Introductions
How an introduction from here works.
A fair amount of what I get asked about belongs to somebody else: a reseller with the right vendor relationship, an integrator who owns that floor, a test house, an auditor. When that is the honest answer I say so and make the introduction. There is no fee attached in either direction, which is the only reason it is worth anything.
Why no fee
An introducer who takes a cut is pointing somewhere else.
There is no commission, no finder's fee and no margin on the way through, in either direction. Somebody who takes a cut has a reason to route work toward whoever pays best. I would rather route it toward whoever is actually right and keep the relationship, because the relationship is the part that lasts.
It also means the only thing an introduction from me carries is my judgment about the fit. That is worth protecting, so I keep the network small enough to vouch for every firm in it personally, and I do not forward anything to see what sticks. A referral costs the person receiving it time whether or not it turns into work.
When I do make one, it arrives having already been through a conversation: what they are building, the constraint that makes it hard, the decision they are stuck on, and why that particular firm was the right call. Not a name and a phone number.
- Fee
- None, in either direction, ever
- What arrives
- A real problem statement, already unpicked
- What does not
- Unqualified lead lists. They waste everyone's afternoon
- How often
- Rarely, and only when it genuinely fits
- Who is in it
- Firms and engineers I have worked with, named before anyone commits
The kinds of firm
Narrow and excellent, across the whole span.
The same reach described on the network page, from a gallium nitride process through to a reseller's professional services team.
- VARs and resellersVendor relationships, licensing, procurement
- Systems integratorsControls, automation, plant floor
- Hardware and ODMBoard design, manufacturing, certification
- Test and laboratoryEMC, RF, semiconductor, environmental
- Audit and assuranceAttestation, penetration testing, assessors
- Specialist engineeringWater, power, mechanical, RF, embedded
- Delivery teamsUS-based first; nearshore and offshore where there is a reason
If you are one of these and we have worked together, you already know how to reach me. I am not recruiting a panel.