How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits

Introduction

FROM FRANKLIN, IDAHO, TO PARK CITY, UTAH

Skill is fine, and genius is splendid, but the right contacts are more valuable than either.

—SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Franklin, Idaho, my mother’s hometown, had a population of 300—mostly white, mostly Mormon—and for 14 years, it was my home. My dad had been in the military, but when I was 10 he retired, and we moved to Franklin. After having lived in Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, Franklin was a shock, especially when my dad marched me to the only church in town, the local LDS church. Even then I wanted to save the world, so he thought I’d grow up to be a hippie, and he figured the Mormons were ...