Most people ask a mentor for advice and stop there, missing the bigger asset sitting right next to it. A mentor’s network, their list, their reputation in a room, is distribution you cannot build yourself in a year. This is External API in its clearest form, running your hustle on distribution someone else already spent decades building.
Larry’s example is tutoring the SAT on the College Board’s own test, you do not need to build the exam, you plug into it. A mentor introducing you to three people they trust can do more for a business than a month of cold outreach. Advice is free and mentors give it easily, access to their distribution is the harder, more valuable ask.
The mistake is treating every meeting as a chance for more advice instead of asking, eventually, for an introduction. Larry says the advice is the appetizer, the network is the meal, and most people leave still hungry.
Earning the introduction takes the same homework and karma as earning the first reply, nothing about that changes. A good introduction from a trusted mentor carries more weight than almost any pitch you could write yourself.
Treat the relationship as a source of distribution early, not as a favor you cash in only once, at the very end. The advice will always be there, the window to ask for real distribution is usually much narrower.
Details: Watch Larry on mentors as distribution
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