How to Find Your People in Boston’s Startup Scene
- Stephanie Roulic
- Jul 31
- 31 min read
Real talk with founders and ecosystem builders who’ve been there.
Boston may be one of the best cities in the world to launch a startup - but for first-time founders, knowing where to begin can feel overwhelming.
The good news? You don’t have to figure it all out alone.
Startup Boston and City of Boston hosted a candid conversation to help early-stage entrepreneurs navigate the sometimes messy, always evolving world of startup networking. In this session - moderated by Lindsey Whiteley, founder of CampNexxus - we heard from ecosystem leaders and entrepreneurs who’ve each found their own way through Boston’s startup maze:
Sophia Kambanis - Executive Director, Massachusetts Innovation Network
Kiran Panjwani - Cofounder & CEO, FounderWay
Michael Oxton - Cofounder, Night Shift Brewing
From getting invited to Boston’s best (and often unlisted) events to knowing how - and when - to follow up, this panel offered a blend of real talk, practical tactics, and encouragement for anyone trying to build their network from scratch.
5 Takeaways for Building Your Startup Network in Boston
1. Start with Curiosity. Stay with Intention.
Networking can feel awkward, but it gets easier when you focus on learning about other people.
“Most people are interested in telling you their story,” said Michael Oxton, who built Night Shift Brewing from a bootstrapped side hustle into one of New England’s top independent breweries. Just go up and ask questions.”
Michael also emphasized thoughtful follow-up: “Be specific. Remind them what you talked about. It shows you were listening, and helps the relationship stick.”
2. Know What You Want, Then Get Niche
If the Boston startup calendar feels overwhelming, you’re not imagining it. There are a lot of events.
Sophia Kambanis, who supports post-accelerator startups at Massachusetts Innovation Network, recommends starting broad but narrowing quickly: “It really has to do with what you are trying to accomplish.”
Her advice: Start with accessible meetups like Venture Café, then zero in on events by industry or role.
You can go to Startup Boston’s calendar (hi 👋) to see all events listed in the startup community.
3. Give First. And Keep Showing Up.
When Kiran Panjwani moved to Boston, she didn’t know anyone in the ecosystem. Her way in? Volunteering at a Startup Boston Week (Guess what? You can join our crew for SBW2025 right here too!).
That one decision led to meaningful relationships and, eventually, meeting her cofounder at a legal webinar. “Giving first is one of the best ways to receive more,” she said.
Her other tip? Step outside your home office. “You need to put yourself out there to gain from, and give back to, the community.”
4. Follow-Through Beats Flashy Intros Every Time
Whether you’re meeting someone at Venture Café or at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (yes, our panel mentioned that has happened!), authenticity and consistency are key.
“Be your authentic self,” said Lindsey Whiteley. “You never know if the person across from you is your next co-founder or first investor.”
Some ways to build relationships that last:
Send a personal note on LinkedIn or email (mention what you talked about!)
Follow up to continue the conversation with a Zoom or coffee chat
Use a spreadsheet or CRM to track who you’ve met and when to reconnect
Send quarterly updates to stay top of mind without being spammy
5. If You’re Introverted or Just Starting Out, That’s Okay
Sophia identifies as an introvert and shared her strategy: “Start with two events a month and aim to meet two or three people. You’ll never stop being introverted, but you can get more comfortable.”
Michael reminded us that every relationship is a door to more: “Be generous. Expect nothing, but give freely - relationships pay off over time.”
Kiran wrapped it up with a caution to trust your gut: “Free advice is worth what you paid for it. Listen, but also trust your instincts. You know your business best.”
One Thing You Can Do This Week
Just show up.
Go to one event.
Start one conversation.
Send one email.
Everything else can grow from there.
Full Transcript Below
Want to revisit a particular quote or share with a teammate? We’ve got you covered. Read the transcript here:
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:00:00 ]Good morning, everyone. Happy Wednesday. I am Lindsay Whiteley. I am the founder of Camp Nexus. Camp Nexus is an online marketplace that connects parents with kids' camps, simplifies the entire process. You can search, research, communicate, organize, book camps. So we all know how much of a disaster that can be. So head on over to Camp Nexus if you want to learn more. Actually, introduce our panel. So Mike, if you want to start, go right ahead.
