YP Summit 2026 · Belmont University · Room 5003 · 11:30 AM

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers

How to actually network in Nashville.

Colton Mulligan · CEO, FoxFuel Creative · Tuesday, October 13, 2026

How this talk got its title

The Chamber asked me to talk about personal branding.

I told them I have never had a good strategy for that. My favorite line on the subject is this one:

"Shut up about your personal brand. Just be a good human."

In a town this connected, people describe you to each other. How you treat them is the brand. So they let me make up my own title, and they wrote the rest.

Where I started

0

years old when FoxFuel started

0

years I had already lived in Nashville

0

professional network. None.

0

contact: my former boss, Mike Kopp

"Nashville is an incredibly big small town. It can be intimidating, and I was intimidated."

The FoxFuel team being silly in front of the FoxFuel sign, February 2016

The whole FoxFuel family, February 2016. Great team. No network.

2014 to 2015

Then I started an agency, and found out what it runs on.

Three of us spun FoxFuel out of MMA Creative with equal shares, a few clients, and a floor in the L&C Tower. An agency in this town runs on who will take your call. I knew three people, and two of them are in this photo.

A network is not a nice-to-have for an agency. It is the business. So I made myself a policy.

Nashville Business Journalcolton@foxfuelcreative.com

Nashville
Business Journal

Become a member

Agency spun off from MMA Creative takes whole floor in L&C Tower

Michael Hutzel, Colton Mulligan and Joe Boettcher laughing at the FoxFuel office, 2015

Image: Caley Newberry Photography

Michael Hutzel, Colton Mulligan and Joe Boettcher, the three partners who spun FoxFuel Creative out from MMA Creative.

By Eleanor Kennedy, Senior Reporter, Nashville Business Journal · Mar 5, 2015

FoxFuel Creative, the digital marketing agency that spun out of MMA Creative at the start of the year, will soon take up residence in the L&C Tower.

So I made myself a weekly policy

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers.

Breakfast

before their day gets loud

Lunch

near their office, their pick of place

Beers

when the day is done

01

One leader in the city. Every week. In person.

A commitment to myself, not to them. Somebody further along than me, in any industry.

02

At least three specific questions, emailed ahead.

On the thing they are actually an expert in, so I could learn how to grow FoxFuel. They knew I was coming to learn.

03

Their pick. Your treat.

Breakfast, lunch, or beers. Whatever fits their day. Never "let's grab coffee sometime."

The receipts, straight from my sent folder

It started as coffee.

Three of 200. Word for word, from colton@foxfuelcreative.com.

The receipts, counted

200 invitations in ten years.

Invitations I sent, by year

181

different people

134

different companies and organizations

"The byproduct, which I did not plan, was curiosity."

Walk the chain with me · 1 of 4

Mike Kopp. The one contact.

My boss at MMA Creative. When I left to start FoxFuel, he did not have to do anything. He made a few kind introductions anyway, and asked each of them to take my call.

Every name on the next three slides traces back to those first introductions.

Walk the chain with me · 2 of 4

Nathan Maggard and Jacob Jones. Breakfast Club.

One breakfast turned into a standing one. Same two guys, same table, once a month, for the rest of our lives.

0

Breakfast Clubs on the calendar since March 2, 2017

0

of them at Pinewood Social, 8 AM

0

years and counting. Jacob still sends the invite.

Source: the recurring "Breakfast Club" invitations on my calendar, counted October 12, 2026 (Jacob organizes, Nathan and I are on 90-plus of them).

What it actually is

No agenda. No "what can I do for you." Two people who were a breakfast a week ahead of me in 2017, who are now the first two calls when anything in my life goes sideways. The network is not the list. It is the standing breakfast.

Walk the chain with me · 3 of 4

Michael Burcham. One coffee at 29.

Founding CEO of the Entrepreneur Center. Has built, bought and sold more companies than I will ever touch. I had nothing to offer him except questions.

"One year, a third of FoxFuel's billings traced back to him."

