Managing inbound requests to meet up and help out fellow entrepreneurs is always an internal struggle for me. I want to help, but I’ve also found that the majority of the first-time meetings aren’t a good use of time. Personal referrals from trusted friends are always the best, especially when a Simplified One Page Strategic Plan is required prior to meeting (or paying it forward). Last week I heard a new idea: we can meet when you have two other people come with you that are committed to the startup.
Here are a few thoughts on requiring an entrepreneur bring two other committed team members as part of meeting:
- Convincing other people to join the startup requires leadership and passion — two critical traits of successful entrepreneurs
- Many meeting requests are an effort to validate the quality of the idea (which is bad to do), so having two other team members on board means that many potential employees/co-founders were already pitched, thus increasing the chance of a refined idea
- Involving two other people creates a greater level of seriousness and effort when compared to just kicking around an idea, thereby reducing some of the noise
The next time an entrepreneur asks to meet, tell them you’ll meet once they have two other people committed to the startup that will also attend the meeting — you might be surprised how many can’t meet this requirement.
What else? What are some more thoughts on the idea of requiring two additional team members come with an entrepreneur requesting to meet?
David Cummings on Startups 
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