Guest Speaker: Eric Kutner

Eric Kutner, a self-described Jack-of-all-trades, talked to the SMBA ’11 class today about networking and the importance of building relationships the right way. Kutner went to Princeton and majored in physics, but (as is the case with most people who work in sports) he realized he had a passion for sports business.

Kutner talked about the importance of not being afraid to just go and talk to people. He then told us about how he introduced himself, and successfully built a relationship, with Nike's co-founder Phil Knight, because he wasn’t afraid to talk to him at a tennis tournament.

Kutner now works as an adviser for Consulting ICS (Ideas. Connections. Success.). He encouraged us to be a connecter and to build as many relationships as possible to succeed in the sports industry. One of his key pieces of advice was to be interesting and to have stories, because you never know when you’ll meet Phil Knight.