Today’s guest leads executive networking and executive talent initiatives at Insight Venture Partners. Insight is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $18 billion and invested in over 300 companies worldwide.

Prior to joining Insight, she was a Principal at True Search, an international executive search firm, where she led and drove executive searches across scaling venture and private-equity backed technology companies.

I was eager to interview her after reading her blog post “Networking is a Craft, Not a Chore” written in response to a New York Times article by Adam Grant in which he argues that networking is overrated. I’ll include a link to both articles in the show notes.

Please join me in welcoming Helen Hua.

In this episode we discuss:

• her view on leadership: “Leadership is doing something scary that makes you feel brave. You can be a leader in a million different ways.”
• how she was naturally a leader because of her ability to find gaps and step up to fill them.
• her passion for helping entrepreneurs who are working to make their dreams a reality.
• how she aims to be thoughtful around networking relationships to ensure she is offering value to the people she engages with.
• her method for finding and nurturing mentoring relationships.
• her passion for the work she does at Insight and working with many amazing people.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OntheSchmooze.com – episode 90