
Networking is Overrated - InfinityX0
http://wins.softwareadvice.com/networking-is-overrated-1213/
======
tarr11
Author went to Princeton.[1] Another Princeton grad "found him" through the
alumni directory. Sounds like networking to me.

 _Then, in the fall of 2006, a guy named Austin Merritt looked me up in the
Princeton University alumni directory. He was about two years out of school
and had just moved to Big Sky to ski, enjoy the outdoors and hopefully find a
job in the construction industry. Apparently, we were two of only three alumni
in the area. He asked if I wanted to grab dinner sometime, and we did. As we
drove home that night, Lauren said, “You know you have to hire that guy.” I
knew I did. That would mean paying his salary from my personal savings, which
was scary. But somehow, I knew it would be worthwhile._

The author linked to another other article about his company, describing his
difficulties hiring good developers and "eventually" stumbling upon SEO,
around 2006, when he got lucky finding a college student in Montana. [2]

SEO was pretty common by 2006, especially in places like San Francisco. I'd
imagine that if he had done more networking (even in Montana) he might have
figured this out sooner. He might also have had a better time finding
development resources instead of having to stumble through 10 different
outsourcing agencies.

[1] [http://wins.softwareadvice.com/how-software-advice-got-
start...](http://wins.softwareadvice.com/how-software-advice-got-started-
part-1-0513/)

[2] [http://wins.softwareadvice.com/how-software-advice-got-
start...](http://wins.softwareadvice.com/how-software-advice-got-started-
part-2-0513/)

~~~
SomeCallMeTim
Yeah, I think it's a variation on "sour grapes," in that networking in Montana
isn't likely productive compared to higher density areas.

It's hard to measure the results of networking. My first awesome gig here in
Colorado came as a result of networking with no clear goal: Made a friend in
the local scene, and ran into him as we were leaving a conference, where he
introduced me to someone else. Ended up with a nice high paying gig from that,
as well as a great item on my resume.

At this point I've done enough networking that the jobs are finding me. But
people only know that I create value because I've talked with them and told
them. Doesn't mean the networking was useless since I don't do it as much any
more.

------
jblow
Networking is for people who don't know what they are doing and who don't have
better ideas regarding what to do with their time and energy. So if you go to
a networking event, understand that you are automatically putting yourself
into this class of person.

If you are someone who provides a lot of value, other people will go out of
their way to meet you, and then you don't have to go to networking events. So
the fact that you are doing networking implies that you are someone who does
not provide a lot of value (or else that people don't know what value you
provide).

Do you think Elon Musk goes to a lot of networking events? Do you think Steve
Jobs went to a lot of networking events?

If you are early in your career and legitimately aren't providing a lot of
value _yet_ , because it's early, then I would offer that your time is much
better spent cloistered away becoming excellent at what you do, than it is
networking. Because if the arc of your career involves you being excellent at
what you do, then very quickly you will find that people you meet randomly at
events like this are not in your league -- that's just how things are
everywhere all the time.

~~~
codegeek
"Networking is for people who don't know what they are doing and who don't
have better ideas regarding what to do with their time and energy. "

Wait, what ? No. That's not what networking is for. You don't network only
because you have nothing better to do and you are at the bottom of the food
chain but because networking helps you create influence in a world where
ultimately, everything comes down to human beings. Do you believe that
successful people don't network anymore ? You are talking about "networking"
as if it is a negative last resort kind of thing for losers. Not quite. I bet
if you interview any successful person, they will tell you that people
skills/networking is one of the most important aspects of success. Go read the
book "how to win friends and influence people" to understand what networking
is all about.

Networking is not a one time event. It is a continuous process regardless of
whether you are rich or poor, success or failure

~~~
nostrademons
So when I was in college I was pretty shy, but I heard that networking was
essential for career success, and so I was kinda terrified about what my
future held.

It's 8 years later, I'm in my early 30s, and I feel like my network is doing
pretty well. At least, some of my direct friends - people I would invite to
crash on my couch when they're visiting town, or go out for dinner with weekly
- are tech leads of major consumer products with millions of users, or
entrepreneurs with a successful exit, or heads of university research
departments, or responsible for managing tens of millions in investment
portfolios. And my 2nd degree connections include early Google employees,
venture capitalists, heads of government agencies, etc. This is all without
doing all that much in the way of deliberate networking. I just get involved
with things that I'm passionate about and seek out other people who are
passionate about it - or, more commonly, get sought out by other people who
are passionate about it.

It's a little paradoxical that almost all of my big career successes came from
my network, but almost none of my network consists of people that I
specifically "networked" with.

I think what a lot of people miss about general social interaction is that
people like to hang out with other folks like themselves. If you specifically
believe that networking is the key to success, you will attract other people
that believe networking is the key to success, and you will end up with a
network full of...well, networkers. Which can be great in fields like
enterprise sales or politics where success is pretty much based on knowing
lots of people who know lots of other people. But if you want to network with
people who are passionate about changing the world for the better, your best
bet is to be passionate about changing the world _yourself_ , make your
actions congruent with that, and you'll find that you will find and attract
other such people.

