Foundr Magazine Podcast | Learn From Successful Founders & Proven Entrepreneurs, The Ultimate Startup Podcast For Business

I get this all the time. DMs, emails, some version of "hey Nathan, can I pick your brain?" And I get it, the intention is good. But here is what that message actually says to the person receiving it: I want your most valuable asset, your time, and I am going to give you nothing in return. Here is the thing: I grew up in the suburbs with zero entrepreneurial connections. No successful friends, no business-owning parents, no network to speak of. Every single room I have ever been in, I built my way into from nothing. And the principle that made it possible is stupidly simple. In this episode, I share the serve first, ask later framework and walk through exactly how I used it to land interviews with Richard Branson four months into building Foundr, connect with Gary Vee, Mark Cuban, and Arianna Huffington, and build a network that has carried me through some of the hardest seasons of my career. Here's what you'll take away: Why "can I pick your brain?" is broken and what it signals to the person on the ot