The Grout Network Model
Invest in people of potential, not only people of power, and let the small connections hold the network together
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 78%
The model borrows a builder's image: a floor of large marble slabs only holds because grout fills the gaps between them. In a network, the marble is your industry peers, connections and experiences — the visible, powerful pieces — and the grout is the smaller, earlier-stage people who create the links between them. The practice is to deliberately spend time on people of potential rather than reserving attention for people of power, and to make connections across your networks even where there is no vested interest for you. Potential is assessed by what someone can create — synergies, media, exposure, reach — rather than by what they currently own. Over time these introductions aggregate into influence, because the person who holds a network together sits at the centre of it. The reciprocal skill is asking clearly for the specific introductions you want.
Origin
Extracted from The Jasmine Star Show, built from Star's 2024 experience with investor Kim Perel, who made same-day introductions to two founders on the basis of Star's potential rather than her scale.
Core principles
- 01Big relationships are held together by small ones, like marble by grout
- 02Potential is a legitimate asset class in a network
- 03Connections made without a vested interest compound the fastest
- 04Aggregating potential is how power gets built, not just spent
- 05Asking for a specific introduction is a skill, not an imposition
How to run it
- 1
Map your marble
Write out the established, powerful relationships that make up the visible surface of your network.
- 2
Find the grout
Identify earlier-stage people who touch several parts of your world and could bind those slabs together.
Pro tip Creators, organisers and media-makers are disproportionately good grout.
- 3
Judge on creation, not size
Assess a person of potential by what they can create — synergies, media, exposure — rather than by revenue or exits.
Watch out Screening for current status is exactly the filter this model exists to remove.
- 4
Connect without a vested interest
Make introductions where you gain nothing directly, on a regular cadence.
Pro tip Keep a running weekly list so this survives busy months.
- 5
Ask specifically when you need help
When you want an introduction, name the exact people and the exact reason. Vague asks are hard to act on and easy to defer.
Pro tip A specific ask is often answered the same day; a broad one rarely is.
Watch out Discomfort about asking is common and is not evidence the ask is unwelcome.
- 6
Let it aggregate
Keep making connections and let the accumulated potential turn into influence over years rather than months.
In the wild
After meeting investor Kim Perel in 2024, Star flew to Miami to record a podcast with her and then asked — nervously, as a first-born daughter of an immigrant family who never asks for help — for introductions to specific women in Perel's network. Perel made the introductions immediately, and Star interviewed Michelle Grant of Gorgie and Nancy Twine while still in Miami. Perel had no vested interest in Star's scale; she backed the potential to create media, exposure and connection.
→ Two additional founder interviews recorded in a single trip, and a relationship built on potential rather than parity of status.
Common mistakes
Only networking upward
Spending exclusively on people of power leaves your network as unbonded slabs with nothing holding them together.
Requiring a return on every introduction
The compounding described here depends on connections made with no vested interest, which is precisely what a returns filter blocks.
Asking for help too vaguely
A general request to be introduced around gives the other person work to do; a named list of people and reasons can be actioned in minutes.
Is it for you?
Best for
Operators building a long-horizon network who want relationships that compound rather than transact.
Not ideal for
Anyone who needs an immediate, attributable return from every relationship they invest in.
From the transcript
“The most successful women know that the more connections they can make, even if they don't have a vested interest, the more success they foster…”
“She's a builder that saw that I had the grit to be the grout in her marble tile connections”
“They are aggregators of potential, and they use those aggregators of potential to create power”
From the episode
The Top 5 Things Successful Women Do Differently