Both start with cold contacts. Strategic relationships nurture them into warm intro cascades.
You meet people. Exchange cards. Connect on LinkedIn. But without nurturing, each contact stays isolated. Linear accumulation—you're the only node doing the work.
Same cold contacts, but you invest in them. Coffee. Intros. Value first. They become warm. Warm contacts introduce you to their network. Each intro at virality 3 spawns 3 more.
The 12-Month Reality: Both started with 4 cold contacts. Transactional added more cold contacts over time. Strategic nurtured the originals into 16 warm connections. Same starting point—3.2x the reach.
Increase connection virality to see how investing in relationship depth creates exponentially more opportunities through warm introductions.