Michael Oxton
[ 00:00:42 ]My name is Michael Oxton. I'm one of the co-founders of Night Shift Brewing out of Boston. Started it almost 14 years ago. And, you know, we started with like bootstrap capital. It was like friends and family pitching in to help us try something crazy. I think they all thought it was a nice donation that was going to go nowhere. But we, you know, just did everything we could to grow it and went from, you know, a little startup in a tiny little warehouse, really sketchy warehouse in Everett and grew it into what became one of the largest independent breweries in New England. So it's been an awesome journey. And then actually just earlier this year, we sold the company, exited. It's now owned by Jack Savvy, the brand that you guys would know. So they're an awesome group of people. And we put it in their hands and I'm excited to watch it grow from there. But thrilled to be here. So I'll take it from there.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:01:47 ]And if you guys are all true Bostonians, which a majority of people on this call are, we all know how good Night Shift is. We've all had maybe one or two of those, right? So we are super excited to learn from you and your journey with that specific industry. Awesome. Yeah. Sophia.
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:02:13 ]Good morning, everyone. Thank you for having me. Startup Boston and City of Boston. I'm very happy to be here. I'm Sofia Kambanis, the Executive Director of Massachusetts Innovation Network. We are a non-profit organization working with startups, primarily post-incubated ones and many times post-accelerated ones, of Death of Startups. We spent the better part of the year with just one cohort, and we tailor-make every year's program to needs and objectives each one of these founders put down for us to review so that at the end of the program, which is end of November, every single one of them has actionable steps to take. And although they graduate in November, we really do not stop holding their hands until they tell us, 'I'm good to go now.' So thanks for having me.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:03:24 ]That's awesome. That's awesome. And all of the information that you're going to be telling us today, like it's such a process, right? So being able to understand what you can do and the help that you can receive is going to be very, very important and great takeaways today. Bye. Karen, all the way from Dubai.
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:03:50 ]Yes, I'm visiting and I will be back home in Boston shortly. Thank you for having me here. My name is Kiran Panjwani. I'm one of the founders of a company called FounderWay. I have a background in running accelerators and incubators for the last 12 years. And FounderWay is truly a testament of how I saw founders grow and fail at the same time, like, you know, because it's a journey. Be able to do what they want to do at the speed that they would like to accomplish and not have to wait for others. We built FounderWay as an ed-tech company initially to help founders get educated on what they want to do, what they want to build, understand their customers better. We're primarily built on the philosophy of design thinking and customer-centric design. And we took that and we grew it into an agentic AI company this October, and since then have grown tremendously and worked with hundreds of founders. Since then, so we help founders go from idea to next step. And if they're already in the market, we've built agents around every step that the founder needs with advisors, with 80 colleges to help founders understand what steps they need to take to grow. Thank you so much for having me. I'm not a local Bostonian. I'm a Pakistani Canadian that moved to Boston to this amazing network and family. And I'm excited to share my experience.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:05:18 ]Thank you for being here. Yeah, I mean, let's be honest, you guys. Being a founder in Boston is unbelievable, right? Like, you are in such a good hub to start a company. There's so many resources. There's so many events. There's so many things to do. But at the same time, that can be really overwhelming. So I feel like this panel, having a mixed collaboration of resources and experience, is going to help the audience really kind of navigate their way and be able to understand more about the options that Boston has for first-time founders. Me, myself, I mean, it's confusing. It's overwhelming. And being able to understand, you know, the different events to go to or not to go to really helps navigate that first-time founder feel and step and anxiety. What we're going to do is we're going to run through a bunch of questions in terms of, you know, very specific questions about specific events, but also people's journeys. We like to hear people's journeys. And so what I want to do is ask this amazing panel a whole bunch of questions, but also at the same time, I want to hear from the audience. So if the audience has any questions like Stephanie had mentioned, please feel free to put them in the chat and we will get to them at the end. And so here we go. Everybody ready? Awesome. All right, let's start. Kieran. And Sophia. How did you first start building your network in Boston's startup scene? Was there ever a moment or an event or a connection that changed everything for you?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:07:15 ]So I was living in Canada and in Boston, studying, going back and forth. And the first event that I ever attended in Boston was Steph's Startup Weekend. In fact, I started with volunteering. I'd never been to an event, but I volunteered at her event. And I think giving first is one of the best ways to receive more and get to know with boots on the ground how things work, get to know people. People are so welcoming. And giving in many ways when they see you in this position where you're helping others as well when you're trying to figure things out. So Steph was one of the first people that I met in the Boston ecosystem and then moved a year later permanently to Boston just before COVID hit. So it was a strange time for me to come into Boston. But at the same time, CIC was one of my first places that I would go regularly to Venture Cafe on their online event portal. I built practice for networking and met a lot of people. So that was the start of my Boston event scene. I do think that the specialized events, as I understood which niche I wanted to focus on and what are the types of people I wanted to meet, I moved more from generalized events into more focused events where my needs were being fulfilled as a founder.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:08:41 ]I think that's really important to also point out as well is that if, you know, you're going to a lot of the generalized events, starting to understand kind of what your niche is and your specifics of what you're looking for is a really big step to be able to understand where you should go from there. So that's a really good point to bring up.