~~~
hbags
"seek out other people who are passionate about it"

ding ding ding ding ding. This is what networking is. Purposefully interacting
with people whose passions, and goals overlap your own.

It saddens me that so many tech folks do exactly what you did: writing a
screed about how networking is useless, in which you explicitly note that you
networked, and that your network is responsible for all of your big career
successes.

~~~
nostrademons
It's also a little sad to see a bunch of people going to events they're _not_
passionate about because they hear "networking is important". Unfortunately
that happens a lot: people mistake effect ("I got involved in things that
interested me, and met a lot of interesting people doing that") with cause ("I
should go out and meet lots of people because then I'll be successful.")

------
VLM
The recreational / downtime aspect shouldn't be overlooked.

There's nothing wrong with taking time off for non-productive activities like
dinner/drinks/hanging out. Living to work is a completely meaningless and
pointless life. The problem with rationalization about time off is its a non-
productive activity squared.

Just admit it, wanted to hang out and goof off, and talking about work a bit
made it not feel as inappropriate. No need to submit everyone else to
illogical rationalizations.

It takes a certain level of bravery to just say "One night, I wanted to drink,
eat, and hang out, and that's OK"

There are other, in some cases highly toxic, reasons to go on about
networking. One scenario is dude at the bottom of the primate dominance
hierarchy takes a night off from his 120 hour work week therefore is a
worthless slacker who's not worth his salary, but if the boss at the top of
the primate dominance hierarchy takes a night off from his 120 hour work week,
he's a "professional networker developing leads". I'm not even remotely
implying this is the case in the related article but I have seen this specific
behavior in several other unrelated situations.

One way to identify pathological behavior is to list specific concrete
results. Not metrics or vague feelings. "Its helped me in the past" or "I've
met people and talked about things" is a strong indication of uselessness. "I
have 50000 followers on twitter" is a strong indication of uselessness. On the
other hand a concrete result like "I met my current tax accountant at this
mixer" or "I hired two guys I met at such and such con" are examples of non-
pathological specific concrete results. This paragraph has to be read with
respect to the "nothing wrong with occasional recreation" because if you have
a side hobby of collecting twitter followers, no matter how useless that is,
if it makes you smile that's all the justification you really need. Just don't
make the rest of the world sit thru illogical attempts at rationalization
about a hobby or recreation or faith or whatever.

------
RickS
I think there's a necessary asterisk here: Networking is overrated _for people
trying to start a business_.

Networking provides a crucial career-entry function for people who are
qualified but unproven, by allowing another proven person to "vet" that you're
capable, and therefore qualify you for an opportunity that may not have been
open to your resume alone.

For most, networking is primarily about finding likeminded people who will
ultimately point you to a well-fitting job opportunity. If you're running a
startup, you've already got a full time job, and have less to gain from these
types of relationships.

That's not to say that finding yourself in a room full of similar people is a
bad thing for a founder. There's still a lot of insight to be gained from
people who have won or lost in the arenas you currently occupy.

~~~
tstrimple
On the other end of the spectrum, the best developers a startup can hire will
probably come from their network. Not from recruiters or random people
submitting resumes. Early hires are incredibly important and actively seeking
the first few hires through networking is certainly a worthwhile endeavor.

------
Peroni
_There will most likely be periods during which networking is not your
highest-value activity._

That same statement could apply to almost anything in life.

Networking, particularly in our industry, certainly isn't overrated. I
honestly believe that I wouldn't have achieved anything close to my current
level of (relative) success had I not spent the last few years networking
aggressively.

Everything in moderation, that's just common sense.

------
mindcrime
An important point to consider, is that not all networking is equal. A lot of
startup founders, for example, tend to like attending "startup events" which
are mostly filled with other startup founders, wantrapreneurs, and maybe a few
VCs and some angel investors. OK, attending some of those and getting to know
the local VCs is important, if you think you'll be raising money at some
point. But... if you have to choose between, say, working on your product, and
hanging out with a bunch of wantrepreneurs and broke startup founders, I think
a strong argument could be made that - in most cases - it's better to be
working on your product.

But, on the other hand... what about events that are designed to cater to
people who happen to fit the demographic profile of your target market? What
if you can attend a networking event where you will be meeting people that you
intend to sell your product to? Depending on where in your process you are,
_that_ could be very valuable. And, truth be told, at times it has to trump
writing code and working on the product.

I'll argue that in the vast majority of cases, the latter type of event has
far more value than the former, with the possible exception of a situation
where you are specifically in the middle of trying to raise a round and are
pointedly working on meeting investors.

In the end though it's all about balance. Networking _is_ important, but you
can't just do nothing but network and expect success to just fall in your lap.
OTOH, if you spend your entire life in your basement building your product,
you're likely to emerge with a product that nobody wants, and with no
connections to help you market and sell it.

