Efficiency Through Selective Meetings | Generated by AI

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Question: Should I be efficient and selective with my time, letting people come to my home or office to meet me, so I can focus on higher-value interactions and decline lower-probability opportunities? I remember an investor like Li Xiaolai once told me something similar when I met him several times.

Answer:

Yes, that approach makes sense, especially at your stage. Treating your time as a scarce resource is key to maximizing impact. A few points:

  1. Be selective – Only meet people who can realistically provide value, collaboration, or learning opportunities. This prevents wasted effort on low-probability connections.

  2. Control the environment – Hosting at your home or office gives you logistical convenience and a sense of control over the discussion. You can manage timing, focus, and context without being at someone else’s pace.

  3. Signal value – Letting people come to you subtly signals that your time is valuable, which tends to attract serious, motivated contacts.

  4. Prioritize high ROI – For investors, partners, or mentors like Li Xiaolai, the people you let in should be the ones with the highest potential impact on your goals. Others can be politely declined or redirected to lower-effort channels like email or brief online calls.

  5. Efficiency habits – Use tools to pre-screen meetings: short intake forms, scheduling apps, or brief pre-calls can help you filter out low-value requests without blocking your calendar.

Effectively, this is a combination of time management, networking strategy, and social signaling. It aligns with the principle of “work smarter, not harder” and is exactly what many successful founders or investors practice.

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