Your network is 100 times more important than your expertise
👉 Why working in metasystems fits the current zeitgeist
For our book ‘Metasystems, how trust can change the world’, we interviewed 15 different people from very different backgrounds. We had the pleasure to speak to Jurgen Ingels, Founder of Clear2Pay.
We were pleased to speak to Jurgen Ingels, one of the leading voices in the startup and scale up ecosystem in Europe. Jurgen is the founder of Clear2Pay, a leading payments technology company. Under his leadership, he grew the company to one of the world leaders in payment software with more than 1,200 employees in 14 countries and successfully sold the business to FIS for $400 million in October 2014. Today Jurgen is still an active entrepreneur, investor, and board member.
We’re moving from vertical to horizontal integration
“In the past, companies were trying to integrate vertically, they wanted to control the full value chain. Now smaller companies focus on what they’re good at and then they find other companies to partner with, in a horizontal way, often through technology and open API’s (Application Programming Interface). I believe those networked companies are the way forward, not a market of big conglomerates who consolidate but many different ecosystems of (smaller) organizations who work together in an agile & independent way. It’s part of the current ‘zeitgeist’.”
Sharing has become the norm for young people to create value
The way you create value as a person or leader in an organization is totally different than before. It’s much more about the connections you make than about the knowledge you have. In the past, you were important for a company if you had relevant information people were looking for. The more people had to come to you, the more important you were. Younger people have a different mindset today, they feel important by sharing information instead of keeping things to themselves. Knowledge has become a commodity, sharing became the asset. The mindset of sharing will become a more and more universal principle to create value. Even large business deals will happen more and more in open-book format where the numbers will be on the table in a transparent way. Startups already have that ‘sharing as default’ mindset, now it’s up to the corporates.
“Your network is 100 times more important than your expertise.’’
Who you know is much more important than what you know today, because the “what you know” is findable online. The relative power of knowledge has dropped since the rise of the Internet, as a consequence your network is 100 times more important than the knowledge you have. It’s the network that allows you to move forward when you’re facing a challenge, so you need to put effort into building and maintaining your network.
“The network is always right.”
Your network is also the perfect way to get feedback about ideas, people or companies you want to work with, etc. The network provides the foundation for the trust you need to engage in another relationship. Make sure to invest time in it; think when and where you can show attention. It can be as simple as sending a text message for a birthday.
We need to get out of our comfort zone to build trust
We will see an increase in activities where business leaders work together out of their comfort zone. Last year I went biking with a group of 20 CEOs and it’s during those moments that you get to know each other very well. You see the strengths and weaknesses of one another and during those long rides, you have different kinds of conversations than those in a meeting room.
JURGEN’S TIPS:
- Knowledge has become a commodity, sharing became the asset.
- Invest time in building and maintaining your network, it’s times 100 more important than “what” you know.
- Business leaders need to engage in activities together that are out of their comfort zone.
You can buy the book via http://www.metasystemsbook.com
