How I Invest with David Weisburd
E138: Do Relationships Drive Financial Returns? w/Jeremy Heer
Fri, 14 Feb 2025
In this episode of How I Invest, I speak with Jeremy Heer, Managing Director at the University of Illinois Foundation, about the art of networking, the power of super connectors, and the evolving landscape of institutional investing. Jeremy shares his insights on building relationships that drive investment success, the importance of strategic networking, and how attending conferences with intent can create game-changing opportunities. He also dives into the future of nuclear energy, the role of generalist investors in discovering new asset classes, and the long-term value of investment engagement.
Chapter 1: What defines a super connector?
What makes a super connector a super connector?
A large network of interesting people, broad knowledge of who's who across a given industry, a given vertical, a given subject matter, and really just the ability to make connections and bring people together and the willingness to do that.
Super connectors are these unique unicorns that are connected to thousands, if not tens of thousands of individuals. What special skills do they have and what view of the world do they have?
Chapter 2: How do super connectors maintain relationships?
They're able to maintain relationships across a large number of people and to connect with them on some level. They usually have very good recall of names, faces, places. The sort of things, if you're talking to someone and you talk to them a year later, I remember a year ago we talked about X, how did that come out?
You have a very unique role and one of your responsibilities is to be one contact point away from anybody in the world. Tell me about that.
Chapter 3: What is the role of networking in investment success?
All investment offices kind of have this stream of inbound activity. You're getting calls, emails, and all that all the time. And we do have a bunch of that too. But we think in order to really set up ourselves up for kind of top decile returns, we need to be able to source and reference all kinds of things across the entire universe of investing.
So that could be other, it could be managers, it could be other LPs, it could be brokers, service providers, bankers, Founders, CEOs, academics, government officials, whatever it takes, right? The whole idea is to be able to talk to experts, talk to people, and gain information across places that we might otherwise be able to get it.
And there's also a University of Illinois aspect to the engagement part. There are something like 900,000 active Illinois alumni out there across the system. And we like to engage that ecosystem.
A lot of your role involves building relationships with super connectors. What are super connectors?
I love the term. I don't know if I coined that term, but I do use it when I talk about this. And I think it's really important to know those types of people. I think a super connector is they're actually people that kind of thrive on making connections. They tend to have very large networks and very broad networks, and they are willing to make and take introductions.
And I think that having a few of those people in your network, if your job is to be a networker and to be externally focused, is absolutely essential. There are a few folks that I consider to be super connectors. I've kind of modeled the term after a few of them. And they tend to have very large networks. And you'll often hear them described as everybody knows this person.
Everybody knows that person. I think those people are essential.
What makes a super connector a super connector?
A large network of interesting people. broad knowledge of who's who across a given industry, a given vertical, a given subject matter, and really just the ability to make connections and bring people together and the willingness to do that.
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Chapter 4: Why are conferences important for investors?
it seems that some of these drives come deeply rooted in somebody's DNA. For example, I found a way to leverage that. I enjoy telling people's stories. I enjoy making people shine in front of an audience. I found a way to strategically leverage that versus fighting it.
I couldn't agree more. I feel exactly the same way. I love to help other people get things done. I love to help other people shine. And of course, I don't mind you know, being out on the stage with them sometimes too, right? And I think that's part of it. You have to be willing to put yourself out there in order to be able to do this.
Part of really being able to connect with people is to be memorable in some way sometimes, right? And I think that's an important part.
Outside of having a neck tattoo or walking around in a biker jacket, how does one go about being memorable to others?
Part of it is being willing to put yourself out there a little bit. You mentioned storytelling. I think storytelling is a great way to connect with people. You know, I love to get in a room with people and tell them a story about how, you know, I met Daryl Hall at an annual meeting once or about how, you know, my first job was in a Wall Street kind of place or. Right.
You know, if you can bring a story to life, people are going to remember you for that. I think that's really important. Another way, of course, is to have outside interests and talk about those, you know, or an interesting professional story. Being able to bring a story to life and being able to kind of pique people's interest, I think, is important.
It's this paradoxical mix of sharing and being authentic about your personal life while also being highly relevant and useful in a business context.
Very hard to do. I agree. But I think it's the people who are the best at this can do that and they can form that connection with people on both levels.
Part of your role at University of Illinois Foundation, you attend more conferences really than anyone I've ever met. Tell me about what conferences you go to and what do you hope to get from these conferences?
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Chapter 5: How to prepare for and network at conferences effectively?
oftentimes that's a wonderful way to make connections across the industry. Small conferences are really better, are more about getting to know people better. And there you can really go in deeper and talk to people more. Sometimes that's what you're looking for. Oftentimes that'll be around a theme around an industry, um,
Sometimes, like, I go to trade shows, and trade shows tend to be really more about learning, and that's about, you know, so there'll be much more about the content there, but I'll also be trying to make those sorts of random connections.
Oftentimes, I'll see the attendee list ahead of time, and so I'll have done my homework, but sometimes there's a random piece to it that you just can't, you know, that you need to have. Any of the mid-sized conferences will split the difference between those. That's kind of how I think of the conference ecosystem broadly.
I think a lot of people focus a lot of time on how they conduct meetings, how they present PowerPoints, but no one really talks about best practices when it comes to networking at a conference. How do you go about networking at a conference?
Usually I've done homework. I've seen an attendee list or at least a list of firms attending. So I kind of have an idea of who's going to be there. I think that's really, really important. I don't think people prepare enough for conferences, broadly speaking. I think you really have to have an idea of who's going to be there, what you're trying to accomplish. Oftentimes,
connected with some of the people that are there and so you'll try to meet up with them and catch up with them and ask them who they're talking to that's interesting there. Usually there will be maybe one or two people that I don't know and that I know that I want to get in contact with because there might be some interest there and so I'll try to find them however I can.
Most conferences will have at a minimum some sort of networking breaks or some sort of they might have a messaging app and I'll try to reach out ahead of time with them Again, preparation is really key for all this stuff.
For someone who's looking to go to more conferences or gain more value from conferences, what are some best practices for maximizing the value from conferences?
Best practices. Number one is obviously do your homework. I've said it a couple of times already. You must prepare for a conference if you're going to optimize your time there. I always tell people to try to leave room for that sort of random stochastic component. And I'll reiterate that now. I think that
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