700 LinkedIn connections were useless when the right contact was hidden
A was needed to secure a meeting with someone at a financial technology company, but finding the right person among 700 connections proved difficult. Many names looked familiar, yet the reason for knowing them was unclear, and checking every would have taken too long.
A direct message was sent to a stranger instead, but it produced no result. To solve this problem, a tool was built that ranks connections according to the user's goal rather than showing a general list of names.
When tested on the builder's own , it found three forgotten contacts who closely matched the need. However, there is not yet enough evidence to know whether the tool works reliably or merely looks promising to its .
Key points
- It was difficult to find a useful introduction among 700 connections.
- Checking every connection's would have required too much time.
- A cold message to a stranger did not lead to a meeting.
- The new tool ranks connections based on the user's immediate goal.
- One test found three suitable forgotten contacts, but broader results are not available.