build a network before you need it, so it's there when you do."
• "Build a quality relational network, not a quantity relational network."
• "Advice is a incredible tool in your tool chest. Because if people give it, they're giving an emotional connection to you."
• "Investors need you. You do you do not need investors."

Key Takeaways

Attendees walked away with clear, actionable principles for leveraging their networks:
• Be Proactive: Build your professional network continuously, don't wait until you desperately need it.
• Focus on Quality: Prioritize developing meaningful relationships over simply accumulating a large number of connections.
• Tap into 2nd-Level Connections: Recognize that the vast majority of significant opportunities come from who your connections know, not just who you know directly.
• Leverage Affiliations Strategically: Utilize connections based on university, shared work experience, and professional groups as powerful pathways to reach 2nd-level contacts. University affiliation is particularly strong.
• Ask for Advice First: When seeking investment or mentorship, initially asking for advice helps build rapport and trust, making you qualified deal flow.

Resources Mentioned

• LinkedIn: The primary platform discussed, specifically focusing on the free version, the "search with filters" navigation, University pages, and Company pages.
• Techstars Toolkit: A free resource at toolkit.techstars.com offering videos and guidance for startups.
• "The Startup of You": A book by Reed Hoffman, referenced for its insights on the power of relational networking and 2nd-level connections.
• YouTube: Suggested for finding longer presentations by the speaker on these topics (e.g., searching "John Hill Techstars" or "John Hill LinkedIn").
• GEC / ByGen: Mentioned as examples of organizations that support entrepreneurs and extend their runway.

Action Items

Attendees were encouraged to immediately begin applying the strategies discussed on LinkedIn:
• Navigate to "My Network" > "Connections" > "Search with filters" to access the more powerful filtering options.
• Practice using Boolean search terms (e.g., "angel investor", keywords related to your industry/needs) in conjunction with filters to find targeted contacts within your 1st and 2nd degree network.
• Utilize the Alumni tool on your University's LinkedIn page to identify potential investors or talent based on shared alma mater and filtered by skills or keywords.
• When contacting potential connections identified through these searches, especially for investment, lead by asking for advice rather than making a direct ask for money.
• If selling into a company, use LinkedIn Company pages to research their values and language, and explore former employees for "backdoor" insights.