I Networked on Linkedin Like a Maniac for 60 Days. Here’s What Happened.

Pictured Above: An accurate depiction of my self-image (a high-rolling white man) after I got my first connection request accepted.

Introduction

Between March 4th and May 4th, I sent out just over 400 connection requests on Linkedin. Why did I go sicko mode in a suit and tie? Well, because I could, for starters. How I managed to do that in the middle of exam season and getting my side hustle- https://antaresathletics.com/ – set up is beyond me. The Adderall, probably.

As the great poet-philosopher and business assets guardian Mike Ehrmantraut once told struggling chemistry teacher and family man, Walter White: “No half measures.” I took that personally. I yeeted myself headfirst into this new, half-baked undertaking. With all the grace of a fresh-born gazelle, I slammed my way headfirst through multiple glass panes, quite unsure of what I was doing or where I was going but ultimately, extremely confident that I’d end up getting something out of it.

Once I felt I had the appropriate amount of concussions, I then sat down and sent out connection requests on Linkedin.

You don’t have to understand my creative process, baby. You only have to appreciate it.

In those 60 days, I made 91 connections, and I learned a lot. Not just about strategy- but about people, psychology, opportunity, and community. About what it means to be seen- like, actually, authentically seen. I got to go far and away over the weird fragility of my digital existence and learned how asking changed my life. I learned how strong the anti-algorithm sentiment was getting. I got to see exactly what was out there.

Over these 60 days, I had the privilege of connecting with:

• UHNW Advisors
• CEOs
• VPs of Strategy
• Business coaches with 30+ years of experience
• International TEDx speakers
• Best-selling authors
• Strategy directors and high-level consultants
• A yacht designer in Italy

All while I kept my butt firmly situated in Toronto, grinding out messages between work and workouts.

Hello! I’m Nosh Siddique, and while I understand social norms, I don’t respect them. I shamelessly launched myself into 400 stranger’s inboxes with a “wyd rn? 👀” and it worked out. In this article, I’ll tell you all about:

• Why realness matters more than performative pitching
• Why networking should be a garden, not a game
• How not asking for things got me them
• Why honest effort is rare, and why that’s what makes it respected
• How people are starving for real content
• The ridiculously, endearingly human results of going all-in on humanity
• Why the power of the ask stays winning, and what it taught me about the quiet kindness of humanity

Let’s get started.

First Impressions Still Matter

People smell a pitch from a mile away, and I don’t blame them. It was a good thing I never did that- I wanted to actually talk to people and network for the purpose of building my network early, not to get on my knees and screech pitifully about a job. I do enough knee-based screeching in the first place, anyways.

The two best-performing messages I used were this:
“Hey [Name], I run a martial arts gear brand focused on BJJ and Taekwondo. Always love connecting with gym leaders and athletes who are passionate about martial arts.”
“Hi [Name,] I’m Nosh- a marketing student who would love to connect and learn more about you & your work. Would you be open to a quick chat? Even if just for networking, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!”

That’s it. No pitch. No funnel. Just hey’s and how you doing’s and tell me about you’s. Believe it or not, if you actually like talking to people, other people pick up on it.

Hilarious how that works, no? It’s almost like most people are, in fact, smart enough to tell when someone goes “Hello! Please tell me more about you” and means it, versus when someone gallavants in with their Youtube Chessmaster degree and goes “Allow me to tell you why it is in your best interest to give me what I want.”

It’s Not a Game- It’s a Garden

Plant your seeds early and watch them grow! You’re welcome to stare at them all you like. It’s your garden, man.

I deplore the idea of lubricating myself with the sort of cloying charm perpetuated by mindless hordes of entrepreneurs who think that people are worth gaming, that the right combination of words and gesticulations will get them to do just about anything you want. When I started doing this, I told myself I would do no such thing. I’m not going in with an ask- I’m not going in with a battle strategy designed to get something out of people. Instead, all I would do is ask at the end of each conversation if they would mind terribly if they could connect me to someone else in their network who’s open to a conversation.

That’s it! No jedi mind tricks, no pressure, no stepfordian “I am painfully suffering through the obligated 30 minutes of your time before I ask you what I really want” grin plastered on my face.

Not everyone responds right away. But the seeds I planted in March bloomed in April, and the ones I planted in April are (hopefully) going to flower later this month. In my experience, a “talk to me later” often did become a “thanks for reaching out again” more often than not!

People aren’t tools. People are people. When you approach them as such, and are respectful of them and their time- you already set yourself apart from the hordes of Jordan Belfort cosplayers. When you show that you mean business, people reciprocate. Crazy, right?

You have to Go Out to Get Something

A lot of my (very surprising) success wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the fact that I put on my prettiest smile, twirled my nicest bowtie, and stepped outside myself to go get something.

And it was effort! It was. I was in the middle of exam week. Exam week.
I was juggling getting Antares Athletics up and moving.
I was balancing my own social life and health (AN: Coffee and Crossfit are good in theory, horrible in execution. I don’t want to talk about it).
And while I was doing all this work on Linkedin, I was writing articles on hilariously intellectual-sounding topics like:

• What the hell Semiotic Collapse means, or why
• Mimetic Desire in marketing matters, or why sometimes
• Few word do trick and other times an extensively extravagant and evocative interplay of erudition excels in effectiveness.

