When I was 23, I spent a ridiculous amount of time going to founder events around San Francisco because I was convinced I needed a cofounder. Not just any cofounder either. I wanted someone technical, someone who could think through the product with me, and ideally someone good at marketing. Basically, I was looking for three different people in one person. It didn't work. I met a lot of founders at events, coffee meetups, demo days and random conversations after talks, but I never found the person I was looking for. At some point, I stopped going to these events with the mindset of “maybe I'll find my cofounder tonight.” I just started meeting people. I'd ask what they were building, what they were struggling with, what they were working on. Sometimes we'd exchange numbers and never speak again. Sometimes we'd grab coffee. A few of them became friends. And then something funny happened. Some of the founders I originally thought might become my cofounders eventually became my customers instead. That wasn't even my plan. I had started going to these rooms because I wanted someone to help me build a company. I ended up building three apps and eventually reached around $10K MRR with just 11 paying customers. And those 11 customers weren't random people I found through some complicated sales funnel. They were founders I'd met along the way. Looking back, I think I was approaching networking completely wrong at the beginning. I was walking into rooms thinking: “Who here can help me?” Later, I started walking in thinking: “Who can I learn from, and who can I get to know?” That small change made a huge difference. When you're constantly looking for what someone can do for you, people can feel it. But when you actually take an interest in people, conversations become much easier. You learn what they're building, what problems they have and where you might be able to help each other. And sometimes, six months later, that person is the customer you never expected to have. So these days I try not to enter a room with a selling mindset. You never really know where a relationship is going to lead. The person you think should be your cofounder might end up being your first customer instead.