Eleven years later he is still on the dance card. From my email to him in March: "It's a lot to cover in an hour, but I talk fast and listen (almost) as fast." He answered with five takeaways and an offer to edit my playbook.

Colton, Aly and Michael Burcham in black tie by a Christmas tree, December 2018

Christmas 2018, black tie, with Aly. He let me buy him breakfast first.

Walk the chain with me · 4 of 4

One volunteer conversation became a board seat.

AROUND 2014

Hands On Nashville

I told a volunteer coordinator what I cared about and asked which boards were real. "Here are three, and here are the ones that are actually active."

THE INTRO

Center for Nonprofit Management

He introduced me to the CEO. I sat down with her and asked my three questions.

2015

STARS Nashville

She pointed me at STARS. By October 2015 I was at the STARS table at the CNM awards dinner.

2016 TO 2018

Associate Board, then the Board

Helped start the Associate Board and its Meet a Mentor night, then joined the operating board and the strategic planning committee.

2019 TO 2020

Executive Committee

Votes on a credit line, a roof, an EIDL loan. A 32-year-old at the table where the money decisions get made.

Nobody in that chain was famous. Every one of them answered one specific question and named the next person.

Where one breakfast a week actually led

None of these were the plan. They are what shows up when you buy one breakfast a week for nine years.

The posture

Curious, not useful.

Last month after a talk, someone asked me: "How do you offer value to every person you sit down with?"

"Stop doing that. You cannot offer value to someone who has sold $800 million worth of companies. You can offer curiosity."

The line that works: "I can't offer you much yet except good questions and breakfast."

What I did not plan

Three questions a week, for years, trained me to be curious.

About their industry. About their career. About their hobbies. The most interesting thing about a person is rarely the thing on their title.

Curiosity is what people remember you for.

Colton Mulligan in a leather jacket, looking off to the side

The science agrees, part one

The people who change your life are the ones you barely see.

Of people who found their job through a personal contact, how often did they see that contact?

Often

16.7%

Occasionally

55.6%

Rarely

27.8%

Mark Granovetter, "The Strength of Weak Ties," American Journal of Sociology, 1973. 54 professional, technical and managerial job changers in Newton, Massachusetts who found work through a contact.

83%

got the job through someone they saw only occasionally or rarely. Breakfast once is enough to be a weak tie.

The science agrees, part two

Weak ties, follow-up questions, and the liking gap.

20 million

LinkedIn members studied over five years, through 2 billion new connections and 600,000 new jobs. Moderately weak ties, not close friends, led to the most job moves.

Rajkumar, Saint-Jacques, Bojinov, Brynjolfsson and Aral, Science, 2022.

Specific. On what they know best. Sent ahead.

A bad question is "how did you get where you are?" A good question could only be asked of them, this month, by you.

A warm intro, or "may I mention your name?"Two specific times, near their officeTheir pick of meal

SUBJECT: Breakfast, lunch, or beers?

Hey Sarah,

Mike Kopp said you are the person to ask about selling to hospital systems. I run a two-person agency and we just landed our first healthcare client. I'd love to buy you breakfast, lunch, or a beer, your pick, and ask you three things:

How did you get your first meeting with a system's marketing team, and what would you do differently now?
What do vendors get wrong in the first ninety days with a hospital client?
Who is one person in that world you think I should meet?

I can do Tuesday at 7:30 near your office, or Thursday at noon. Either work?

Colton

The last question of every meeting

"Who's one person you think I should meet?"

One breakfast becomes next week's lunch. Then: "Would you be comfortable introducing me, or should I just mention your name?"

Then two things almost nobody does

Same day, and weeks later.

Same day · the follow-up

Name one thing they said and one thing you will do with it.

"Thanks for lunch. I'm calling the two people you mentioned this week."

Weeks later · close the loop

Tell them what happened when you took their advice.

"Quick update: I tried your pricing idea, and here's how it went."

The loop is what turns one breakfast into someone you can call for the next ten years.

The strategy changes as you age

You only ever have three things to give. The mix changes.

Time

The one thing a 25-year-old has more of than anyone in the room. Spend it in person: the breakfast, the volunteer shift, the reading before the meeting.

