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Naval Ravikant: The best way to network is through work

September 24, 2025

“I don’t believe in networking for networking’s sake where you’re just mingling, shaking hands, wearing a name tag, and offering to meet up with people,” Naval begins. “What you’re really looking for is like-minded people who you deeply respect.”

He continues:

“Earned respect is what you’re looking for. You’re looking to earn other people’s respect, and you’re looking for people who earn your respect. And they will earn your respect through their talent, curiosity, good nature, low ego, high drive, and vision.”

Naval argues your networking should just be targeted at finding those people you connect with, and he believes the best way to do this is through work. He gives the audience of college students the following advice:

“The best way to match is through work. It’s not through shaking hands or talking. It’s through working. That’s where hackathons are pretty good. That’s where small projects are pretty good. Any group project you’re in — whether it’s in school or a company — you’ll usually find that there’s one person in the group that’s carrying all the load… Hopefully you’re that person. But if you’re not — if you’re #2 or #3 — be honest with yourself. Find the person who is #1, who is carrying the load, and make yourself useful to them. Trust me it will pay off. It just takes a long time.”