I keep seeing advice online about “building relationships” and “staying connected” and honestly, it all sounds vague as hell when you’re actually trying to get meetings with people who manage corporate strategy at places like Google or Stripe or whoever.
The thing that’s been bugging me is that I’m not already embedded in the tech world. I’ve got consulting credentials, which apparently counts for something, but it’s not like I’ve got a built-in network of tech strategy people. So I’m trying to figure out what actual move gets you from “cold contact” to “credible enough for a real conversation.”
I’ve tried the standard stuff—hitting up alumni, going to industry events, sliding into LinkedIn DMs—and some of it works (ish) and some of it just feels like shouting into the void. What I’m really curious about is what actually breaks through the noise when someone’s evaluating whether to take a 30-minute call with a consultant trying to transition into their world.
Is it having a genuine insight about their business? Is it just persistence? Is it knowing someone who knows someone? Or is there some playbook that people who’ve actually successfully landed these roles follow that’s different from what everyone talks about on the internet?
I’m genuinely trying to do this the right way and not just spray and pray, but I’m also aware that I might be massively overthinking it.
honestly half of it is just luck and timing, but the half that isn’t luck is having something real to say. emails that are like “hey i admire your strategy” get instantly deleted. emails that say “i noticed you’re doing X and here’s why that’s probably creating Y problem for you based on what i saw at similar companies” actually get read. specificity > flattery.
also, stop thinking about getting the role immediately. think about getting useful informational interviews first. ask people what’s actually broken in their function or what they’re really hiring for that’s not in the jd. if you can demonstrate you understand their actual problem after 2-3 conversations, then you become relevant. before that, you’re just another consultant trying to pivot.
wait so ur saying like actually research the company and find a real problem instead of just being nice? that makes so much sense but i feel like i wasnt doing that at all lol. ty for the reality check
do u think like having a specific project or case study that shows u can think like them helps? or is that overkill when ur just asking for an info call?? asking bc i have one thing im pretty proud of
The distinction between effective and ineffective networking here hinges on what I’d call ‘demonstrated relevance.’ When you reach out to someone in corporate strategy, you’re competing against their existing network and dozens of other consultants doing the same thing. The breakthrough is showing that you’ve invested genuine effort in understanding their specific business context, not just their industry sector. That means having a substantive observation about their actual challenges, backed by pattern recognition from relevant client work. The ask should frame it as mutual intelligence gathering—not you asking for advice on how to get in, but rather you offering context they might find valuable while learning how their function actually operates. That positions you as a peer with information, not a job seeker.
One important addition: timing matters enormously. If a company is actively hiring for strategy roles, you have a six-week window where recruiting inbound is much more receptive. If they’re not actively hiring, you’re building relationship capital for future openings. Knowing which state a company is in changes your entire strategy. Use Blind, LinkedIn job board history, and industry networks to track this. Don’t just reach out uniformly; align your outreach cadence to actual hiring cycles.
You’re already thinking about this way more strategically than most people! That awareness itself is going to help you stand out. Keep iterating and you’ll find your voice!
The fact that you’re asking how to do it right and not just spray-and-praying is honestly what separates people who break in from people who get stuck. You’ve got this!
I actually landed my interviews by finding strategy leaders at three companies I was really interested in and literally just reading their recent earnings call transcripts or product announcements, then writing them a note about what I thought they might be worried about based on those signals. I got three responses out of my first five attempts, and honestly I think it worked because I sounded like someone who actually understood their world, not just hopeful. The funny thing is, one of those people became my current boss. He told me later that specificity was literally the only thing that made him respond.
I also had a friend who spent like 10 weeks just going to every tech policy roundtable and strategy conference he could find near him, not explicitly networking but just being in rooms with these people and then following up after. He said the fact that he could reference something someone said at an event made it feel less cold. Different approach, but it actually worked for him too.
Research on executive responsiveness suggests that first-contact response rates for outbound networking improve materially—roughly 3-5x higher—when the initial message includes specific, falsifiable information about the recipient’s current business situation. Generic relationship-building emails average around 2-3% response rates. Emails that reference recent company announcements or demonstrate pattern recognition that’s relevant to strategy function reach 8-15% response rates. The delta is substantial, and it’s directly related to signaling that you’ve invested research effort. Additionally, Monday midday outreach shows 1.5-2x higher response rates than Friday afternoon or weekend sends.
One more practical metric: people in corporate strategy roles spend roughly 60% of their time in reactive operational work and 40% in proactive strategy work. When you reach out, you’re asking for time from their most scarce resource. That’s why framing your ask as mutually valuable information exchange—not asking for advice or a job—resonates better. The response rate difference between ‘can you give me advice’ and ‘I have a pattern I thought you’d find relevant to think through’ is material and worth testing.