Attending networking events can be nerve-racking for some people. But imagine having to attend 100 events in 100 days. That’s what OVOU’s Founder, Reza Varzidehkar did when he decided to launch his new product.
Reza is the founder of OVOU, a smart business card solution that allows professionals to exchange contact information with a tap on their phones. We caught up with Reza after his 80th event (that’s 400 hours of networking!) to get some tips on how to approach networking events, and here’s what he had to say:
Embrace the human side of networking. “Many times people treat these networking events as a sales funnel,” says Reza, “you need to think about networking differently.” During his 80 events, Reza has met with a variety of people with different backgrounds, to help test out his new product.
Being authentic doesn’t only apply to you at networking events, Reza points out that many people have a different personas online and offline. “I see this on a lot of people’s LinkedIn profiles. I think people’s online profiles should be as close to the person you are offline.” After meeting someone at a networking event, and you go to connect with them on LinkedIn, you need to consider what your profile online and offline say about the whole you.
Let curiosity take the wheel. Reza has made it a goal to get people to rethink how they are networking in a meaningful way by being open-minded when getting into a conversation and try to peel off layers to get to the core of the person. He hopes to break outside of his usual circle to create meaningful connections. “Don’t second guess yourself. Make up your mind, do it, learn from it, then judge it. Don’t let others talk you out of it before you’ve even began”
You won’t know who you will meet until you do. Having attended 80+ events at this point, Reza was able to take away the pressure of having an agenda and realized that it has helped him in making more meaningful connections.
Think outside the box and don’t believe what anyone says until you see it for yourself. In the early stages of his networking project, Reza received a lot of judgement from the community because he hadn’t yet come up with a clear idea of WHY he was attending these events. Eventually, Reza decided that his 100th event would be used as the kickstart of his new product launch. Since then, Reza has put a bigger emphasis on connecting with people and empowering meaningful connections rather than just talking about his product, and we can’t wait to hear his insights at his ‘final’ event on Thursday, February 20th.
To learn more or to join Reza on his 100th event, check out The 100th Event: OVOU Launch, where he will be hosting a panel discussion on the role of networking in our personal and professional growth with panelists Farhan Mohamed, Editor-in-Chief of DailyHive, Angel Pui, Co-Founder & CM of Discovery Therapies, and Catherine Dahl, Co-Founder and CEO of Beanworks. Get your tickets here.
About OVOU: OVOU is all about empowering professionals to form more meaningful connections by sharing richer contents about themselves in an elegant fashion.