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:09:07 ]If I may add to it, I was not lucky enough to know Stephanie and Startup Boston at the time. I was coming from the corporate world and I had a mentee to work with. And it was really her story that got me into the ecosystem. So she had lost her baby to cancer at the same time she was diagnosed with cancer. On the road to change pediatric and adult after-hospital care for people who have PICC lines. And just seeing her and her passion to make a difference took me on a road trip with her, and I started realizing how big the ecosystem is, who were the players for what, She wanted to do. I started meeting people. And I have to say, it did take me some time. It's a big ecosystem. It's very dense, but very welcoming. So I took a few months to start understanding and mapping the different players. And from then on, I started putting what my objectives were. Events and meetings that were more geared towards what I wanted to do, which was to continue the program we now offer, which has been in the market for 39 years. But everybody was very welcome. And I want to emphasize that for all new founders. It's just understanding who they are and how they can help one another.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:11:06 ]Something that's really important, and Kieran you also did as well. Would you add any? How do you decide on where to show up, right? So like you said, there's a lot going on. And we kind of touched upon the whole niche topic. Is there anything else that you would suggest to this audience of where to show up? Because there are so many events going on. Anything else that you would say?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:11:41 ]I would say, think about what your objectives are. And CIC, I believe, in Cambridge, every Thursday, 4:30 to 6:30, they have a gathering. Founders, investors, academia, research go there. So you can just go and start meeting people. But there are events for specific industries, specific reasons. For example, Startup Boston has a great calendar of events. Have a look at Boston or the Boston Business Journal Innovation online paper has some upcoming events. So have a look. It's great to meet people in the beginning, but at the end, it really has to do with what you are trying to accomplish. If you are a life scientist, if you're in biotech, there's no reason necessarily for you to be going to events for, say, who does what and go from there.
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:13:04 ]I agree. I think if I were to lay out like, how I got into the ecosystem. I obviously like I felt overwhelmed with the number of events. I went to the easy events. CIC Venture Cafe is an easy event. You go, you meet people, you kind of understand the lay of the land and you start working through things. People will start, you know, connecting with you. You need to stay in touch with those people. And then I started going into more, you know, specific events that were more specific towards I was looking to incorporate. I was looking for a banking partner. Reaching out to people who were the right people at those events. And, you know, then you get invited to some of the private events that you don't see publicly advertised. And that's where I think I found a lot of value as well is going to events that were not publicly listed. There are smaller events, there's dinners that happen. So you kind of grow into the ecosystem. But I always love going back to the general events to meet others and to give back into the community as well.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:14:11 ]Yeah, I, again, it's, it's very, it's very overwhelming. And, you know, being able to kind of, you know, get this type of information and specific information is going to definitely be very helpful. And I'm actually very interested in asking Mike this question. Because, I mean, let's be honest, Boston is a big tech hub, right? There's a lot of different tech companies. There's a lot of AI going on. Anyone who isn't specifically in that world, maybe you're in retail, maybe, you know, whatever it may be. How do you navigate Boston as a startup hub?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:14:54 ]Yeah, sure. I mean, I think you have to be open to sort of like, you know, diversifying where you're looking. But I mean, you know, a lot of the stuff that I would look at is like, you know, food and beverage expos. There's a lot of food events around and there's a lot of like. There's a lot of events that are happening where like a specific company or a specific group is hosting it, but then you can meet people from sort of all walks of life at those. So, I mean, I don't have any like I wouldn't say anything very specific, but I would say like it's it's useful to sort of think about events out there. It's almost the opposite advice, which is like I agree in being targeted and what you're going after. Typically fall into your niche but having a very specific goal of what you want out of them but being open to the kinds of people you'll meet for me it was a lot of like yeah food and beverage events and a lot of a lot of events that are more geared towards something more social and less about like a specific topic but then you know you meet like banking partners For us, it was a lot of like, you know, relationships within the restaurant industry. You know, someone knows someone and that connection is often like the most valuable thing you can find.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:16:15 ]Yeah. Do you ever find that going to a very targeted event is either helpful or not?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:16:25 ]Oh, I think it's super helpful. I mean, I 100% agree with that. As long as it's sort of like you have a goal going into it of like what you want out of it, you know. Yeah.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:16:38 ]So then what are some of the most unexpected or underrated places in Boston to meet great people? For anybody, really. Any three of you. Anyone? Hi.
