Relationship Capital

When I started my tech education program, www.taglabs.org, our goal was simple: teach young adults to code through building video games, websites, and emerging tech experiences like AI.

Our first major school contract didn’t come from a pitch deck or a sales funnel.

It came from a conversation.

A friend mentioned he had a child at one of the schools we wanted to work with and made a soft introduction to the principal. That single conversation led to an after-school program.

- We showed up.

- We delivered.

- We built trust.

That relationship eventually evolved into helping the school build a four-year computer science program.

We’ve now been there for over eight years. 

When we launched our second school, it came the same way—through a referral. The principal from our first school believed in our work enough to introduce us to another.

Since then, we’ve replicated this model across multiple schools.

Every successful program had one thing in common: It started with a relationship that was nurtured.

The same lesson applies to my consulting work with www.kesconsulting.tech.

I’d estimate 90% of my clients have come through:

Warm introductions

Referrals

Past clients who trusted us enough to recommend us

Very few came from cold outreach.

What I’ve learned:

- Relationships outperform marketing

- Trust compounds faster than visibility

- Doing great work turns clients into advocates

- Long-term success is built one introduction at a time

You can’t shortcut relationship capital.

You earn it by:

- Showing up consistently

- Delivering when it matters

- Treating people like partners, not transactions

Talent opens doors.

 Relationships keep them open.

Question:

 What’s the most important relationship that’s shaped your career or business?

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