How can I help? A critical 4-word question every entrepreneur needs to ask

At Google, Gia Scinto sat down with the author and asked this question, reports Tech In Asia

Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California is a famous street for entrepreneurs. Lining this stretch are elite venture capital firms, and nearly every top Silicon Valley company has started here.

So, I was understandably a little intimidated back in 2009 on one of my first fundraising trips to the Valley for Hootsuite. Would investors give me the time of day? Would they share my enthusiasm for building a social media management platform? Would I even be able to get in the door?

But something unexpected happened—almost eerie. Time and time again, inside conference rooms, at coffee shops, or when huddling in hotel lobbies, I kept hearing a four-word phrase from investors and entrepreneurs:

“How can I help?”

VCs like Geoff Entress from Voyager Capital asked me this. Angel investor Dave McClure asked me this. Kissmetrics CEO Hiten Shah asked me this. These were powerful and extremely busy people, yet there they were offering up their time, expertise, connections, and critical thinking power to a new entrepreneur.

After almost a decade, I heard that same four-word mantra again last month. At Startup Grind’s Global Conference earlier this year, the entrepreneurial all-stars on stage were using it. At Google, special projects lead Gia Scinto sat down with me and asked the very same question.

I had an “aha” moment and had to stop and ask myself: What was so special about this four-word phrase? And why so many incredibly successful people are using it?

The power of asking, “How can I help?”

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If business is all about who you know, then this simple line— How can I help?—might be the ultimate networking tool.  This is an excerpt from the article published on Tech In Asia. You can read the full article here.