Gold Standard
I’m often asking people for favours: for intros, for support, for advice.
That relies on good relationships, which can be hard to develop quickly. It takes time and a sustained period of give and take to get to the point where you can call someone up and ask them to go out on a limb for you.
One question I try to remember to ask when first meeting people in a work context is: “What does gold standard look like when it comes to the ways investors build a relationship with you?”
It’s useful in a couple of ways.
Firstly, it signals that I’m serious about trying to build a proper relationship rather than simply ask/extract. Second, it elicits a thoughtful response about how to actually stand out, which can be put into practice straight away.
Often the best quality of the answers/insights you get rely on the quality of the question(s) you ask. I’d recommend adding this one.