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:16:54 ]Funnily enough, I had met people that are in the ecosystem at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is the least place that somebody would expect. But I was holding a couple of folders. I was going to a meeting and I just stopped for a breather. We started the conversation about startups and how the ecosystem is. It was a great connection, but certainly not something I had intended to do. For me, I think the Venture Cafe in Cambridge was where I met so many people in such a short time that I knew if I go every Thursday, more people.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:17:56 ]I mean, you bring up a great point where it's like you don't stop working ever, right? Like you meet them at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or you keep on going to Venture Cafe. It's like you are always, you're always putting yourself in a position where you could potentially meet an investor or a co-founder or whatever. So be always, you know, keeping yourself on your toes, right?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:18:22 ]I was talking to an investor yesterday and he said, 'I want you to keep on emphasizing to your startups.' You never know who you will meet at any point in your day or night. And I think it's very true. I would like to share that.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:18:39 ]I absolutely agree with you, especially in Boston. You never know who you're going to meet, who you're going to have your next conversation with. Would say, always be your authentic self, right? So when you're meeting somebody, you don't want to play off as a different person because who honestly knows this could be your next co-founder or your next investor. So always kind of making sure that you're your authentic self and putting that out to the world is going to get you places, right? So speaking of places, Karen, do you have anything else to add to that?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:19:21 ]I just had a founder's experience of building a company from inside my home for two years. I forgot to go out almost everywhere I feel like we're so cooped up and like we have so much work to do, whether it's a virtual event or an in-person event, putting yourself out there and putting your LinkedIn on a chat like this, like you never know who you're going to meet again, like how Sophia said. I think that was so important for me to remember that I need to get put myself out there. to gain what I want to gain from the community and give back to the community. And founders don't think of that enough, is to prioritize going to events and networking.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:20:04 ]So then speaking of that as well, walking into a room of a bunch of people can be super overwhelming and super awkward, right? Like I can be awkward. Everybody can be awkward. How do you approach these moments? What is. What can you say? What can you do? You know, I always think, hey, I'm here for a reason, right? I'm here for a goal to everybody's point. I'm not going to just sit here and twiddle my thumbs. I need to make connections. Do you guys have any go-to tips for making these genuine connections or about feeling nervous, which, by the way, everybody is 100% normal? Does anybody have any tips for our audience?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:20:59 ]I mean I think like I typically try to go in with like a list of questions that I'm just willing to ask anybody. Right. And then I think the other thing you have to do is just assume that everyone kind of feels like you do. Right. Like to some extent. And so. And honestly, like just go up to people and start asking questions. And like the average person is so interested in telling you about their story. So I think coming with genuine curiosity does 90% of it. And at some point, you know, you get to talk about what you're doing and maybe you find something of mutual value, maybe not. I think showing up with curiosity and looking to learn gets most of the work done in terms of like, nerves out of the way and like conversation starters, just ask questions.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:21:50 ]Yeah. One thing too, like just think everybody's in the same boat, right? Everybody's nervous. Everybody, you know, has a goal of why they're there. And I always think it's really helpful when I think about that, when I'm like, everybody feels the way I do. Sophia, Kieran, do you guys have anything that you have like go-to tips for any of this?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:22:17 ]I have to say I'm extremely shy with new people and networking even now after so many years is a struggle for me. So my approach was to just go honestly into a room where I didn't know anybody and say, 'Hi, I'm Sophia. I'm new at this.' I was hoping to learn from you what you do, You are operating the ecosystem and just join a conversation. I think it's fine to have nerves. Most of us do, unless you're a professional in just networking. Nerves are fine. They're accepted. So go with honesty and tell them that you are nervous and you're hoping to meet a couple of people. Yeah.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:23:08 ]And that conversation could change the trajectory of your life. Like, let's be honest, that right person a question, and that could literally change your entire life. So always think about that. You know, this person I might never meet again, or this person could. Make my first investment. Who knows, right? But unless you ask that question or have that conversation, you won't know. Right. Karen, do you have any go-to tips?