⏱️Quick Win: The Support Network Audit - Always know who to call for what (network audit)
Mapping your founder community to know exactly who to call for what
Hey there,
Being a founder can feel incredibly lonely.
You’re making decisions that could make or break your business, navigating challenges you’ve never faced before, and constantly wondering if you’re doing it right.
But here’s what I learned: you don’t have to figure it all out alone. You just need to know who to call for what.
The problem is, most founders have a network but don’t have a system. You know people who could help, but when you’re stressed and need advice quickly, you can’t remember who to reach out to or end up texting the wrong person for the wrong problem. Or, worst case scenario, you’re overwhelmed and don’t even want to pick up the phone to call anyone.
I used to do this too. I’d have a marketing question and ping a friend who’s great at fundraising. Or I’d need beauty industry insight and reach out to someone in tech. I was wasting my network’s time and mine.
So I created a simple Support Network Audit — a system to map my founder community so I always know exactly who to call for what.
Here’s how it works.
The Problem I Was Solving
Before this audit, my network was reactive, not strategic. I’d reach out to whoever came to mind first or whoever I’d spoken to recently, not necessarily the person best equipped to help.
I also wasn’t thinking about relationship maintenance. Some connections were getting neglected while others were being over-tapped.
When I finally sat down to map my network, I discovered a huge gap: I had a strong network in tech and start-ups (thanks to my marketing background and years at start-ups) but few people in the beauty industry.
This was a problem for a beauty tech founder.
The Support Network Audit Framework
Here’s how I map and maintain my founder support network:
Step 1: Categorise Your Network by Relationship Type
I group my contacts into four buckets based on how well I know them:
Close friends: People I can call anytime, who know me deeply
Acquaintances: People I’ve met a few times, have rapport with
Friend of a friend: Second-degree connections I could warm intro to
New connections: People I just met or haven’t built a relationship with yet
This helps me understand how much I can ask of each person and how I should approach them.
Step 2: Map by What They Can Help With
Then I categorize people by expertise and what I’d call them for:
Founders ahead of me: Other founders who are 1-2 stages ahead that I’m learning from. I call them for strategic advice, fundraising guidance, scaling challenges.
Operators by function: People who lead specific functions (marketing, sales, customer success, product, operations). I lean on them when I have department-specific questions.
Industry connections: Hair and beauty professionals, stylists, brand owners. I call on them for opinions on what’s happening in the industry and to see what I can do to support them.
Investors: People I’m maintaining relationships with until we’re ready to raise again. Regular check-ins to keep them warm.
Step 3: Use a Tool to Track Relationships
I use a tool called Dex to manage my main relationships. This helps me decide how often I need to reach out to these contacts:
Weekly: Close collaborators, active advisors
Monthly: Warm connections I want to stay top-of-mind with
Quarterly: Industry contacts and broader network
Annually: Acquaintances I want to maintain a loose relationship with
Dex keeps track of all my interactions across various platforms (LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Instagram, email) so I can see at a glance when I last connected with someone and what we talked about.
Step 4: Identify Your Gaps
Once I mapped everything out, the gaps were obvious. I had tons of tech and start-up connections but barely any beauty industry depth. So I started actively building relationships with hairstylists, salon owners, and beauty brand founders.
This audit made me realise where I was strong and where I needed to invest more time.
Real Examples of When This Saved Me Time
Marketing question: Instead of randomly pinging friends, I know exactly who to call — the three marketing operators in my network who’ve scaled DTC brands.
Fundraising advice: I have a shortlist of founders who’ve raised pre-seed and seed rounds. When I hit a roadblock, I know who’s been through it.
Industry validation: When I’m testing a new feature, I reach out to my beauty industry connections who can tell me if it actually solves a real problem.
This system saves me hours of back-and-forth with the wrong people and ensures I’m getting the right advice at the right time.
How to Maintain Your Network
Here’s what I do to keep relationships warm without it feeling transactional:
Give before you ask: I share opportunities, make intros, send relevant articles. When I do need help, people are happy to support.
Schedule regular check-ins: Dex sends me reminders when it’s been too long since I reached out to someone. A quick “Hey, how’s everything going?” message goes a long way.
Be specific when asking for help: Instead of “Can I pick your brain?”, I say “I’m deciding between two customer acquisition strategies — would you have 15 minutes to walk me through how you’d think about this?”
Follow up and close the loop: When someone helps me, I always follow up to let them know what I decided and how it went. People love seeing the impact of their advice.
Your Quick Start
This week:
Open a spreadsheet or Notion doc
List everyone in your founder/professional network
Categorize them by relationship type and expertise
Identify your gaps — where do you need more connections?
Your timeline:
Week 1: Complete your network map
Week 2: Set up Dex (or a similar personal CRM) and add your key contacts
Week 3: Reach out to 3-5 people you haven’t spoken to in a while (do this daily)
Week 4: Start actively filling your network gaps
Pro tip: Your network should be diverse. If everyone you know is in the same industry or stage as you, you’re missing perspectives. Actively seek out people who are different from you.
The Real ROI
This audit doesn’t just save time — it makes you a better founder. You make smarter decisions because you’re getting input from the right people. You move faster because you’re not spinning your wheels trying to figure out who to ask.
And honestly? It makes the founder journey way less lonely. When you know exactly who to call for what, you realize you’re not in this alone.
Try the audit this week and let me know what gaps you discover!
Ciao for now,
— Jade
P.S. For those who are interested in using Dex, here’s a referral link.