Strategies to Tend, Feed & Grow your Professional Network w/ Dan Portillo & Jim Cook #54

The Engineering Leadership Podcast

This ELC Hiring Summit special feature explores tactics & strategies to help you build powerful relationships & professional network! We cover the impact of vulnerability, why you should focus on “giving” first, how to break down power dynamics, prepare for important introductions & more with Dan Portillo (Managing Partner & Founder @ Sweat Equity Ventures) & Jim Cook (CFO @ Orbital Insight).

DAN PORTILLO

Dan is a former Talent Partner @ Greylock. Previously, he was VP of Success & Engagement at Rypple, and VP of Organizational Development at Mozilla, creators of Firefox. Earlier in his career Dan spent a decade building out successful early-stage, venture-backed consumer and enterprise companies. Dan also served as a Council member for Code2040.org, a non-profit creating opportunities for underrepresented minorities in tech.

JIM COOK, CFO @ ORBITAL INSIGHT

Jim Cook is the CFO at Orbital Insight and he has scaled some of Silicon Valley's most iconic brands. Companies like Intuit, Netflix, Mozilla...

He was one of the first finance hires at Intuit. He was one of the original six founding members at Netflix. He also launched the Bench Board Executive Network, which is a leadership network and knowledge-sharing network for operational executives.

SHOW NOTES

• Early career lessons on people, relationships, & “giving” (2:24)
• Vulnerability & the impact of lowering your guard (8:37)
• Building authentic relationships & trust long-term (12:55)
• Breaking down power dynamics & building up “relationship credits” (14:49)
• Learning from mistakes, burning bridges & removing your ego (19:38)
• Tactics for effective relationship building & networking (24:27)
• How to prepare for an important introduction (28:24)
• How to balance your priorities & invest time to help others (29:21)

RESOURCES/LINKS

• (book) "Give and Take" by Adam Grant - https://www.adamgrant.net/book/give-and-take/
• (article) 'How to Work with Me' - Reid Hoffman - https://coda.io/@reidhoffman/meet-reid

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