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:23:39 ]Yeah, I always try to start with a non-business introduction. Like, I want to understand, you know, what brings them here in the sense of like, what did they do this week? If there was something interesting they did, you know, just try to find commonalities. I think that's just a pattern that we look for as humans is, hey, do we have something in common that we can talk about? And then one thing leads to another. That for me calms my nerves down. I start talking to somebody and they're like, pitch me your startup. And I'm in that spot and I'm so nervous. I'm sure this has happened to all of us. We've pitched so many times, but when someone puts you in that spotlight where you've already just done that in four other conversations and you're so tired of talking about what you do, but you're curious, but you want someone else to start. I think for me, it's always better to start with a non-work thing and then getting into. What do you do? How did you get into that industry? I love background stories, like Mike said, like curiosity. And that really helps with relatability to have that long-term relationship with that person, essentially.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:24:54 ]So once you connect with that specific person that you admire or that specific person that you potentially want to work with. What does a good follow-up look like? After that event, Mike, do you want to?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:25:12 ]Yeah, I've been just since. I usually, if I'm super interested, I will immediately connect with them on LinkedIn. And if they would give me their email address, I will immediately send them an email with a request for time that they have in their calendar if the conversation was that engaging. So I have tiers of engagement and priority. At that point, when the business sense kicks in, that's how it works. Event, like I've met people that were like, awesome. And we're like, Oh, let's go grab drinks somewhere else. Because you know, there's lots to talk about. So it really is like, okay, you made amazing connections came out with friends that I've no network in Boston when I came here. And now I knock on would have, I would like to say a really good network. And there are people that you go out with drinks, there are people you follow up on email immediately, then there's the LinkedIn connection. And then there is the, you know, you put them in your general updates as a founder, out general updates once a quarter saying, hey, this is what I'm doing. So I kind of keep them updated on what I'm doing in my company, essentially.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:26:17 ]That's such a great idea. Just keeping them updated with what you're working on quarterly is such a good idea, actually. Thanks for bringing that up. Mike?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:26:30 ]Yeah, I mean, I think like, you know, everything that was just said, I agree with. So the only thing I'll add, I think, is. You know, people tend to meet a lot of other people at events, and it's useful to sometimes reference the specific topic or conversation you had in your follow-up email. Cause I just, I like to assume that people will remember me, but at the same time, like maybe they don't. And so it's useful to sort of just reference like, Hey, it was awesome talking to you about X, Y, Z. It also just shows you were listening. Right. So it kind of like two for one, specific conversation then and also it's like oh wow, you know, they were listening, uh, and it gives you something to talk about going forward, but um, otherwise, yeah, I agree with everything that was just said.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:27:18 ]And you can't really help but feel that connection, right? So Karen, when you were saying about how sometimes you'll go out for drinks after, right? Like you can't help but feel a specific way about somebody if you know, you potentially want a co-founder, like all of that is so natural. And it's, I mean, personally, I love that connection, right? So So LinkedIn updates. I mean, LinkedIn is like the professional way, you know, updates, obviously just keeping everybody updated with what you're doing quarterly. And is there anything else that you guys would suggest to our audience?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:28:07 ]If this person is of interest to you professionally for the future, I always suggest pursuing the relationship first. Because if you think there is a connection, this is something you want to pursue. So ask for a Zoom call. See if there is interest on both sides, no matter what the relationship is. Whether it could be a potential co-founder or an investor down the line. Both sides need to feel that this is a great fit for both of them. How do you pursue that? That's by developing a relationship with them. So ask for a Zoom call. Ask for a phone call. Talk a bit more. Follow up with your unique value proposition questions. If somebody is in an advisor role, pick his mind. But this is all naturally built. You can't expect to walk into a room and say, 'Hey, is there somebody who wants to give me a million dollars?' All these need to come in a very natural development kind of way.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:29:30 ]It's all natural, right? It has to feel natural. I really want to push that. If it's not natural, it's not meant to be. Especially if you have to think about it this way. If this is going to be an investor, if this is going to be a co-founder, you want it to be easy, right? Like you don't want to have to in two years be regretting this relationship because of something that you felt the whole time. So I actually really want to stress that it needs to feel natural. So if you were to say, 'you know', what's one practical thing a new founder could do this week to start building their network in Boston, what would that be? Mike, putting you on the spot.
