How Richard C. Wilson Builds a Family Office Network
Richard C. Wilson speaks from Prague about building a network in the family office industry.
Richard C. Wilson describes how he approaches networking in a fragmented, referral-based industry. He shares practices for finding relevant professionals, choosing where to spend time, and building relationships through useful contributions.
In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Video speaker)
What they said
- Richard on giving value first. Richard says to learn what a contact is trying to do, including their main challenges and goals, then offer help first. He says a trusted relationship can matter even when it brings no short-term revenue.
- Richard on finding contacts through the association. Richard says he uses LinkedIn to find family office professionals through the Family Office Association. He describes searching by city to identify people he can meet.
- Richard on choosing events. Richard says live events can be a poor use of time or a good one. In his view, an event's organizer and the people attending affect whether it is useful for meeting family offices.
- Richard on finding a niche. Richard advises defining a small area within the family office industry and reaching people who already understand it. He gives gold investment management as an example of a service with a specific audience.
- Richard on practical expertise. Richard says relevant articles, white papers, books, and other resources can give people a reason to meet. He describes referrals as a way those relationships can extend to more contacts.
In their words
"today at 11:00 a.m. I'm meeting with a family office here in Prague and I found them through the family office Association"
"our family office Association has 72,000 Professionals in it globally"
Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth
Some family office groups have no business cards or website. Richard's Prague example shows how a city search through the Family Office Association can still surface a meeting.
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Anu Aga: Focus on one main cause. Her family found its giving more satisfying and impactful once it chose primary education for the underprivileged in India.
- Binod K. Chaudhary: Never chase a deal out of desperation. Stay cool and look at every part of the deal. Have your advisers and your finance team review it critically. Your counsel should review it too.
- Larry Connor: Learn from every mistake. Larry's team owns its failures and makes no excuses. They learn, change quickly, and keep getting better.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
Does Richard say membership is free?
Yes. He says joining the Family Office Association is completely free.
What other resources does he mention?
He points viewers to a free report on the family office industry and a Qualified Family Office Professional designation.
Sources
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.