Liz Claman on How to Build a World Class Rolodex

Trying to network... but can’t get people on the phone? Can’t get emails returned? Can’t get your foot in the door? Feeling a little like a David crowded out by all the Goliaths in your industry?

Don't worry: There's hope.

The following is a conversation with Liz Claman, anchor of “Countdown to the Closing Bell” and co-anchor of “After the Bell” on Fox Business about “3 Days in the Valley,” her annual interview series with tech founders and CEOs that starts today. We discussed how she took a major career chance and made it pay off in spectacular fashion in part by building an incredible network (both literally and figuratively), and how you can cultivate a Rolodex of contacts that truly pays off.

Your move in 2007 from CNBC to Fox Business seemed counter-intuitive.

I was working for CNBC. It was a great gig… but it sounded really attractive to work at a small startup. I had “done that,” and in time it started not to feel like all that. I wanted to be in on the ground floor and help something grow. I sometimes think of a startup as a small little vine that eventually chokes a gigantic tree. I had already been the tree and wanted to be the vine.

You might not think of Fox Business as a startup, but it absolutely was. Fox made it clear that they had started with nothing, and we had to go the same route. They wanted us to have a startup mentality, and the thinking was we would never learn if we could lean on our big brother.

But I would have thought having a gig at a major network would be a broadcast journalist’s dream.

Yes and no. You get into a routine at a big organization. Instead of going rogue, you go rote: You do what you’ve always done, and that kills ideas and innovation. I found the prospect of joining a startup network to be exciting but also scary… and it flipped a little switch inside.

Even so, when I went to Fox Business I immediately thought, “Wow. This is really hard.” The Goliaths wanted to slay us. For example, they tried to shut us out of tech conferences; we’d show up and they wouldn’t have a space for us. They'd say, “Sorry, but you’re fourth in line behind PBS…”

So we thought, “Why don’t we just start our own conference?”

And that became 3 Days in the Valley.

The response was amazing. We were welcomed with open arms because every company was once a startup.

Each day we went to a different location. The first year we went to Intel and they embraced us. We went to Stanford Business School the second day, and the third we went to Xerox PARC. Every half hour we interviewed a different Silicon Valley CEO.

We interviewed people from bigger companies like Intel, Applied Materials, and eBay… but we also wanted to salt in a few startups so that first year we had on a little known startup called Twitter. Here are these two kids, Evan and Jack, trying to explain the 140-character thing. Back then you could barely get Twitter on a Blackberry, it was only available on a few platforms… but it caught our eye because someone in Egypt had been arrested and used Twitter to get the message out that he was stuck in jail.

We all know how the Twitter story ended… or is just beginning.

You’ve been “early” on a number of companies.

We had Pandora our second year. Tim Westergren told us how they ran out of operating cash and he had to go to his staff and say, “I love you… and I’m sorry but you have to work without pay.” Many of those employees stayed, and look at Pandora today.

Being early pays off down the road – in your business and for networking in general.

Everyone wants to be your friend once you’re successful. I talked to Jack Dorsey recently and he said he’ll never forget how Fox Business gave Twitter a shot.

I had followed Elon Musk since 2005 and convinced Fox Business to let me cover this kid who wanted to build a rocket company. Tesla had sold maybe 400 cars… but I wanted to tell the rocket ship story, too. I toured SpaceX when they had zero security… and now they have a multi-million dollar contract with NASA. We found them first, profiled them first… basically we said, “It seems crazy to try build a rocket company… until he’s right.”

Elon has been a guest every year, and that’s because we’re not a Johnny-come-lately. We were there when no one else was. People remember that – and they return that kind of loyalty.

This year we’re doing the first major interview with Brian Krzanich, the new CEO of Intel, simply because of the relationship we’ve built with Intel over the years.

You’re really good at getting past the canned, prepped, formulaic answers.

My number one question is, “Tell me about the lean years.” I love hearing about someone’s worst day. That’s where you get genuine responses.

For example, we were at Starbucks and I said to Howard Schultz, “I don’t want to hear about your new frappucino flavor… I want to hear about your worst moment ever.”

He said he was taking no salary, his wife was pregnant, and his father-in-law came to him and said, “I know you have this dream of creating a worldwide chain of coffee stores… but do you think it’s time you got a real job?”

Howard said it was the saddest day and also the day he decided not to listen. At the time he only had 2 stores… but he still had a dream.

So I asked him, “What would you say to entrepreneurs who are constantly told no?” He said, “Surround yourself with only the people who believe in your dream, dream big, then dream 10 times bigger, and then forge ahead.”

That’s the real American entrepreneur story: It’s not supposed to feel good all the time. Success is standing atop a huge pile of failures.

What do you consider your toughest get?

I’m proudest of landing an interview with Warren Buffett even though it wasn’t the toughest to get. I picked up the phone one day after hearing this brilliant guy in Nebraska doesn’t talk to the media. His assistant told me Warren was a fan and would talk to me on the phone. I asked a few questions but got nowhere.

So I said, “How about if I come to Omaha and we discuss how you value a business?”

He said, “Hmm. Let me think about it. First tell me about yourself.”

Knowing he was a guy who didn’t like fancy pants, I said I was down to earth. He said, “Where did you grow up?”

Oops. “Um… Beverly Hills…,” I said, “but let me explain. My parents grew up the children of penniless immigrants. My dad became a renowned surgeon and my mom a Shakespearean actress… but they come from humble roots.”

To be honest I figured the Beverly Hills thing killed my chances.

But he called back and said, “I’ve bought some of my best businesses from brilliant Russian Jewish immigrants. So okay.”

Warren had never done a long form sit-down for a business network. I’m really proud I landed the first long form and the first live hour-long interview with Warren.

Certainly there’s a toughest get, too.

Probably Ford CEO Alan Mulally. When we started Fox Business in 2007 he had recently come to Ford from Boeing. He didn’t know me, much less our network, since back then we weren’t on cable in Dearborn.

His PR team said, “We don’t know you… and we can’t even see you.” So I sent them tapes. I sent them links to anything about us, both good and bad.

I studied what mattered to Alan; at the time he was launching a green initiative well before any auto manufacturer was doing green. I said we would have him on for 20 minutes to talk about green… but I want to drive a hybrid Escape (before it went on sale) so I could test it. I think it took us four months to convince them to give us the interview.

We try to let people talk about their passion. Because we let them tell that story, they gave us exclusives at the Consumer Electronics Show. They gave us that story because we listened to what they cared about.

Say I’m trying to network with key people, trying to build relationships… what advice would you give me?

Pick your targets, no matter how big or small, and find out everything about their careers, their companies, their lean years, their aspirations…

Then when you approach them, say, “I know you guys. I know how in the early days your assembly line blew up and you still didn’t quit. I know how hard it was for you to find your first customer. I know how you took a chance and changed careers. What fascinates me about you….”

When you go the extra mile and find out everything you can about another person, that person will naturally want to hear your story.

And make sure to help other people even when they don’t ask. Make sure to stay in touch long before you might need something. When you help people, they naturally look for ways to help you, too.

Then you don’t even have to ask.

I also write for Inc.com:

• 
  
• How to Improve Any Skill. Any Skill.
  
• 6 Habits of Remarkably Likeable People