Michael Oxton
[ 00:30:28 ]It's all good. I mean, this is. I think this is like just useful advice generally, but I would say like. One sort of like wonderful piece of advice I was given a while back was see every connection that you make as the opportunity to make two more connections. Right. And so like whoever you connect with next, whatever your next like, you know, relationship building is; see that as an opportunity to potentially meet two other people. And I, and I don't mean that in a way where it sort of treats the relationship. Like, you're just using it to get there, but like, instead of seeing that as the end goal, always see it as an opportunity to meet some more people. And then on the flip side, be incredibly generous with what you're willing to give. And, you know, I think it's like, you know, expect nothing, but hope for the best and be, you know, very open to do in the relationship and maybe you get nothing out of it for a while and then ultimately it pays you off at some point. But I do think seeing it as an opportunity to always, like, sort of exponentially branch your network through every person, uh, is a great way to just suddenly one connection makes two, makes four, and it just keeps going, yeah.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:31:48 ]I know this sounds crazy. I'm very well aware of this. But, like, honestly, I'm one of those people that truly believe in everything happens for a reason. We are all here today because it's for a reason. Everybody on this call is here for a reason. You are all learning from the three panelists here so that you can take the right steps and do what you feel is the right steps for you. So, everything happens for a reason. Just go for it. Just go for it. And I know we only have just a couple of minutes right now, but Kieran and Sophia, Mike just brought up a really awesome point and just something to think about. What is the best piece of advice that you have ever gotten throughout your career in the startup world that you would want everybody to know?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:32:41 ]I mean, there's been tons of advice, right? Number one. The best one, and this is going to be like very counterintuitive, but Somebody told me free advice is worth free advice. And that stuck with me because as a founder, you feel like you end up asking people about everything. But you also need to kind of use your own instinct, your gut, your experience. We almost put ourselves as second when we listen to others for advice and we forget to use our own gut and instinct. And I learned that. And when someone told me, 'free advice is worth free advice', so right about it. Because when I look back, some of the wrong turns that I've taken are my own fault because it was free advice and it was worth what it was worth. So you need to really take a moment as a founder. And as you go to these events, evaluate the right people, learn how to build trust before you actually take that advice and implement it. And make sure you're going in the right direction and you own that direction, not the person who gave you that advice. They have no stake in this. Unless they're a shareholder in your company, So that was one of the best advice that I've gotten. I just want to bring up one thing. I know people in the chat are sharing their LinkedIns and stuff. I want to say that this is how I met my co-founder at a webinar for a legal talk held by one of the companies here in Boston. And we both had the same idea and what we were working on in chat. And then we ended up building this business together, so this is a great place to meet people, see everything happens for a reason-point proven.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:34:29 ]Sophia, what's your number one piece of advice to everybody?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:34:33 ]Somebody told me every time you hear a 'no', you're going to feel like you're falling down. If you fall down 10 times, you should be ready to get up 11 to make it. So there's going to be so many 'no's trying to stop you. You need to be able to pick up the pieces and keep on going. You really need to believe in what you're doing. Just ride the waves. I think that was a very wise advice because, in this market, you're going to hear a lot of 'no's and you have to keep on moving, moving forward.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:35:18 ]Awesome. It's true. I mean, the amount of times I heard 'no', but in the end, it actually pushed me to work harder. Has been-I literally can't even count, but. Awesome. You guys, this was awesome. This is great. But audience, now it is time to dig into some of your questions. So we have a couple questions in the chat that I would like to call out that the panel will answer. Heidi Lewis-Ivey, what advice would you give to someone who is an introvert and finds it hard to network? I think this is a very important question because there's a lot of introverts out there, right? And we touched upon it a little bit about just going head-on. But what are very specific pieces of advice that you guys would give?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:36:19 ]Being an introvert myself, I find it really painful if it's not in you to make it. I personally started Just trying to get out of my comfort zone. I had to do it a gazillion times. It's still out of my comfort zone. Put an objective, I'm going to be going to one event a month, to two events a month. I started with two because I couldn't stomach more. My nerves were just shattering me. But I said, I'm going to be going to two events. And in the beginning, the outcome was I want to meet two to three people. It, the more you learn how to do it. If you're an introvert, you will always be an introvert, but you're going to practice networking. And I think practice does not make you perfect, but it's going to make you a bit less uncomfortable with it. So just start by putting a small goal and stick to it. mm-hmm Awesome.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:37:35 ]Great. Another really good one. Is there a time where it's difficult to keep track of all of your connections? From Tricia Petito, sorry. What are some strategies that help organize these connections?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:37:56 ]Happy to chime in here. I think one thing I've done is I just. I actually just have a Google sheet and it just keeps track for me of all of the like most valuable conversations I've had over a given time period. And I basically just put in like, you know, and there's other, like there's more official ways to do this. You can use like a CRM or something, but I just use a Google sheet and it's like name. phone number, email, you know, and then just like date and then like conversation we had. And it's not like that detailed, but at the very least, it allows me to like quickly go to that sheet and be like, who has been, you know, sort of like in my world over the last six months? I tab it by about six months. And then what have I talked about? And like, it's great for a reference. And it's great for when I just like, I'm like, oh, I need to do something. And if it's like on that list, it's so easy to sort of like filter and figure out how to go from there.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:39:01 ]That's a really great point.
