Networking and personal meetings as the foundation of business

Over 20 years in IT have taught me a simple rule: expertise alone is not always enough to successfully deliver a software solution for a client. Nowadays, having ad campaigns and references from past work is simply not sufficient. Clients are not just looking for a technical partner—they are looking for a partner they know personally.

Business, especially at the start of a collaboration, is built 90% on personal relationships.

Modern online operations have incredibly accelerated progress, business, development, and the entire world. Even so, I have long been skeptical of fully online operations. Especially in the initial phase of a project, when we need to understand how the client operates, what solution to design, and what challenges companies face in digitalization, personal, offline contact is more than just helpful–it is essential.

It’s important to remember that speeding up time hasn’t changed how the human mind works, how business works, or how problem-solving works. The concept of trade dates back to around 80,000 BCE. Even then, business was conducted through barter—I deliver something and receive something in return: a sheep, a building stone, a pile of sand… anything.

The beginnings of business, whether through barter or later forms of systematic exchange, have ingrained in our minds how trade functions. Even though we no longer trade sheep for software, the human mind still works in the same way.

Online communication, even though it is a simple and fast channel, cannot convey all the emotions and openness between the parties involved. The camera may fail, the sound may glitch, the client may feel uncomfortable, or the conversation may be interrupted by a mobile phone, among many other issues.

Let me outline a few points that I see as the advantages of offline communication compared to the online world when discussing a future software solution.

The conversion between offline and online meetings is relatively difficult to measure, but in any case, face-to-face meetings clearly come out ahead. It’s not just because the client dedicates more time to you, but also because you can directly address real problems that digitalization or software solutions need to solve.

A key question is whether face-to-face meetings are necessary for very small projects, where development time is short and the solution cost is negligible. Logically, the answer is usually no—they are not necessary. However, it’s important to keep one fundamental point in mind: even the biggest businesses started small, and it ultimately comes down to personal intuition to assess whether a given project might grow into a large, long-term collaboration.

I don’t know about others, but for me, the answer is definitely yes. A client is not just a business partner we collaborate with on IT projects—very often, it’s also a person I want to meet in person.

I do not question that other companies may operate differently.

"IT practice and personal experience have convinced me that critical solutions are built at the table, not over a web call."