Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Ganesh Shankar is the Chief Executive Officer and cofounder of Responsive, a market leader for strategic response management.
When I reflect on the early days of founding my company, Responsive, there are things I’d do differently given the benefit of hindsight. However, I’m grateful that I recognized early on that my expertise and experiences would only take us so far.
I wasn’t so inexperienced that I didn’t realize founders are often replaced when a company reaches a certain stage of maturity—especially if they’re no longer driving growth. This led me to consider how I might set both myself and our then-new company up for long-term success.
No Shortcut For Experience
An early epiphany: There is no shortcut to gaining experience.
I co-founded my company with two incredible partners, driven by a big idea (and pain point that needed addressing) inspired by my experience helping a former employer manage responses to requests for proposals (RFPs).
RFPs are critical to most companies’ revenue generation engine, and I volunteered much of my time to help us win business through quality responses. I’d lived the challenges and felt passionate about pioneering technology solutions to help businesses better manage this mission-critical function.
But I recognized that the problems I faced answering RFPs didn’t represent the universe of problems faced by everyone answering RFPs.
Also, I had never founded a company before, so I knew I needed to surround myself with people who had “been there, done that.” This included potential customers who experienced the challenges of proposal management, as well as co-workers and advisors who had successfully founded and scaled companies through various stages of growth.
How ‘Network Effects’ Apply To People, Too
“Network effects” are discussed almost exclusively in relation to technology. The term originated as a way to describe the value of a telephone network as it grows. (One person with a phone isn’t valuable. Two get interesting. Thousands, millions, then billions create exponential value.) Today the term is used to describe not just telecom systems but also social media platforms, online marketplaces and more.
We don’t think enough about the potential value of network effects when it comes to our personal networks. But that’s what I turned to in my company’s early stages, and that decision has paid off in many ways.
A Founder’s Top Priorities: Customer Acquisition, Team Building, Funding
In my previous role, I had worked with many sales reps, giving me a large network of potential advisors. However, I took a targeted approach, reaching out to those with whom I’d built exceptional rapport and trust. I asked if they would be open to trying our beta product or introducing us to others who might be interested.
We didn’t try to sell them—we asked for honest feedback, and they delivered. This allowed us to pinpoint product-market fit with precision, so when it was time to build, we did so quickly and efficiently.
This approach also supported our key goal of customer acquisition by providing the optimal product user experience while delivering the value they were expecting. Positive word-of-mouth spread from those early beta customers whom we worked so hard to impress. Soon, our first satisfied customers brought in more customers.
Network effects also brought in customers in unexpected ways. The first marketing consultant I hired—who came via referral—landed us a great piece in our local business journal. That caught the attention of a local company, which called and said, “We have a problem managing our bid process. And we’d love to support another local company.” They remain a customer today. That’s not just about the value of good PR; it’s about leveraging your network to its fullest extent.
Network effects have also helped me build a high-performing, values-based, customer-centric team. Through my network I hired leaders who had been there/done that, scaling startups from the early stages through hypergrowth and on to successful exits.
They have been invaluable sounding boards and advisors who have helped us navigate the challenges every company encounters along the way. When things got bumpy, these veteran leaders were like human shock absorbers that helped us to keep moving forward despite the turbulence.
As for our employee base, close to 40% of our new hires in 2024 came through referrals. I can’t overstate the value of this manifestation of network effects, as referred employees reduce hiring costs, stay longer, are more engaged and tend to be a better cultural fit.
Lessons Learned
So how do you get the most out of human network effects? And how do you prioritize leveraging those networks to achieve what I argue are a founder’s three biggest priorities—customer acquisition, team building and fundraising?
Here’s what I’ve learned:
• Build lasting relationships with those you work well with. One of the keys to my success has been to nurture long-term relationships with the people I’ve worked with most effectively (and happily, by the way). If you find someone you work with really well, you can work with them again. And again.
• Customer acquisition first. You may have noticed I didn’t touch on fundraising. That’s because if I could do it again, I’d spend the majority of my time—50%-ish—on customer acquisition, then team building, then fundraising. It’s not that fundraising isn’t important, particularly for a founder, but the velocity to acquire customers is paramount for a fledgling business. As I said, customers bring customers. They also attract employees and investors.
• Be humble, be nimble and ask for help. One of our very early keys to success with our beta customers was coming back to them within 24 to 48 hours to demonstrate tangible progress on their feedback. We strived to be humble, to be nimble and to show them how much we appreciated their feedback.
I’d also encourage founders and senior business leaders to overcome any hesitation about asking for help. No individual—no matter how brilliant or experienced—can match the value a strong network brings. So, invest in building your network, and don’t hesitate to lean on it to help you achieve your biggest aspirations.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