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:39:03 ]Just keeping it all collected in one space so you can always reference it, It's going to be really important Awesome That's a great one I might steal that one Michael I literally when I meet you at an event I will be like Lindsay you know I'll say hey on LinkedIn and I'll say where we met And it's for you and I both to know where we met And then I'll use LinkedIn as my follow up But I love Michael's idea Yeah it is a good one for sure Terry Gonzalez what if you don't own any business yet And not sure what to start and are feeling overwhelmed with so many options Where should I start?
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:39:45 ]That's a really good one because I can only imagine there's a lot of people on this call as well that don't have any business yet. Where do you start? What do you do?
Sophia Kambanis
[ 00:39:57 ]I would say, start by identifying a pain or a need that you see exists. Start talking to people that you know or might not know and ask them if they have the same pain or need and see if you have an idea on how to circumnavigate. Whatever you start is about covering a need, solving a problem. And if you don't know what problem you want to solve, start by observing or identify problems that you have found in your business or personal development up until now. Two, three years ago, we had somebody who was an anesthesiologist, by profession, and he was sick and tired of going into surgeries and amputating diabetic feet. And at some point he said, that's enough. I have to do something about it. Four years later, he has the smart map that identifies the ulcer five weeks before it appears. He employs 130 people and he is the face of anti-amputations for diabetics. So it all started by him observing a real problem. That's your road to customer discovery anyway. So think of things you see that might need solutions.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:41:52 ]Awesome. Wayne Schmidt, what would be the best set of resources to help the gosh, I am a new founder and could use mentorship on how to be a founder?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:42:06 ]That's a good one. We're trying to build one at Founderway. Founderway . com. There we go. Yeah, I mean, we have a beta version of Ace; She's your advisor, an early stage advisor for founders that we've built. She's live on our website. We haven't connected her to the platform. But I often find people at Venture Cafe, for example, you connect. And as someone who mentors others, sometimes. You don't have the capacity to mentor as many people as you would like to. And people will come up in the first meeting and say, hey, would you mentor me? And I think it's very important to understand that mentoring someone is a very personal relationship and being involved in their life. And, you know, your business is personal when you're a founder. It's pretty much intermingled. So going in, I think, try and start building a relationship with someone. One of the most successful relationships with being a mentor or having someone mentor me has been setting goals with them and achieving those goals. When you are talking about a goal and you never get to achieve that goal, you stop losing momentum and people stop engaging with that. If you don't have momentum, it's hard to engage with someone who keeps saying they're going to do something and then don't end up doing it or don't provide a follow-up. And then you bump into them at an event and they're like, oh my God, I need to set up time in your calendar. Calendar link, and they keep booking time in your calendar, and you're like, okay, you know there has to be a productive way of having that relationship which works for both sides, the mentor and the mentee.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:44:01 ]So, and just to quickly ask about like the mentorship piece, right? So would you, how would you say you would go find a mentor, right? Like I'm sure that there's a lot of people on this call that don't have mentors and need it. Is there a specific place, an event? A feeling, anything to that?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:44:31 ]Yeah, I mean, you know, there's; You can meet a mentor. It's like you could meet like how Sophia said, you could meet them anywhere. I have met people in Ubers, you know, when they're driving you around, you have a conversation. And I've met someone who, in fact, was an investor and goes around driving Ubers because that's something he finds interesting, gets him out of the house. He has older kids. And, you know, this is how he meets people in the city. And I'm in touch with that person. And we talk every quarter and, you know, we'll exchange emails. You have to build a rapport with a person. There are mentor-mentee matching events. It's tougher as you get older to have that very structured mentor-mentee event relationship. But when you're younger and in college, it's easier to kind of maintain that with people that it's a professor. For me, that's how it kind of panned out.