But guess what? People see that. People appreciate that.

When I was speaking to that NY best-selling author in particular (yes, I’m absolutely flexing that), he pointed out how rare it was for people to do that sort of thing anymore. “When people come and ask me for content marketing,” he said. “I tell them to come back once they write something. 90% of people don’t. 10% do- and I tell them to come back once they write ten more things. 9% don’t.”

Effort matters. People like to see you sweat. So go out there and sweat, buddy. It’s sexy.

(AN: You’re sexy.😘)

People Are Starving for Real Content

A surprisingly common refrain I heard from execs, coaches, strategists and consultants alike was how sick and tired they were of the noise.

Tired of the 15-second clips. Tired of content made purely for performance, not substance. Tired of doomscrolling through nonsense that pretends to be valuable.

Tired of the algo-tailored content. Tired of the same ish on different days. Tired of the LCD-oriented schlock that every Tom, Dick and Harry was tossing out.

Tired of the f*cking algorithm approved SLUDGE.

People are over the age of easy entertainment and low-value info. They want more. They- dare I say- need more.

There’s a hunger for depth that I’m starting to see grow recklessly, if quietly, amongst those who are sick and tired of the being spoonfed the slop churned out by every spout on the internet labeling itself a content creator. There’s a desire for the real- for writing, video, and conversation that isn’t optimized to death by the algorithm.

We might be at a tipping point, folks. And the people who learn to create actual value- not just viral content- are going to own the next decade of influence.

People are getting over the 19 year old fish-eyed influencer acting like they’re a business deity as they deliver their high-level insights of…posting consistently and using SEO. People are tired of the smoke and mirrors around the growth hacker who hasn’t moved out of making Canva carousels since 2017. People are tired of fake weight.

They want more.
They demand more.
They need more. (AN: Yeah, I’m aware of how I sound, just shut up and lean in.)

I’m calling it now. The next wave isn’t going to belong to the algofluencers. It’ll belong to the nonconformists, the black sheeps, the movers and shakers with clarity and depth and something real to say.

It’s going to the anti-hustlers. The overthinkers. The ones who go beyond two-layer thinking and deliver actual, unique insight. The ones who know that 30 minutes of honesty will mean more to the right people than 30 seconds of hot takes ever will.

If I’m wrong, feel free to feed me to the robots. Legs first. I deserve it.

I Tasted the Fruit of my Labors

What happened on Linkedin didn’t just stay on Linkedin, baby. This isn’t Vegas.

I got invited to Toastmasters.
I grabbed coffee with someone I met through a cold message.
I got to chirp back and forth with a senior marketing executive about our deadlifts.
I had people say, “If you’re looking for something, call me.”
And I had multiple people- multiple- tell me they read everything I post.
Wow.

Honestly? That part shook me more than I thought it would. Not because of the bragging rights or anything (I already know I’m God’s gift to the world, you’re very welcome), but because it reminded me of something we often forget when we’re in the thick of it- this stuff matters.

Your work, your ideas, what you’re doing- they don’t just vanish into the void. They’re out there.

And when they are, someone else who’s out there will see it, and it gives them a reason to try.
Someone else who’s out there will like it, and tell you as much.
Another person will like it so much they’ll ask you to go grab a coffee.
Another will bequeath you all their wealth (this hasn’t happened yet, but I’m manifesting it with desperate abandon).

That’s the fruit. What you build gets seen by the world you’re making it for. And let me tell you, is it validating.

And honestly…why shouldn’t it be? We’re all here to make a change for something greater than ourselves, right?

So wouldn’t even changing the way one person thinks be enough?

Believe in the Power of the Ask – Believe in the Fundamental Kindness of Humanity

Every connection started with one thing: I asked.

I didn’t know these people. They didn’t know me! But I reached out, and they responded. Every time I sat down with somebody, I thanked them for sitting down with me- I’m a total stranger, they didn’t have to do that! But they did. Why? Because I asked.

And the more I asked, the more people I got to talk to.

And not only that, but they reacted warmly. They engaged with me meaningfully. They sat down with me, they took the time out of their busy schedules to talk to me. All because I asked. Because I didn’t talk myself out of messaging the hightower CEO, or the genius economics professor, or the TEDx savant.

Between all of this, I couldn’t help but think about how this is what humans are all about.

Humans are….fundamentally social creatures. It’s in our blood. It’s hardwired into our DNA. Back when we were pimp-chimping it out in the jungles and the woods, it was in our best interest to work together to survive. That same mechanism exists today- it just fires differently. It fires in ways that are more focused on social reasons, not survival ones. Humans are animals that thrive on social connections, on engagement, on meaningful connection.

In an era of so much negativity and cynicism- of general distrust, and fear, and the breaking down of our social contracts- it’s heartwarming to recognize that there’s people out there who still know what the core of the human soul is. That this is what humanity is about.

We are all fundamentally hardwired to help each other. That’s something I truly, genuinely experienced, and I’m all the more humbled for it.

And no- that last part isn’t sarcasm.

Think the next decade belongs to those who care, to the ones who’ll watch the AI gods line them up against the wall and go “yoooo that’s wild fam mans be crashing out frfr”? Hit me up on Linkedin and let me know if you wanna share that last cigarette when we get there.