Networking is Marketing for humans, and most here understand how the Product-Marketing relationship works for apps. There isn't much point in marketing if you, the product, have no value to the customer. Also it follows that some people's product is their ability to market. These are the anomalies to the title, and these are the ones we see networking all the time, the schmoozers.
Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
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Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
The funny thing is that people get angry when the same logic is applied to tech legends. Wozniak would have stayed in HP and probsbly remained fairly unknown if Jobs had not convinced him to start Apple with him.
And vice versa. Jobs got where he was by (not likely coincidentally) finding a person with Woz's combination of genius and gullibility. Woz didn't get a remotely fair shake from Jobs, and there are not a ton of guys dumb enough to ride that ride and smart enough to deliver what Woz delivered.
Woz isn't dumb, just had different priorities in life. If you sum up the total happiness over the course of Jobs and Woz lives, Woz might come out ahead.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#83From the article: "It's true that networking can help you accomplish great things. But this obscures the opposite truth: Accomplishing great things help you develop a network." This is something that I wished I had understood way earlier in my career. Basically that cause and effect are often inverted when people talk about the network effect. People who do some thing well, or are passionate about, often will accumul…
"I'm a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have."
Fortune favors the prepared mind.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#84The article gives example of Justin Bieber and Adele. For those two examples, there are hundreds who got where they are just because they knew someone important. Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton. Actors/singers make very poor examples for this given that most of them mostly get to where they are by networking more than anything else. Lets say there was an absolute mas…
Networking is one the most expensive forms of advertising. If a better paying job is what you are after, spending 90% of your time on networking doesn't sound like an efficient or even a good idea. Instead focus on building your brand, doing PR, writing articles, speaking at various events, etc., basically focus on becoming a rockstar and wait for offers to come to you.
Isn't that all networking?
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Networking is one the most expensive forms of advertising. If a better paying job is what you are after, spending 90% of your time on networking doesn't sound like an efficient or even a good idea. Instead focus on building your brand, doing PR, writing articles, speaking at various events, etc., basically focus on becoming a rockstar and wait for offers to come to you.
How do you get invited to events, get people to read your articles, connect to the upblic, and build your brand, without networking?
Through other channels, the same way people know about anyone famous without ever networking with them. For example, it's much cheaper to submit your article to a bunch of websites, mention it in comments on various platforms, advertise it on Google, Facebook, than to network with people and ask them to read it.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Networking is one the most expensive forms of advertising. If a better paying job is what you are after, spending 90% of your time on networking doesn't sound like an efficient or even a good idea. Instead focus on building your brand, doing PR, writing articles, speaking at various events, etc., basically focus on becoming a rockstar and wait for offers to come to you.
Isn't that all networking?
I consider networking as 1:1 kind of communications. In the same category as door-to-door marketing.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#87The article gives example of Justin Bieber and Adele. For those two examples, there are hundreds who got where they are just because they knew someone important. Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, Charlie Sheen, Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton. Actors/singers make very poor examples for this given that most of them mostly get to where they are by networking more than anything else. Lets say there was an absolute mas…
I was about to write a very similar comment to yours.
My father is a remarkably talented guitarist. I used to think he was "good" as a kid, but it wasn't until I was older that I realized just how "good" he actually was. I vividly remember being home from college over the holidays one year, listening to some Rory Gallagher ('74 Irish Tour), and he just casually started following along with Rory's lead in Tatoo'd Lady. That's when it first clicked to me.
He was born in NYC and did all the terrible things that any kid would do in NYC in the '70s. But when my brother and I were suddenly a thing my parents picked up and moved north to the Adirondacks so that we, presumably, wouldn't do all the terrible things that any kid would do in NYC in the '80s.
While there is obviously no telling whether or not he would have become a successful musician by staying down in the city, there is no doubt in my mind that he was, in some small way, giving up on his dream by moving out of the city in an effort to give us a chance at a more, I suppose "wholesome", life as kids.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#88I can attribute a lot of my professional value to my professional and even personal network. I've found they key is to network before you need to network so you're not always looking for something. That way you can look for ways to provide value and serve your network. That's how you build solid relationships.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
And vice versa. Jobs got where he was by (not likely coincidentally) finding a person with Woz's combination of genius and gullibility. Woz didn't get a remotely fair shake from Jobs, and there are not a ton of guys dumb enough to ride that ride and smart enough to deliver what Woz delivered.
Woz isn't dumb, just had different priorities in life. If you sum up the total happiness over the course of Jobs and Woz lives, Woz might come out ahead.
An excellent point. Who's the smart one at the end of the day? Woz seems to have all the money he needs and all the fame I think he can stand. There's a lot to be said for quitting while you're ahead.
Re: Good News for Young Strivers: Networking Is Overrated
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think PhD is a waste of time?
I would say that PHD is not a waste of time only if you plan to stay in academia. If writing papers and chasing grants is your jam, go for it. If you are looking for one more thing for your CV, don't bother with phd.
Generally speaking, you should get the qualifications you need for the job you want. If you want to be a software developer or program manager, a B.Sc. is sufficient and a PhD is overkill and a waste of time. If you want to be an academic or a scientist in industry, a PhD is essentially required.