Coffee, Tea or Me[eting] – A New Blend of Networking

It began as a journey and continuous to be one – one filled with growth and fulfillment.

I graduated from an MBA program, only to face an economy that could not sustain the dream painted by many leaders in the late 90s.

I needed a job, but more than anything else needed to learn, unlearn and learn again all the time. Ideally, I wanted the job to be incidental. This economy was perfect to do so! Thomas Edison said – “Failure is one step eliminated towards success” and I decided to use the failures of others to learn and not repeat it. Analysis of the failures – business models, leadership roles and corporate cultures drove me to analyze and hone my endowments between stimulus and response.

So where does Starbucks figure in all this?

I started my stay in a new community and society, in the US, in California, through the best known equalizer to me in the US – a coffee shop. As a student in California, my first destination outside India after 27 years, I made the best of friends in a coffee shop, which I visited daily. I have a friend now, who worked there, flying over to Portland just to visit me. I also have an adopted Mother in an American family, who made every moment of my stay in the US a dream come true. It is very fulfilling to know that my time is strongly influenced by the compass instead of a clock only.

Success being the best positive reinforcement, my start in Portland began at the Starbucks on Barnes Road – the only one in the neighborhood and a mile from my apartment. I began with The Wall Street Journal every morning there. Soon that grew into research on innovation, leadership, and business philosophy in corporate America. I went on to develop the Root Matrix^TM, which described the cause and effect of relationships between leaders and their employees as a future of the company/institute. This matrix also integrated the role of work and life as one whole, which invariably becomes an issue in most of our lives, usually late. Very soon I was welcomed into the club of regulars there. They added tremendous value to my thought processes and helped me further to ‘orbit the giant hairball’. Some were regulars and some weren’t. Those who were not were introduced to me or I took the initiative to do so myself.

Suddenly I realized that there was a tremendous wealth of knowledge and wisdom with them, which they were ready to share if I took the initiative. In the process, if they believed me, I realized they also had the potential to refer me to companies for possible employment opportunities - the best possible strategy to get a job today.

Allow me to introduce you to some of the amazing people I have met here at Starbucks:

I approached Hazelnut Latte^ and introduced myself.

He was a Director at Intel for their Strategic Alliances. He was funded by Intel to start his own company based on VOIP, which was featured by Bill Gates in his book “Business at the Speed of Thought”. He sold that venture for a very large sum and is now in the process of raising funds for a Leveraged Buyout Fund. He has also been featured by Fortune, The Wall Street Journal amongst others.

I am very grateful to him for meeting me at least once a week to mentor me and hone my skills on innovation and business. Apart from that he has introduced me to a Marketing Director in a local company, who in turn introduced me to their VP-Sales. The VP-Sales introduced me to a Venture Capitalist in San Francisco. He is a potential investor for a startup, which has asked me to help them raise additional funds.

He has also offered to introduce me to other senior executives of another local company, if I find the company a fit for my profile.

I approached Tall 2% Non-fat Caramel Mocha⁺ after I was very briefly introduced to him.

He is a President of the Japanese operations of a US company. He also has his own company. We are currently exploring opportunities for me to work with him. This could involve working with him to expand operations, developing strategic alliances in India for outsourcing programming apart from others that we are still discussing.

I approached Tall House Coffee, No Cream ⁺ myself and we almost meet everyday now.

He is a Marketing Professor at Washington State University in the process of writing a book. He motivates me every day and reinforces me positively – showing faith and conviction in me. Apart from that, he has added a lot of value to some of my concepts through recommendations on books or other readings.

Mocha with Whipped Cream⁺ – she works there.

She is one of the best employees I have ever seen – self driven and very very close to the customer. People love her – their kids love her too. One of the reasons I go so often also is because of people like her – I feel at home. She has been a good friend to me and we also celebrated the New Year together. I would certainly want to make sure I recognize my employees like her through a better mechanism of feedback and ensure they spread their contagious enthusiasm and spirit.

Grande Non-fat Latte⁺ – not a regular but I approached him myself. He is one of the founding members of a new company. He offered to help me in my search for a job in his company. I never pursued it since the company was not of interest to me.

Grande Chai⁺ – a regular who I met when I couldn’t help appreciating her interaction with her daughter. She is a student at a medical school. She has offered to introduce me to a doctor who is very involved with technology. I believe I could learn a lot through him since I research wireless technologies and health (‘telehealth’) with a friend in Cisco Systems.

It is hard for me to miss a day at Starbucks now. I have some great friends and always an opportunity to learn and grow.

Looking back, I am glad I did not get a job on campus. Now I am ready for one, which allows me to make a contribution.