The importance of building lasting relationships the right way
Meet the Founders: Erik and Vincent!
Start-Up: My Networking Club
Founders: Erik Nguyen and Vincent Zhai
Located: Toronto, ON
What is My Networking Club?
My Networking Club is an organization that helps people gain meaningful and lasting connections with the hope that each person in the club knows someone that can help someone else. They’ve created various events for people to meet in an informal matter, such as through coffee chats and lounge events, to create relaxed environments so that people feel comfortable asking for professional development help. They’ve created this exclusive club where students and professionals are willing to support each other and get to know each other; essentially, adding back the genuine piece to networking. Most recently, they have started offering networking classes in the form of boot camps as well!
It’s also easy to join. Check out their website: My Networking Club.
How did My Networking Club get started?
It all started with one LinkedIn message between the Founders, Erik and Vincent. They built this mentor/mentee relationship that was very sincere and genuine, which led them to become good friends, and now founders together.
Their friendship enabled them to converse on various topics, and one evening, when they were sitting on Erik’s balcony, they found themselves discussing how student’s network. They concluded that networking is very transactional: students go to networking events for a job, and employers come to hire students. They felt that this was all very ingenuine and was not a conducive environment to build lasting relationships.
Erik noted that “For me, networking is a very important skill, but networking isn’t throwing yourself in a room and getting a business card, hoping someone will remember you. Networking is really a combination of both relationship building and maintaining.” That is why Erik and Vincent decided to re-engineer the way people network. This was especially meaningful to them, since they built their friendship and partnership through networking.
In the end, they saw a gap in the market. They knew what students wanted and needed, but universities weren’t providing this service to them. Students want to know how to appropriately start a conversation and be confident about it, and My Networking Club has provided this skill, along with opportunities to use this skill through building meaningful relationships.
Challenges in building the business
The biggest challenge for Erik and Vincent has been getting the word out about My Networking Club. They’ve really had to build the business from the ground-up and have relied on word-of-mouth. Once students developed the networking skills and successfully landed employment through the help of their program, the word has started to spread, and they have seen growth in the number of students attending their events. A lot of the graduate class of 2018 have been telling them that they wish they had known everything they learned from My Networking Club sooner.
Vincent and Erik are not new to the entrepreneurship scene
Vincent started Little Wings English and Music Academy during university, which is a company that connects music instructors in Canada and the US, to students overseas to learn English through music. This came about because Vincent moved to Canada in Grade 10. At the time, he also started learning to play the guitar and noticed that he was also learning English through music and thought other people could benefit from this.
Erik started Skill Share during his 3rd year of university, which is a platform that connects students wanting to learn a skill, to other students, who know the skill. He thought it was a great way for students to make income outside of the 9-5 schedule. He started this company because he has always had an interest in being creative. Growing-up, his dad always worked in small engineering companies and Erik was fascinated by each piece of a small business: from the back-end operations, manufacturing, to the sales in the front. Through his observations, he noted that having a business is less risky than working for someone else because without a good reason, you won’t lose all your clients when you run a business, but you can lose your entire job in one day if you are working for someone else. He continued that he does not discount the experience you gain from working for an employer, but Erik noted that building something on your own is good because no one can take it away from you.
Staying Motivated
Erik noted “you have to really want it, and I feel like both Vincent and I really want it.” They dedicate a lot of time outside of their work and study obligations, and constantly remind themselves of the long-term picture. They’ve already seen the growth in their company over the last year, and they found it helpful that they’ve picked a line of business they are passionate about: helping students and the importance of networking. A great analogy Erik used was “your career is like a car. If the car only has 3 wheels, the car isn’t going to go anywhere, no matter how strong the other 3 wheels are. We describe networking as the 4th wheel.”
“We tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in 1 year and underestimate what we can do in 10 years.”
Side Hustling
A great way to de-risk a business is to start it as a side project, and that is exactly what Erik and Vincent have done. They have a pretty cool partnership in that Vincent is still studying so he’s the eyes on the inside, while Erik can apply some of his extra life experience from working. Their future plans include growing and partnering with at least 10 learning institutions, not limiting to Rotman, or universities. They hope to expand and reach international students and high schools as well.
Get to know Erik and Vincent!
Nerdy fact: Vincent collects cat videos! 😊 Erik carries around a physical agenda, and you won’t see him without it!
Embarrassing entrepreneurship stories: One of the realities from the beginning of building a brand is that it takes time. For their very first event, they were expecting 30 people to come, and only 4 people showed-up. They have grown a lot since then!
Inspiring books:
The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb inspired Vincent, for it emphasized how knowing what you don’t know is more relevant than knowing what you do know. Vincent learned how disruptive something could be and was inspired to become an entrepreneur and to create something different and impactful for other people.
Cold hard truth: On business, money & life, by Kevin O’Leary inspired Erik because it brought up the misconceptions around job security and the idea of commoditizing your skills.
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
Advice for budding entrepreneurs
Erik and Vince shared some great advice. The entrepreneurial journey is not going to be easy. It’s going to take a lot of time and preparation, which all come at a price. In the end, everyone can obtain their definition of success, and it is key to have the right mindset and find the right people to work with. One thing they continued to emphasize was that finding the right co-Founder was key: it is important that both founders share the same company vision, because if they don’t, you can’t trust the person to make good decisions for the vision of the company given that there are 2 differing visions. Be patient and learn to embrace failure.
Thank you, Erik and Vincent! If you would like to learn more about their start-up and their events, please check out their website. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach-out!
