This past week I published the first two episodes of The Relationship Capitalists Podcast. One with my father, Jim Masciarelli, who built the PowerSkills framework over a career of more than 10,000 executive interviews. One with Yuriy Zaremba, co-founder of AiSDR, who books thousands of meetings a month with companies like Disney and Netflix using AI.
Two very different guests. Same conclusion.
I wrote up each episode on its own, so I won't recap them here.
Read about the Jim episode: Why Listening Matters - Now More Than Ever
Read about the Yuriy episode: Why AI Makes Relationships More Valuable, Not Less
What follows is the part worth acting on.
Here is the signal. As AI establishes the first touch, the outreach, the follow-up, the research, the human moves that build trust and deliver value stop being nice to have. They become the premium. Yuriy's framing: relationship is becoming a premium asset. Jim has been saying a version of this for decades. The fundamentals are the differentiator now, because so few people practice them.
So let's get practical. Here are the moves from both conversations, sorted into the two habits that compound.
Trust Builders
Refer people away when you are not the fit. Yuriy turned down a deal and handed the prospect to someone better suited, on purpose. A frustrated customer costs more than a lost invoice. Send people to the right answer even when the right answer is not you.
Keep the boring promises. Yuriy had an early investor who demanded painful reporting no one else asked for. He kept delivering it. Years later those exact records closed his acquisition in 24 hours. The unglamorous commitment you honor today is the one that pays off when it counts.
Say the true thing. Trust runs on transparency. Tell people what is working and what is not, including about your own work. People can tell when you are managing them and when you are leveling with them.
Listen like it is the skill. Jim calls listening the forgotten skill. Ask one well-timed question, then stop and hear the answer. Most people are waiting for their turn to talk. Being the rare one who listens is its own form of trust.
Value Deposits
Widen your definition of value. Most people think value means money or a deal. Jim keeps a long list: an intro, a useful article, a book, a referral, a bit of humor, a well-timed question. You can make a deposit in almost any conversation once you stop looking only for the economic one.
Ask for advice. This is the move people miss. Asking someone for advice gets you information, and it gives them something too. They feel useful. They become invested in how it turns out. Ask "what would you do here?" and you deposit and withdraw in the same breath.
Share what you are learning, as you learn it. Jim manages his portfolio every day and passes the insights to his network. He is not selling anything. He stays top of mind because he keeps showing up with something useful. Pick the thing you are deep in and let people benefit from it.
Do the homework before you reach out. Even Yuriy's AI does this. It learns about a person first so the first contact is relevant, not generic. You have the same option, by hand, for the people who matter most. Five minutes of reading before you reach out changes the whole tone.
Your move this week
Jim uses a fitness analogy I keep coming back to. Relationship capital is like training. You do a little every day and it compounds. You cannot cram it.
So here is the rep for this week. Pick three people from your vital few. Make one deposit to each. No ask attached. An intro, an article, a question, a thank you. Then watch what comes back over the next month.
That is the whole game. Invest first. Build trust. Repeat.
See you next week,
Jason
P.S. If you want the framework behind all of this, the Relationship Capital Workbook walks you through building your own vital few from scratch. Grab it here
