Networking with Fexingo: Building Professional Relationships, LinkedIn, and Career Capital

Lucas and Luna explore the surprising value of 'barely-there' connections on LinkedIn — the people you've never met, never messaged, and have only the weakest digital tie to. They look at a real case from 2025 where a software engineer landed a Series B role through a second-degree connection whose profile they had never even clicked. The conversation digs into why weak ties often outperform stron...

Most professionals think networking means messaging strangers or collecting business cards. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore a quieter but powerful strategy: deep engagement in niche LinkedIn groups. Lucas shares the story of a mid-career marketing director who, over 18 months, posted thoughtful analysis in a very specific community — the Professional Services Marketing Group — and how a si...

Episode 27 of Networking with Fexingo uncovers the hidden power of the LinkedIn endorsement feature. Lucas and Luna dive into a specific case: a marketing director who received a single, well-timed endorsement from a former client, which boosted her profile into recruiter search results and led to a $185,000 job offer at a competitor. They break down why endorsements often get dismissed as 'digita...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the underestimated power of the follow-up message—a brief, thoughtful note sent within 24 hours of a networking conversation. They break down the psychology of why a short follow-up builds trust, using the example of a marketing manager who landed a board seat through a five-minute email after a panel talk. The hosts share a simple three-part structure for f...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the surprising power of the 'five-minute introduction' — a brief, structured referral that can open doors to unadvertised roles. They break down a real case from 2025 where a mid-career marketing professional landed a senior role at a competitor after a single, well-crafted introduction from a former classmate. The hosts explain why most job seekers waste ti...

Ninety percent of the people you know already have a specific next contact in mind for you — and they never say it because you never ask. This episode deconstructs a 2025 study from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business that found a staggering gap between what your network is willing to do and what they actually offer. Lucas walks through the experiment: a matching game where passers...

Episode 23 of Networking with Fexingo tackles a common career challenge: building a professional network from scratch after relocating to a new city. Lucas and Luna break down a specific case study — a marketing manager who moved from Chicago to Austin and went from zero local connections to a robust network in six months using a structured '30-60-90 day networking plan.' They discuss tactical ste...

Lucas and Luna explore a counterintuitive networking strategy: leveraging your college or university's 'second-tier' alumni — people who graduated around the same time as you, not the famous ones. They dig into a real example from a University of Michigan engineering grad who, stuck in a career rut, reached out to a fellow alum from his own graduation year who worked at a mid-tier automotive suppl...

Lucas and Luna explore a counterintuitive networking strategy: showing up without a specific ask or goal. They discuss a 2023 study from the Academy of Management Journal showing that people who network with an open-ended curiosity mindset form deeper, more durable connections than those who target specific outcomes. Lucas shares a case from a mid-career marketing professional who rebooted her net...

Episode 20 of Networking with Fexingo tackles a challenge that rarely gets addressed: how to build professional relationships when you are the least experienced, most junior person in any setting. Lucas shares a specific story about a 24-year-old analyst who turned a lowly position at a closed-door industry summit into three mentorship offers and a board observer seat within 18 months. The key was...

Feeling like you have nothing to bring to the table is one of the biggest barriers to networking—especially early in your career. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down why that feeling is misleading, using the story of a first-generation college student named Priya who landed a mentorship with a senior executive at a Fortune 500 company by leading with curiosity and gratitude. They discuss th...

In this episode of Networking with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the underappreciated power of the follow-up email—not as a polite afterthought, but as a deliberate career move. They dive into the story of a mid-level marketer who, after a chance encounter with a VP at a conference, sent a single, carefully crafted follow-up that led to a mentorship, a promotion, and eventually a seat at the str...

Lucas and Luna explore the underrated power of reconnecting with former managers. They share a case of a marketing director who, five years after leaving a job, reached out to her old boss for advice on a career pivot. The conversation reveals why former bosses often hold more institutional memory and trust than current colleagues, and how to approach these reconnections without awkwardness. They...

You've heard the stats about most jobs coming through weak ties, but one specific comment on a LinkedIn industry thread turned a mid-career supply chain manager into a sustainability director at a Fortune 500 retailer. In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack the anatomy of that single comment: what she wrote, who saw it, and why the algorithm amplified it beyond her immediate network. They explore...

In episode 15 of Networking with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna show how a single LinkedIn comment can lead to career capital. They unpack the story of a marketing analyst who left a thoughtful comment on a VP's post, which led to a coffee chat, a freelance project, and ultimately a full-time role in product marketing. They break down the mechanics: why commenting on niche posts builds authority, how to...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how strategic volunteering can be a powerful — and underused — career pivot tool, especially for mid-career professionals looking to move into a new industry. Using the real example of a marketing manager who volunteered with the American Red Cross's local communications team and parlayed that into a full-time role at a nonprofit, they break down the specifi...

This episode explores the concept of a personal board of directors — a small group of trusted mentors and peers who provide career guidance, accountability, and honest feedback. Lucas and Luna break down why this informal advisory network matters more than traditional mentorship, how to identify the right people, and specific steps to recruit them without making it awkward. They draw on examples f...

Lucas and Luna explore the strategy of reverse mentoring — where junior employees mentor senior leaders on topics like digital trends, social media, and emerging technology. They break down a specific case from a Fortune 500 company where a 25-year-old analyst helped a 58-year-old CEO transform the company's LinkedIn presence, resulting in a 30 percent increase in engagement and two major partners...

When the economy sours, the best career insurance isn't a big savings account — it's the people who went through the same downturn alongside you. Lucas and Luna explore the concept of 'recession alumni networks': informal cohorts formed during 2008, 2020, and the 2022 tech retrenchment that persistently share job leads, founder introductions, and candid advice years later. The episode centres on a...

Lucas and Luna break down the anatomy of a cold LinkedIn message that actually works, using the real example of a marketing coordinator who landed a senior role at a Fortune 500 company after a single, well-crafted outreach. They discuss the three-part structure—context, value proposition, and low-friction ask—and why mentioning a shared connection or mutual interest can boost reply rates by 40%....

Lucas and Luna explore why informational interviews are one of the most underrated tools for building career capital—when done right. They walk through the specific case of a mid-career marketer who used five targeted conversations to land a role at a sought-after fintech startup, breaking down the exact framing, questions, and follow-up that turned casual chats into a job offer. They also discuss...

Lucas and Luna examine the surprisingly powerful career tool of the informal coffee chat—a five-minute conversation that can unlock doors you didn't know existed. They break down the true story of a marketing manager who landed a director role at a Fortune 500 company by asking a stranger for fifteen minutes over Zoom. Lucas shares the exact email template that generated a 40 percent response rate...

Lucas and Luna explore the career-saving power of weak ties — the acquaintances and distant connections you barely know. They break down sociologist Mark Granovetter's 1973 study showing that 75% of people found their jobs through weak ties, not close friends. The hosts walk through a real example: a software engineer named Priya who, facing a layoff, reached out to a former conference roommate sh...

Lucas and Luna break down the mechanics of the warm introduction — not just as a social nicety, but as a strategic tool that directly shaped outcomes. They unpack a specific case: a B2B SaaS founder named Maya who raised a $4.2 million Series A after a warm introduction from a former client, not a cold email to a partner. Along the way, they examine the data on response rates for warm versus cold...

Lucas and Luna challenge a core networking assumption: that the most valuable connections come from your strongest ties. Drawing on Mark Granovetter's 1973 'Strength of Weak Ties' study and a real example of a graphic designer who landed a client through a former roommate's college friend, they explain why acquaintances—not close friends—are statistically more likely to introduce you to novel oppo...