Talent

Still being built in your twenties. Every breakfast was also a lesson. By your thirties it is the thing people ask you to breakfast for.

Treasure

Money and the people you can call. Almost none of it at 29. Later, it is what you give instead of your Tuesday mornings.

Then: yes to almost everything.

With one caveat. It had to have at least a remote connection to something I cared about. Hands On Nashville was a yes because I said what I cared about first.

Now: I say no far more than I say yes.

Not because I care less. Because the ratio flipped. I give treasure and talent where I used to give time, and I protect the few breakfasts that matter.

Things not to say

Five lines that quietly end it.

"Can I pick your brain?"It sounds open-ended and unpaid. Three specific questions sent ahead respect their hour.

"Let's grab coffee sometime."Sometime rarely arrives. Offer two specific times near their office.

"What can I do for you?" to someone twenty years ahead.The honest answer is usually nothing, so they have to invent a favor. Curiosity is the respectful move.

A pitch, or a job ask, halfway through the eggs.You asked to learn. Switching to an ask turns a mentor into a gatekeeper.

"I'm really working on my personal brand."In a town this connected, people describe you to each other. How you treat them is the brand.

Full disclosure: my own sent folder has "pick your brain" in more than 200 emails. Do as I say.

Where these meetings actually get set up

Eight rooms in Nashville, and how regulars read them.

Nashville Area Chamber

The town's front porch since 1847. You meet people here, then build the relationship at breakfast.

YP Nashville

The on-ramp into rooms with people a decade ahead. The open secret: volunteer, and you meet everyone.

Entrepreneur Center

Neutral ground in the Trolley Barns. A workshop there puts you next to people who have built and sold.

Greater Nashville Technology Council

NashCoffee breakfasts are built for exactly this meeting. Next one: October 28.

Young Leaders Council

An 11-week program that puts a 28-year-old on a nonprofit board, at the same table as a CEO.

Leadership Nashville

A goal for later, not a start: 46 established leaders a year, 1,600-plus alumni you would ask to breakfast.

Hands On Greater Nashville

A volunteer shift is networking without name tags. You meet people by doing something useful.

Rotary Club of Nashville

Monday lunch since 1914. The old-school version of this talk: same leaders, same lunch, every week.

My own defaults, straight from the emails: coffee and lunch at Fenwicks 300 on 8th Avenue, happy hour between 3 and 5:30 at The Henry in 12 South. Pick two places near your work and stop deciding.

Some of the people who let me buy them breakfast, lunch, or beers

Colton and Bo Hanson in Telluride, August 2025

Bo Hanson. Telluride, 2025. Started as a lunch.

Colton and Richard Moscardelli laughing with a bottle, June 2025

Richard Moscardelli. Beers, obviously. 2025.

Colton with Sameera Lowe at an EO event, May 2026

Sameera Lowe. EO, 2026. She made the first intro to EO.

Among many, many others. This does not mean they like me. It does mean they let me buy them Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers, and these are the folks I go to for advice, guidance, or another breakfast.

Most importantly, it worked with Aly.

"I later upgraded the invitation to Marriage, a House, and Kids."

Colton in a Santa hat and red nose with Aly in elf glasses, Christmas 2019

Christmas 2019. She said yes to the first breakfast, then to all of this.

The benefit?

"In most industries, at a cocktail party, I can pretend to be competent for ten minutes on most subjects."

Years of three questions a week will do that. So I built the app I wished I had at 29.

The app I built for my 20-something self

Five Minute Expert

A five minute read before any room. What the room is talking about this week, the lingo and how to use it, the key players and how the room really sees them, what not to say, and three questions that beat "so what do you do?"

FreeNo accountWorks offlineiPhone and iPadReads it to you

Five Minute Expert library screen listing the packs

Two packs are waiting for you right now

Nashville, and this talk.

The Nashville pack

What this town is talking about this month, the lingo with pronunciations, the key players and how the room really sees them, and how to say Demonbreun without getting caught.