FWIW, I've made a conscious decision to all but stop attending "startup
events" since we're not raising at the moment, and my time is limited. Right
now, my priorities are A. meeting customers and B. working on the product.

------
m0skit0
Networking is actually underrated

~~~
dasil003
...by engineers.

~~~
sscalia
Nail on head.

------
rmrfrmrf
As someone who hates networking, I actually do a lot of what people would call
"networking." The networking that I hate is the kind where people go to meet-
ups and events and talk about how relevant they are. Another thing I hate is
sucking up to people because they're well-connected.

IMO, if you do great work and have some sense of how to talk to people, the
networking will happen by itself. Make yourself known for being the person
that does X, Y, or Z. People will start to approach _you_ about topics because
you've proven yourself as someone who actually knows what they're talking
about. The people you help will remember you and introduce you to other people
they've met along the way. The best part is, it's _soooooo_ much more natural
than Young Professionals meet-ups and awkward social media photo ops.

------
csixty4
Back in the day, people used to have Rolodexes, and it wasn't uncommon for a
Rolodex to follow you out the door from one job to the next, growing steadily
with each new acquaintance you made. A good executive relied on their Rolodex,
kept it up-to-date. If you barely recognized a name, maybe it was time to call
that person and meet them for drinks, catch up on what's new in their life.

Sometimes, you'd find yourself helping them move, or calling in a favor to get
them front-row seats at a concert. And then when you'd have a need for a
particular skill, you could say "it's ok, I know a guy" and call in a favor
from them.

That's networking. That's all networking is. It's making connections with
people and maintaining those connections over time. It's why executives and
sales people spend so much time on the golf course. Connections.
Relationships. Just short of friendships.

Somewhere along the line, that got packaged up, conceptualized, productized.
People were told they should be networking. Here's a course on how to network.
Let's have a "networking event"...bring your business cards! Networking went
from a verb to a noun.

Screw that. Meet people, online and off. Help them out with their problems, or
just hang out. Don't be a stranger. That's it. I bet if each of you thought
about it, you network all the time.

------
Goladus
I think a better perspective is to include the networking angle in anything
you do, whenever possible. The most successful people are never _not_
networking, except when they are engaged in a solo activity like programming
or practicing. This goes hand in hand with self-promotion and marketing.

As others have mentioned, though, there are different definitions of the term.
Going to "networking events" may not be the best use of your time. That
doesn't mean you shouldn't be building connections and relationships-- with
classmates, professors, roommates, bartenders, skiing buddies, vendors-- as
many as you can handle. And yes: interest group meetups and and clubs can be a
good place to make connections.

------
bdevs
Another headline to grab attention but not really provide all that much
information. "So while conventional wisdom says to network aggressively, I
don’t necessarily agree." That is not the point of networking. When you
network in college its to get a job in your field. Not any job, not to make
friends, but to make inroads.

If the author had networked with people closer to his business market, he
could have potentially got advice that worked instead of spending time
speaking to people far removed from his day to day work.

------
d0m
>> Instead of networking for networking’s sake, focus your efforts on
activities that will bring you revenue. If networking can drive a sale, great.
Otherwise, you might be better off going heads down and executing internally.

The thing is that if you only focus on executing internally you might work
VERY HARD on a not-so-good opportunity. Networking is not just about "meeting
important people" but also being on the lookout for new opportunities that may
arise.

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ExpiredLink
> _When I was living in Silicon Valley, I did a lot of networking. I wanted to
> meet as many important people as possible._

Desperately looking for contacts isn't networking. Good networkers let their
network grow naturally over many years effortlessly. When they need someone
they know whom to call - at eye level.

------
nickthemagicman
Interesting article.

~~~
tryagainlater
Your comment was bad, like always. I hope you catch AIDS and die.

~~~
nickthemagicman
Lol. Nice. You literally created an account to say this to me.

I hate to break it to you but I just commented to have the article in my
comment history so I can revisit it.

All your butthurt was for naught.

------
notastartup
I love reading articles like this because it reinforces what I've believed all
this time. At first I thought, maybe I'm just not a social creature and that
is why I can't find value in networking. True as it maybe that I dislike
socializing in general, I found that I was simply "networking" because this is
what "you are supposed to do" or "everyone does it so it must be right".

Especially in startup culture, people even without ever having started one or
work in the industry seems to know EXACTLY what to do. You network, you build
contacts. I don't argue that it's useless but at launching and being very
early on in the product cycle, even if I had contacts, I'd have no use for it
as it's too generic.

The spending 50% of time describing your specific problem and walking away
with answers that you already know....it's not that people that you network
with are stupid, it's that you are faced with very specific problems early in
the game that you must solve yourself.

Of course when you grow a business, you are faced with questions that they
teach you in business school, but more than often, I find the time you spent
going to networking events, you could've spent just brainstorming and cranking
it out yourself.

