REID HOFFMAN

Network Intelligence: Your Company Can’t

Thrive Without It

My name is Reid Hoffman and I’m an entrepreneur and investor.

Hi!

I cofounded LinkedIn in 2003. Today we have more than 300,000,000 members around the world.

What was the last really hard problem you solved at work?

Here’s an example from my career. !

When I worked at PayPal, we had to figure out how to beat a competitor: BillPoint.

And they were backed by Wells Fargo and owned by our most

important business partner: eBay.

To beat BillPoint, we needed to outthink them.

I asked all the members of my team to talk with friends, business partners, and even BillPoint employees to get as much market intelligence as they

could.

We found out two important things.

1. BillPoint thought its relationship with Wells Fargo mattered most to customers.

2. …and eBay users (the customers) didn't care about BillPoint’s bank relationships.

They just wanted an easy to use product.

Armed with that knowledge, we focused on ease of use,

among other things.

We beat BillPoint. eBay ended up buying us for $1.5 billion.

What’s your current challenge? Here’s what most people do when

problem solving. !

They schedule a meeting with all the smart people at their company who

might have ideas.

That’s a good first step — talk to people.

The most valuable professional information is often in other people’s heads.

People — not Google, not books, not blog posts — have the information you

need to solve tough problems.

People can offer advice that’s time-sensitive.

!

People often know things that are not yet public on Google.

People can tailor advice exactly to your situation.

Great information and insight from the people you know can be a significant competitive

advantage. !

We call it…

NETWORK INTELLIGENCE.

When it comes to knowledge in a highly networked era…

who you knowis often more valuable than

what you’ve read.

Now, when you are facing a truly hard problem, you

should also look outward.

There are more smart people in the world who do not work at your company than the total # of smart people who work at your company. !

So look beyond your office.

Your team is bigger than you think.

If you’re a manager…

Your team becomes a whole lot bigger.If you do…

If you have 5 people working for you and they each have 75 different contacts outside the company…

The network intel team is actually

375 people strong.

(It’s even bigger if you count 2nd and 3rd degree connections.)

CEOs tend to be big networkers — they talk to a lot of people in the

industry at large.

…But they forget their employees can do the same.

When your employees share what they learn from the

people in their network (about technologies, competition,

talent), they help you solve key business challenges faster.

An externally networked workforce is critical to an innovative company.

It’s also great for your employees’ careers. By helping them strengthen their external network, you’re improving their

long-term career prospects.

So encourage them to engage their network on a regular basis.

HERE’S HOW.

Ask your employees: ! “Who are the 3 smartest

people you know who don’t work at our company”?

1.

Empower your employees to network with those smart

people on company time...

And the company dime.

2.

HubSpot’s Learning Meals program allows employees to expense meals with interesting people in the industry

so long as the employees share what

they learned.

“My one regret is that we didn’t put the Learning Meals policy in place from the start at HubSpot.

- Dharmesh Shah Founder and CTO

Encourage your employees to be active on social media.

3.

4.

Celebrate employees who have large Twitter followings and lots of LinkedIn connections.

For their annual conference, HubSpot wanted to bring in a big name speaker

like Arianna Huffington. !

To do so, they tapped the power of their employees’ networks.

The organizers made a list of employee Twitter accounts and went through them to find the employee with the strongest connection to Huffington.

!

That employee reached out and Huffington quickly accepted the

invitation.

!

!

HubSpot employees also have two times the average number of LinkedIn

connections, and those employees share, comment, or like updates at

eight times the average rate.

!

!

HubSpot attracts two times the average number of candidates for the job

opportunities it posts on LinkedIn.

!

!The payoff to a having a workforce

well connected on LinkedIn?

THE ALLIANCE

NETWORK INTELLIGENCE is a part of

between company and employee

The employee’s career is transformed. !

A strong professional network is one of the most important career assets a

person can have. As a company, you’re helping employees build their networks.

THE ALLIANCE

The company is transformed. !

Network intelligence from all employees helps managers make

better strategic decisions.

THE ALLIANCE

An Alliance will help you recruit, manage, and retain great people to

your company. And solve key problems faster.

Everybody wins.

Get the book today ▸

Learn more in my book with Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh: The Alliance. !We show you how to set up network intelligence programs at your company.

Get the book today ▸

And we show how these programs help you solve challenges, and ultimately help you recruit, manage, and retain amazing talent at your company.