re '"but will never be "great" at either" What sort of attitude is that?' - I don't consider this a bad attitude, more of an acknowledgement that my goal is not to be "great". Further, I am of the personal belief that certain things are unattainable to all people - there is such a thing as a truly great writer, where it's not just attitude/hard work, but a certain natural inclination and ability. I believe I can be great at many things (we all can), but I don't think I have the mindset to be a "great" programmer. Does that make more sense?
OF COURSE you can. but it's about choices. you must weed OUT the 60+ hr/week startups for the ones who work normal hours. this will eliminate some fun/great opportunities - BUT - it will NOT eliminate ALL great opportunities.
our startup's been a ~50hr/wk place for 2 years, built great product, and got acquired in January. we didn't make $19B, but we aren't complaining either.
from your priority set, which I personally agree with, you have plenty of options - but you'll have to be "on guard" for the manic places that think 70hrs is normal and the "only way" to be successful. pro tip - they are incorrect.
i do recommend coming up to SF over the peninsula though.... YMMV.
OP here - sorry for the dupe, I searched but didn't see it yesterday. Mostly I thought it was a funny video that the community would enjoy - hope it didn't offend!
As someone with 15 years experience building TV technology, my statement is: this is a must-read for anyone who wants to build, invest in, or otherwise "play" in this space.
OK, so I'll add some context, you tell me what you think. I have almost 20 years experience in 2 very niche fields (consumer electronics and TV technologies). As a result, I've built up a lot of domain expertise and a lot of industry contacts. Again - no judgement here on whether I'm good or not, just stating some facts.
I frequently get emails from people introducing me to "Bob" who is starting a hardware startup and really wants to learn how to bring a gadget to market. For me, this is fun - I love to talk about this stuff. I've mentored/nurtured/consulted for dozens of these startups, and continue to do so to this day.
BUT - I'm also running a startup and have a family at home. Which means I have much, much less time available than I used to. So every "Fun" activity I choose to take takes away from either my work time or my personal time. This is fine - as long as I can manage it. Which I do. Until requests show up uninvited. Which now puts, as I've said, a burden in my lap.
I can choose to either (A) reply and take on the intro, (B) reply and decline (as politely as I possibly can), or (C) ignore it. So I never do (C), as I feel it's rude, but I can guarantee you that every time I do (B) I create a negative perception about myself.
I don't like being put in a position where I have to tell other people - who genuinely could use my help - that I am too busy for them. But what else am I supposed to do?
Whereas when my colleague asks if I'm up for an intro, and I can say no to someone who I already have a relationship with, and will understand me, is fine to me.
Maybe you think the above is wrong, but I don't...
true - sometimes i do that - but often i might not get some of the nuance of what person 1 does as well as they would have described. i've found that it's much harder to recover from incorrect perceptions/assumptions than it is to get them right the first time...
again, i care most about the double opt-in part - the rest is just my method. there are many ways to do it right. :)
when did i "judge others"? seriously? before this becomes some weird ad hominem thing, let's leave it with: go do your intros however you'd like, and good luck in life, i really don't care that much about this yet still feel i'm entitled to my opinion, thanks.
maybe i'm missing something here - are you the one looking to meet people, or are you already full-time working? if its the former, then of course you want all the intro's you can take! let's agree that if you are out looking to meet people, then you most certainly want every intro possible - but my take on it is if you want the most effective intro's, they are double opt-in...
i agree, that if there was a single person to provide feedback to, i would. but compare that with a fairly consistent stream of "hey, help this person out" emails, and I think you'd come to the same eventual conclusion...
curious - how many different people have sent you favor requests?
i wouldn't call it "pessimistic" at all. i think of it as respectful or not, that's it. someone who thinks i have all the time in the world to help everyone else, no matter my job or personal requirements, is simply not thinking about my time. i love helping others out, but i don't think it's right to burden another person with your favor (yes, i said burden - even if i want to help someone, it's still a burden as it has impact on my schedule, typically negative - doesn't mean i don't want to do it, but it should still be considered that way...
This is missing a HUGE aspect of intro etiquette - DOUBLE OPT-IN, almost all the time (and if you aren't sure, then it's ALL the time). If you want your contacts to be worth something, be respectful of them.
Here's my "workflow"
1. Intro request comes from Bob who wants to meet Jim
2. I review Bob's email, make sure it's short and to the point, and includes WHY it's a request. If I don't think it hits the money, send feedback and recommend edits to Bob. Wait for acceptable email - which must be its own, NEW & clean email. [edited for clarity: i inform Bob that I will send him whatever he writes to Jim, thus allowing him to position himself/his need/the opportunity in his own words]
3. I forward Bob's entire good email to Jim, which includes MY take on the matter (I think Bob's a great guy, or I am not familiar with Bob's company, but we've worked together before and he's worth meeting, or whatever).
4. If, AND ONLY IF, I get a reply from Jim agreeing to the intro, do I continue forward. But if Jim says he doesn't want the intro, I politely decline back to Bob.
Personally, I hate it when someone dumps an intro in my lap - it just isn't courteous or respectful in my opinion.