1. HOW TO CONNECT WITH INFLUENTIAL
PEOPLE THROUGH INTERVIEWS
Andrew Case - 3/22/2014
2. BEFORE IT ALL CHANGED
Project I created to interview entrepreneurs and authors.
Confused in life and trying to find direction.
Wanted to have an avenue to connect with people I
normally wouldn’t be able to talk to.
3. PEOPLE I’VE CONNECTED WITH
Bill Aulet
Director of Entrepreneurship at M.I.T.
Bryant McGil
Best selling Author and Speaker
Derek Sivers
Founder of CD Baby
4. WHY DO INTERVIEWS?
To learn - you can ask questions you are struggling to find the
answer to A.K.A free consulting session.
To gain credibility - Helps you with exposure for your project
and most people with large followings are willing to share your work.
To develop confidence - You realize that these people you
put on imaginary pedestals are no different then you are.
To improve your speaking - Listening to yourself talk will
make you cringe at first, but you’ll get better at having deep
conversations and learn how to ask good, thoughtful questions.
5. WHO HAS USED INTERVIEWS?
Dale Carnegie
Author of How to Win Friends and Influence People
“I personally interviewed scores of successful people, some
of them world-famous…”
Napoleon Hill
Author of Think and Grow Rich
Andrew Carnegie commissioned Hill to interview over 500
millionaires to find a success formula that could be used by
the average person.
6. MODERN EXAMPLES
Tim Ferriss
3X NYT Best Selling Author and Angel Investor
“I spent the last 2 years traveling around 20 countries
interviewing high performers - both entrepreneurs and
employees…”
Danielle & Laura Kosann
Founders of The New Potato
Interview foodies in New York to talk about their favorite
restaurants and typical meals. Interviews include Jessica
Alba, Martha Stewart, and more
7. THE EMAIL FORMULA
Grab Attention
+
Describe Your Project
+
The Close
=
Interview ~20% of the time
8. CASE STUDY
Paul DeJoe
CEO of Ecquire
Wrote Quora article on entrepreneurship
that had 3000+ up votes.
Regularly writes for Fast Company and
other websites.
Speaker at TedX and other events.
9. THE EMAIL PT. 1
Grab Attention - (2 Sentences)
• Make it all about them and show you are familiar
with their work.
• Remember: NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU!
Ex. from Paul DeJoe interview -
“Loved reading your article on Fast Company about
waking up early and the struggles as a Founder in your
Quora post. I had a period of waking up at 4 a.m. and it
led to some of the most productive periods in my life.”
10. THE EMAIL PT. 2
Describe Your Project - (2-3 Sentences)
• What is it about? Why are you doing it?
• Remember: Keep it short and sell it (10 sec.
elevator pitch)
Ex. from Paul DeJoe interview -
“I'm reaching out to you about a project I am doing called
Before It All Changed. I am interviewing entrepreneurs
about the struggles/limiting beliefs they had as they were
building their businesses and how they overcame it. The
project is going to be for kids my age (22), who want to
start businesses but are just not confident enough in
themselves to do it.”
11. THE EMAIL PT. 3
The Close - (2-3 Sentences)
• Why should they do it? What’s in it for them?
• Remember: Be very specific on time and date.
Ex. from Paul DeJoe interview -
“I think your story would be great for the project and the
simple tactics you use (waking up early, tackling the most
important item first when you start your day, etc.) would
be great for people my age to hear. I'm currently setting
up interviews in February and if you are available, can
you do a 30 minute interview via Skype on February
10th at 4:00 PM EST?” (bolding is mine)
12. HOW TO CONNECT
The best way I found: their contact form on their
website.
You can connect with them on websites like Clarity.fm too
You can also pay for LinkedIn premium (I don’t do this).
Bottom Line: It’s far easier than you think to reach
people.
13. REJECTIONS
Really not that bad.
If you’re not getting rejected, you are not trying.
I get rejected regularly, but who cares?
Ex. - Personal Rejection from Darya Rose (Kevin
Rose’s wife)
14. PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW
Research anything and everything you can on the
person:
• LinkedIn
• Books
• Other interviews they did
• Blog
Prepare an outline of the interview
Write out 10 questions that are specific to their work.
Make sure these are questions you can’t find the answer
to online.