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers

This method, the research behind it, the eight rooms, the things not to say, and three better questions to end every meeting with.

fiveminuteexpert.com/yp

Scan, download, open the Nashville pack at the top of the library.

Your homework this week

One leader. Three questions. Tonight.

01

Pick one leader in the city you want to learn from.

Not the most famous one. The one whose work you are genuinely curious about.

02

Write three questions only they could answer.

Specific, on what they know best. If you could Google it, cut it.

03

Send the email tonight, with two specific times.

Breakfast, lunch, or beers. Their pick. Your treat.

Three questions that beat "so what do you do?"

"What do you wish someone had told you at my age?" · "What are you curious about lately that has nothing to do with work?" · "Who's one person you think I should meet, and would you be comfortable introducing us?"

Questions?

Or invite me to breakfast. I'm easy to find.

colton@foxfuelcreative.com
foxfuelcreative.com · LinkedIn

fiveminuteexpert.com/yp

Built by Colton · v2.3.0

About this deck

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers: How to Actually Network in Nashville. Colton Mulligan's YP Summit 2026 breakout, October 13, 2026, Belmont University.

Sources

Granovetter, The Strength of Weak Ties, American Journal of Sociology, 1973 · Rajkumar, Saint-Jacques, Bojinov, Brynjolfsson and Aral, weak ties on LinkedIn, Science, 2022 · Huang, Yeomans, Brooks, Minson and Gino, It Doesn't Hurt to Ask, JPSP, 2017 · Boothby, Cooney, Sandstrom and Clark, The Liking Gap, Psychological Science, 2018 · Invitation counts: Colton's own sent mail, counted October 11, 2026 · The Nashville rooms: the Five Minute Expert pack.

Version and changelog

v2.3.0 (Mon / 2026-10-12 / 6:29 PM CT): ready to live on builtbycolton.com; styles and script moved to files; one h1; a footer slot for that site. v2.2.0: fixed 1600 by 900 canvas scaled to the screen; bottom tray instead of the top bar; receipts split; QA pass. v2.1.0: the real Business Journal story and the original partner photo. v2.0.0: Colton's photo pass, seven new slides. v1.0.0 (2026-10-11): first issue. Keys: arrows or a clicker, N notes, T clock, O overview, F full screen. Built by Colton.

`→` `Space` `Page Down`	next step or slide (a presenter clicker works; click or tap the right half, or swipe)
`←` `Page Up`	back (left half, or swipe right)
`N`	speaker notes drawer with the time budget
`T`	start or stop the clock (R resets it)
`O`	overview, jump anywhere
`F`	full screen
`Home` `End`	first and last slide
`Esc`	close this

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers

The Chamber asked me to talk about personal branding.

Then I started an agency, and found out what it runs on.

Agency spun off from MMA Creative takes whole floor in L&C Tower

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers.

One leader in the city. Every week. In person.

At least three specific questions, emailed ahead.

Their pick. Your treat.

It started as coffee.

200 invitations in ten years.

Mike Kopp. The one contact.

Nathan Maggard and Jacob Jones. Breakfast Club.

Michael Burcham. One coffee at 29.

One volunteer conversation became a board seat.

Curious, not useful.

Three questions a week, for years, trained me to be curious.

The people who change your life are the ones you barely see.

Weak ties, follow-up questions, and the liking gap.

Specific. On what they know best. Sent ahead.

"Who's one person you think I should meet?"

Same day, and weeks later.

Name one thing they said and one thing you will do with it.

Tell them what happened when you took their advice.

You only ever have three things to give. The mix changes.

Five lines that quietly end it.

Eight rooms in Nashville, and how regulars read them.

Most importantly, it worked with Aly.

Five Minute Expert

Nashville, and this talk.

The Nashville pack

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers

One leader. Three questions. Tonight.

Pick one leader in the city you want to learn from.

Write three questions only they could answer.

Send the email tonight, with two specific times.

Questions?

Breakfast, Lunch, or Beers: How to Actually Network in Nashville. Colton Mulligan's YP Summit 2026 breakout, October 13, 2026, Belmont University.

Speaker notes

Keys