
How to date a supermodel (or get dealflow or find cofounders) - robfitz
http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2011/10/how-to-date-a-supermodel-or-get-dealflow-or-find-cofounders/
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breckinloggins
Showing up is a necessary but non-sufficient condition. I've known plenty of
people who were very good at "showing up", but nobody wanted them there.
You'll need some personality and, yes, perhaps a little bit of hard-earned
talent (those six pack abs) to complete the picture.

~~~
SaintSal
And you can also create a place that fits well. That's what Rob did with Poker
Nights and so on.

~~~
jQueryIsAwesome
"I am going to create a supermodel meetup!"

Is not that easy (...could it be?)

~~~
tg3
We might be stretching the metaphor a bit here, but I don't think it would be
too much of a stretch to create an aspiring model meetup. Of course some
credibility in the community would help (ie sponsorship from one or more local
model agencies) and you would need to provide actual value (perhaps in the
form of "tricks of the trade"), but why wouldn't aspiring models be looking
for this kind of thing?

And why couldn't you be the one to create it for them?

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usaar333
Whenever I read social advice online for startup/tech people, I tend to find
that the benefits of networking, etc. are really overhyped (I may be biased by
my industry). You aren't going to date a supermodel just sitting outside the
Playboy mansion on the street, and you aren't getting in to the Playboy
mansion unless you have proved yourself worthy of being in that club. You
aren't going to get funding if you have no product or talent. Obviously
networking is important, and you should take high-value opportunities, but
this article is exaggerating its value/frequency it is needed

In my experience, it is so much easier to find like-minded people through
online means. I try to imagine how someone could try to find someone like
myself in the real world inadvertently. Given my lifestyle (work in private
office, don't frequently socialize with startup people), it isn't happening,
outside of the occasional major conferences (PyCon) and invite-only events.

~~~
analyst74
What I've learnt, from growing up in a highly connection based society
(China), is that your own worth and networking are two side of the coin, and
you must have both.

Although, in some cases, who you know is part of your value, so it kind of
creates a self-reinforcing loop for networking.

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dools
Ruben Gamez did a good course on Mixergy.com (premium) called "Networking for
Introverts". Although it says it's for introverts it's really just useful as a
good example of how to build relationships that works.

I spent the better part of my 20s thinking that networking is for losers. You
know - you show up to those "networking breakfasts", everyone in their shitty,
ill-fitting $120 suits from Lowes drinking orange juice concentrate and
desperately trying to sell each other their shitty products (or worse, strike
up worthless "strategic partnerships").

Then early in 2011 when I was looking to build a better business development
strategy rather than the "hit n hope" method of deal flow that I'd been
relying on as a freelancer for so many years I went to see a marketing
consultant. One of the questions she asked was "so where do you do your
networking?". I was like "networking? that's for losers!". She looked at me
blanky and proceeded to school me.

I've met so many great people since then. There are some fantastic resources
on how to build and manage your networks and how to be a valuable member of
your community, and how that in turn will build value for your business.

If you aren't taking networking and building relationships seriously, you're
missing out. No matter what business you're in, you're ultimately in the
people business and knowning great people is always going to be an asset.

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eftpotrm
A slightly tangential point from that article but...

I'm in the UK - Derby, specifically, though I've known other areas well too -
and I've _never_ seen people working for more than a short period (say, 30
mins max) out of cafés. Never.

I can see it may well be good networking advice. I can see it'd be more
sociable than my current spare-bedroom-office setup. But I've never seen it
done to have any indication it's viable in the local café culture.

Serious question. Any UK'ers, midlands in particular, actually _do_ this?
Where do you find is actually good for this?

~~~
mdda
At the risk of pointing out the obvious : Why don't you ask the cafe owner
whether it's Ok if you hang out for most of the day at a table - and whether
they'd prefer you to pay via regular coffee purchases, or they would be
comfortable if you just gave them (say) GBP10 for the morning, etc. Make sure
the place has the right vibe before you pick it for the 'long term', and that
you make plain that you're happy to play by their rules...

~~~
eftpotrm
Well, yes, but for something that seems to be standard advice yet I'd never
seen in operation, I was curious if I was missing it actually happening or
whether it was more a localised phenomena. I think I've got my answer :-)

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robfitz
New year's resolution: supermodel cofounder.

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SaintSal
I think the most valuable lesson in this post is getting a bit lost. It's so
much more than just "networking." It's about being where your targets are, so
that you can better understand them.

Just being among the people that interest you, to observe and overhear, can be
super valuable in itself.

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tokenadult
Submitted 83 days ago:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3093130>

~~~
jQueryIsAwesome
Sometimes the time of publishing of an article doesn't match with the free
time of the people that would find it interesting.

I think an article should be allowed to be reposted maximum 3 times; with at
least one month between every attempt.

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squarecog
Except, supermodels don't eat.

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imran
I would suggest to just take this advice, work on it, or atleast TRY IT. We
are so focused to find excuses that sometimes we succeed at an incredible
rate!

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richardburton
Sales. It is all about the numbers.

Just watch this classic clip from Glengarry Glen Ross:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI>

Pure. Gold.

~~~
skore
I can see that some would see this as inspirational, but I cannot help but see
it as shallow and pointless.

Sales as the end-all to your aspirations seems to be a good recipe to end up
rich, influential, lonely and bored.

~~~
richardburton
Absolutely right. That clip is sales-culture gone too far. Sales for money's
sake.

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andreadallera
While it may certainly help to hang out in the right places, there's two
reason this won't work out:

1) At least where I live (Italy), hanging out with the "right" people just
isn't enough. You have to have deeper connections with somebody (for example,
they're in some way connected to your family) before you can get some kind of
attention from the "right" people.

2) The author implies that what you are able to do is just not relevant. While
I've found out that is certainly true, I personally think that it's very
unhealthy for you as an individual to completely drop all of your skills
except for the social skill (which seems to be the only thing that matters,
especially when dealing with the "right" people).

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
Willie Sutton said he robbed banks because "that's where the money is."

If you need to meet people, the first thing to do is make sure you can be
where they are. Likewise, if you need clients/customers, you have to find them
before doing anything else. All the other stuff surrounding getting a product
done is meaningless if you can't find someone to sell it to.

I think his point is that you have to find out what's important and do that
before anything else. If you want to date supermodels, figure out where to go
to meet them before you worry about getting in shape/buying new clothes/any
other peripheral activity.

Honestly, you'd be amazed how often simply being in the right place is all you
need (at least here in the US).

~~~
andreadallera
I know that's true - probably not in Italy, but certainly it works better than
building a great product and then trying to sell it.

> if you need clients/customers, you have to find them before doing anything
> else. All the other stuff surrounding getting a product done is meaningless
> if you can't find someone to sell it to.

I can't see a society where this is true going somewhere - just my point of
view.

~~~
NickPollard
He is not saying that the skills required to build the product are not
_necessary_ , he is just saying they are not _sufficient_.

You need to be able to build the product, AND have people to sell it to.

Having people to sell it to first helps you build the right product in the
first place.

In the supermodel example, you might still need to go to the gym and buy a
flashier car, but you won't know that until you actually start meeting
supermodels and talking to them.

~~~
iodave
Exactly. He's not discounting any of the other stuff that's required. He's
just emphasizing that you should fish where the fish are.

