Stop Pretending Your Business Relationships Aren't Transactional (And Why That's Actually Beautiful)

Listen up, I'm gonna say the quiet part out loud: Every business relationship you have is transactional. And that's not only okay—it's the whole damn point.

I know, I know. Your LinkedIn feed is full of thought leaders telling you to "add value" and "build authentic connections" while simultaneously pitching their coaching program in the DMs. We've all been pitch-slapped by that guy who acts like your best friend until you say you're not interested in their SaaS product.

But here's what my conversation with Josh Tapp (founder of The Pantheon) made crystal clear: The problem isn't that business relationships are transactional. The problem is when they're ONLY transactional.

The "Oh Shaet" Moment That Changes Everything

Josh told me something that hit different. He ran a successful podcast production company. Making good money. Everything looked great on paper. And then one day, he and his business partner looked at each other and went: "Why the hell are we doing this?"

Not in a depressed way. In a "wait, this isn't what we actually care about" way.

They sold the company. Went all-in on The Pantheon—a community focused on helping entrepreneurs build strategic alliances instead of just exchanging business cards like Pokémon cards.

And here's the kicker: The loneliness you feel as a founder? It's not because you're alone. It's because you're surrounded by transactional relationships that have no human wrapper.

The Math That'll Make Your CFO Weep (With Joy)

Want to know something wild? Josh's team has helped companies get 50-100 booked leads per month from just five solid relationships.

Not five hundred connections on LinkedIn. Not five thousand email subscribers. Five. Actual. Human. Relationships.

Five people who genuinely care about what you do, wrapped in a mutually beneficial transactional foundation, will outperform your entire marketing budget.

But here's the thing—and this is where most people farck it up—you have to actually care about those five people. Not in a "let me add value so I can extract value later" way. In a "I'm going to help you because we're building something together" way.

The Hard Truth About "Woo-Woo" Relationship Building

Josh straight up said he's not some ethereal relationship coach. He avoids conflict like it's a WebEx call scheduled for 4:45pm on Friday.

But even he gets it: You need the transaction AND the relationship. It's not oil and water—it's oil and vinegar. Mix them together and dip some bread in there. Chef's kiss.

He shared this brutally honest story about paying a close friend for a program, realizing halfway through it wasn't for him, and having to have one of those conversations that makes your stomach hurt. You know the one. Where you're like "I value our friendship but also I can't keep paying for this thing I'm not using and also please don't hate me."

They worked it out. Still friends. Still doing business. Still making each other money.

That's the whole game right there.

If it's purely transactional, that relationship dies the second someone's unhappy. If it's purely friendship with no mutual benefit, someone ends up feeling used. But when you have both? You can weather the storm.

Why Your MBA Didn't Teach You This (And Why That's a Problem)

Here's what universities won't tell you: The most valuable skill in business isn't financial modeling or market analysis. It's knowing how to build relationships where people actually want to help you win.

Not because you manipulated them. Not because you "networked strategically." But because you genuinely care, AND you're helping them win too.

This is especially critical for those of us in health tech, med tech, and SaaS trying to scale in a market that's about as predictable as my toddler's bedtime routine.

The Question You Need to Ask Yourself

Here's the question Josh and his business partner asked themselves, and I'm stealing it because it's perfect:

"Why are we doing this?"

Not the bullshaet answer you tell investors or put on your About page.

The real answer.

Because if you're building something you don't actually care about, surrounded by relationships that are purely transactional with no human connection... congratulations, you've built a very expensive prison.

The Bottom Line (Because I Know You Skimmed to This Part)

Stop trying to make your business relationships either "authentic" OR "transactional." They need to be both.

Find five people who you genuinely want to help win, who also want to help you win, where there's mutual benefit, clear expectations, and actual human connection.

Those five relationships will do more for your business than your last three marketing campaigns combined.

And yes, you're allowed to talk about money. You're allowed to want things from the relationship. That's not dirty—that's honest. What's dirty is pretending you don't want anything while secretly keeping score.

Watch the Full Episode

If you want to hear Josh break down exactly how The Pantheon helps entrepreneurs stop pitch-slapping each other and start building actual alliances (and yes, we talk about what a joint venture actually is because apparently most people don't know), check out the full episode.

Fair warning: It might make you reevaluate every business relationship you have. But in a good way. In a "maybe I should stop treating humans like walking ATMs or LinkedIn endorsements" kind of way.

Because at the end of the day, whether your business is B2B or B2C, it's really H2H—human to human.

And humans? We're messy, complicated, emotional creatures who happen to also care about making money and building businesses that matter.

Embrace both sides of that equation, and you might just build something worth a damn.

P.S. If you're reading this and thinking "but I don't have time to build deep relationships with people," I hear you. You're busy. You're scaling. You've got 47 Slack channels demanding your attention. But ask yourself this: How much time are you spending on marketing tactics that aren't working? On networking events where you collect business cards you'll never follow up on? On "growth strategies" that feel like throwing spaghetti at a wall? Maybe, just maybe, investing time in five real relationships would actually save you time. Just a thought. Now go watch the episode before your next useless Zoom meeting.

Karl Pontau hosts The Human Connection Podcast, where we talk about the stuff that actually matters in business: the humans running it. Because whether you're B2B or B2C, it's really H2H, human to human. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode where we probably say something that'll make your HR department uncomfortable.