Notes from The Valley: The real social network
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Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#2Guess I should just go out and buy a ticket hey...
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#3This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who studied on their own and became really good-- who end up at front doors because it's all they have. It's not fair to assume that he's an idiot and a loser just because he's at a front door.
You need social proof to get around all the purple squirrel requirements. A company that mandates 5 years of experience in a 3-year-old technology won't be able to hire outside of its immediate social network... which is sometimes fine, and sometimes crippling.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#4This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who s…
...sorry, it's hard to hear you through that massive chip on your shoulder.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#5This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who s…
...sorry, it's hard to hear you through that massive chip on your shoulder.
[deleted]
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#6This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who s…
Getting an introduction to a VC requires a relatively small amount of networking. You show up at any one of the tech networking events that are constantly being hosted and cultivate a relationship with someone who can connect you. Once you meet with one, most VCs will be happy to make more introductions.
It is the same kind of networking you'll probably need to find a good team, get early customers and generally be successful in most startups.
I'm sorry you think it is stupid. The rest of us who are not natural networkers (even those of us who grew up here) just buckled down and learned how to do it.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#7This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who s…
Getting an introduction to a VC requires a relatively small amount of networking. You show up at any one of the tech networking events that are constantly being hosted and cultivate a relationship with someone who can connect you. Once you meet with one, most VCs will be happy to make more introductions. It is the same kind of networking you'll probably need to find a good team, get early customers and generally be s…
I'm sorry you think it is stupid.
That's not what I was trying to say. I think that for people like us, it's not a major barrier. We can "buckle down" and meet people.
I'm just irked by the implicit assumption that others who don't have the resources or knowledge are somehow inferior. It's the "everyone should be exactly like me" attitude of the unknowing privileged that makes VC-istan so irritating.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#8If you have a shitty product, it doesn't matter if you hang out with Arrington, Kevin Rose, Paul Graham. your product will still suck. Yet if you build a great product with real users/customers everyone will flock towards you.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#9As advanced as we think we are a species, tribalism still reigns over much of our behavior.
Re: Notes from The Valley: The real social network
#10This is yet another thing I hate about the brogrammer culture of VC-istan: the idea that if you can't get an introduction to that person specifically, you're garbage. Perhaps that applies to upper-middle-class males who were in Silicon Valley since they were in junior high school. But there are a lot of good people-- 40-year-old programmers who spent their career-building years Milwaukee for family reasons, but who s…
Getting an introduction to a VC requires a relatively small amount of networking. You show up at any one of the tech networking events that are constantly being hosted and cultivate a relationship with someone who can connect you. Once you meet with one, most VCs will be happy to make more introductions. It is the same kind of networking you'll probably need to find a good team, get early customers and generally be s…
Well said. In order to get something off the ground, you've got to be both a hacker and a hustler.