A Waste of Time and Tokens
My digital footprint is a perfect storm for AI-powered networking, especially in EdTech. My name appears alongside things like "AI" and multiple ventures like "GSV" but the most impactful semantic tie comes from "coaching". Career and life coaching recently went through an unfortunate renaissance with all of the turbulence in the tech world and so folks with tech and coaching under their belt were in high demand as both champions and clients. I received (and still receive) regular outreach related to my coaching work since I have it listed on LinkedIn, which is bizarre to me since I coach high school sports (cross country and occasionally badminton).
I usually just ignore the outreach since it is typically a generic template with my name sometimes filled in. But one email I received in June of 2025 caught my eye due to how bold it was in its attempt to feign personal interest:
We’ve been following your work as a coach, and we are truly inspired by the incredible insights you bring to the table. Your expertise is exactly what our audience seeks, and we believe your story would resonate with them in a meaningful way.
I do think that the cross country team at my site is doing a stellar job, and I am proud to say I coached the badminton team to a D1 spot in our region (don't ask how many divisions are in the region...). It did make me chuckle to imagine that a tech-career focused podcast with "thousands of active listeners" was following our modest high school athletics progress, but I had work to do so I left the email on read and moved on with my life.
That is until five months later when they actually followed up! I am sure that was automated just as much as the initial outreach but my sense of professionalism won me over and I responded. In short, I had to ask:
Could you clarify what about my work you are interested in? I'd be happy to share my ideas and experience with you and your team, but I am not sure where I align with the show's typical topics.
Just over a day later I got a reply that shook me to my very core:
Happy to clarify... Your perspective on [insert his known area—if unknown, keep broad] problem-solving, strategic thinking, and the way you approach your craft aligns well with the themes we explore on our show.
The bolding was part of the email. I let out a defeated chucked and deep sigh and went back to my work. A waste of time and tokens.