Every opportunity I've ever had came from a connection.

Not a viral LinkedIn post. Not a cold email. Just someone who knew me, saying a good word.

When a Bain colleague raved about LOLA and opened the door to startup life. When a former teammate vouched for me to a VC who then introduced me to Chief's co-founders. When that introduction led to the next chapter of my career, helping scale Chief from 200 to 20,000+ members.

The right connection doesn't just change your path—it creates it.

Yet as my co-founder Chris Fischer and I built our careers in the startup world, we discovered a modern paradox: we're more digitially connected than ever before, yet meaningful networking feels harder than ever.

‍

The Networking Paradox We All Face

Today's professionals have access to unprecedented networking tools. Yet somehow, we've turned our most valuable professional asset into our most dreaded task.

The problem isn't that we lack connections. It's that our networks are scattered across platforms, buried under busy calendars, and easily slip through the cracks. We collect thousands of contacts across emails, DMs, and spreadsheets, but can't activate them when it matters most.

Chris experienced this firsthand throughout his 20+ year career building companies like Shutterstock through its IPO. "I've met incredible people and regret letting many connections fade over time," he reflects. "It's not from lack of interest—it's just difficult to keep relationships organized when they live in so many disparate places."

Even while helping build Chief into a network of 20,000+ executives, I found that nurturing my own relationships still felt like work.

‍

The AI Era Makes This Worse, Not Better

As artificial intelligence transforms our professional lives, we're witnessing a profound shift. While AI excels at automating tasks and analyzing data, it can't replace the serendipity and opportunities that emerge from genuine human connections.

This creates what we call the networking paradox of the AI era: technology should make human connection easier, but instead it's making authentic relationship-building feel more difficult and transactional.

LinkedIn has become a noisy feed of humble brags. Email inboxes overflow with automated outreach. "Networking events" feel like speed dating sessions where everyone's looking past you to the next person.

Meanwhile, the most powerful career opportunities still come from trusted relationships—the investor who knows you're ready for your next role, the founder who thinks of you when they need strategic advice, the colleague who connects you with exactly the right person at exactly the right time.

‍

Our Vision: Technology That Strengthens Human Relationships

This paradox inspired Goodword. We asked ourselves: What if AI could actually make us better at the fundamentally human act of building relationships?

Not by automating away the human element, but by eliminating the friction that prevents us from connecting authentically. Not by turning networking into a numbers game, but by helping us focus on quality, intention, and mutual benefit.

We envisioned a networking copilot—like having a chief of staff for your relationships who:

  • Remembers the context of every conversation
  • Surfaces the right connections at the right time
  • Prompts you to reach out when it matters most
  • Helps you become the connector everyone turns to

‍

Building for Connectors, By Connectors

Goodword emerged from our own frustrations as operators who knew the power of relationships but struggled with the operational burden of maintaining them.

We're building for people like us—founders, investors, executives, and builders who believe one good intro can change everything. These are the connectors: people who show up for others the same way others showed up for them.

Connectors care about quality over quantity. They value intentional connections over mass networking. They know networking is about long-term, reciprocal relationships—not transactional interactions.

But even the best connectors struggle with the manual work of networking. They lose track of follow-ups, forget important context, and miss opportunities to connect people who should meet.

‍

Join the Movement

We're launching Goodword during a pivotal moment. Remote work has made relationship-building harder. Economic uncertainty has made networks more critical than skills alone. AI is transforming how we work, but human connection remains irreplaceable.

Our Founding Connector program represents the first wave of professionals who believe in this vision. They're not just early users—they're co-builders helping shape Goodword into the networking copilot we all wish we'd had throughout our careers.

Every great company starts with solving a problem its founders experienced personally. For us, that problem was clear: we'd built strong networks that changed our lives, but maintaining them felt like a second job.

Now we're building the solution we wish we'd had—and inviting other connectors to build it with us.

Ready to transform how you network? Sign up for early access to the Founding Connector community and help us build the future of professional relationships.