That 'Detroit Young Professionals' meetup that I rolled my eyes at

Walked into the Eastern Market meetup last month thinking it would be just a bunch of LinkedIn bros pushing their crypto schemes. But this guy named Dave who runs a small print shop on Gratiot walked me through how he landed a contract with a local brewery just by showing up early and buying someone a coffee. He shared his exact opener line and it's so simple I felt dumb for overthinking it. Has anyone else been surprised by one of these groups or was I just lucky?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbarac9514d ago

Did you catch that article in the Metro Times a couple months back about the print shop scene in Detroit? It talked about how a lot of those small businesses are staying afloat just by networking at the right coffee shops. Your story about Dave and the brewery contract reminds me of something I read about how the best connections happen when you're not trying to hard, just being consistent and showing up early like he did. That opener line thing is key, I've heard people say it's all about finding the common ground before you even ask for anything. Sounds like you got lucky finding a good group though, I've heard some of those meetups are just sales pitches dressed up as networking.

fiona_lane14d ago

Lucky you didn't get lured into an Amway pitch instead of a coffee run.

tylermurray10d ago

Actually gotta push back on this one. @barbarac95 made some good points about the Metro Times article, but I think people overhype the whole "show up and be patient" thing. Dave's story is nice, but it's also a Perfect example of survivorship bias. Plenty of small business owners show up early, buy coffee, and make small talk for years without landing a single brewery contract. The real reason Dave got that deal is probably that he had something specific to offer, like a lower price or faster turnaround, not because he smiled at the right guy. And let's be real about those networking meetups. Most of them are just a circle of people trying to sell each other stuff. If you're not going in with a clear pitch and a stack of business cards, you're basically wasting your time. The idea that "not trying too hard" is the secret to success sounds great in a blog post, but in practice, the people who get ahead are the ones who push the hardest. Just my two cents though, I know plenty of folks here would disagree.