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:45:31 ]It feels natural, right? Like it's because you are going to be part of this person's life and they're going to be part of your life for a very long time. So kind of, you know, to the sense of like making those connections with a co-founder or an investor, it needs to feel natural. All of those people are going to be such a big part of your business in your life that you don't want it to be strenuous. And I think we have time for one more question. And this is going to be for Mike. Matthew Martino wants to know, I find Boston challenging because it is dominated by biotech, green tech, fintech. What advice do you have for someone to network who is not part of the dominant business scene? I know we touched upon this a little bit, but he's so right. It is very tech-oriented, which is great. But also at the same time, there's a lot of other businesses out there that are going through the startup phases as well. How would you suggest them moving forward?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:46:35 ]Yeah. I mean, one thing I've found really useful, and I think this also, I was going to say this in reference to, you know, being an introvert or having issues going to an event is like, you know, cold, cold email outreach by like through research is like really helpful. And like, I often just like start looking at like, you know, companies that I'm interested in talking to and just finding someone at one of those companies. And that could be like a mentor that I'm interested in. developing a relationship with. It could be, I know an event's coming up and this person's company or they're going to it and you reach out to them ahead of time and say, 'Hey, I'm going to be here.' But I also just think, you know, like know which industries you're targeting. And so it doesn't have to be tech or anything. It can be, you know, whatever. And just writing a really thoughtful email that shows like you put research into what they do, what their product is, whatever. And developing a conversation that way can then lead into, knowing an in-person connection at an event uh coffee or whatever um but you don't have to rely on you know just like big events exclusively uh you can develop a lot of your network by just you know developing connections through research and cold emailing or warm emailing, I guess. I hate, you know, cold just sounds terrible.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:47:57 ]Do you ever find going to these co-working spaces or incubators? Did you ever do that? Like what was your kind of first steps?
Michael Oxton
[ 00:48:11 ]I mean, not as much like co-working spaces, but like often just like random cafes and like, you know, again, like being open to conversation. I think you have to just go into things with an open mind and being open to conversations and like an openness and curiosity. Just generally speaking, like you know serves you well.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:48:37 ]This is for the whole panel and spaces and things like that. Do you, and Kieran, I know that you didn't leave your house for two years, but with that said, do you think that that's a really good also first step for startups to get themselves in front of other people in those types of spaces?
Kiran Panjwani
[ 00:49:03 ]Yes, 100%. I think there's two things that happen. One, you meet your tribe, people who are going through the same problems you're going through. We are part of Ethos, which is a AI hub for founders in Boston, in Cambridge. They're inside the CIC. I can drop the link to the Ethos website here. You can check it out if you're an AI company and interested to find your tribe there. Been through those challenges. Number two, the mentor or the advisor part, that's automatically available because that's how most accelerators or, you know, co-working spaces have access to resources. So not only do you end up getting like credits for Google Cloud, like Microsoft Azure, those kind of resources, but then also access to their network of people. To a community that where you can go every day and belong to and learn from others in different capacities.
Lindsey Whiteley
[ 00:50:10 ]Yeah. Keep on bringing up the connection piece, right? It's like, you're going to make those connections. You're going to have those conversations. You're going to learn from other people. And it's also, remember, sometimes it's okay to like talk to other people that are not in your specific industry, right? So if somebody is in a different industry and you're having a conversation, hearing, you know, answers to questions that you might have that you don't typically hear is really good too. So always having an outsider's, you know, thought or answer is also a really good thing. Yeah. Awesome. Well, you guys, this was great. I loved having this conversation and hearing from multiple different industries and with different people. It was super helpful. I honestly, I'm super proud to be moderating this and very happy to be doing so. And yeah, Stephanie, take it away.
