How to Be Useful to Someone Who Needs Nothing

The people worth knowing usually already have what they need, which is exactly why the normal approach doesn’t work on them. You can’t offer money, access, or flattery to someone who has more of all three than you do. What’s left is attention: notice something specific about their work and be useful to it without being asked.

Larry’s house money idea, building your own cushion so you never walk into a room desperate, is what makes this possible: you can give without needing anything back. Usefulness without a need attached reads as real. Usefulness with a need attached reads as a pitch. Send them something small and specific: an article, an introduction, a fix to something you noticed, no ask attached.

Larry’s karma model calls this a deposit. You’re not owed anything back for it, and expecting to be misses the point. Don’t attack the money with someone who needs nothing from you yet. That comes later, once there’s an actual relationship.

People who have everything still notice who shows up with nothing to gain and something to give. Do this more than once before you ever ask them for anything. One favor doesn’t build trust, a pattern does.

The ask, when it finally comes, should feel like the next chapter of a relationship, not a stranger’s cold request. Being useful to someone who needs nothing is how you become someone they eventually need.