Regular socializing is a first good step but it seems like the real filter, the way to get at the people you want, is to get people doing. When you're actually

Regular socializing is a first good step but it seems like the real filter, the way to get at the people you want, is to get people doing. When you're actually working on a project (even a small project) you learn pretty quickly who actually gets things done and who wants to be the "idea guy", occupy volume, and waste precious oxygen. I think as technology / hacker types we tend to undervalue the business side of the equation though (I know I did). My experience with my first startup was made a lot more difficult by the fact that no one in the company was really business/marketing/sales focused. There are valuable business skills that can help an early stage company but the question is, how do we filter and find the real business "makers". I think we can come up with ways to move people's various projects forward by small increments. I led a discussion at Boston BarCamp on this topic and someone brought up the "don't want people to steal my idea" thing. I made the person mad by saying that I wasn't interested in people like that. Ideas are ways to start the conversation/process, they're not an end in and of themselves. I find people like that are (usually) not really serious about building something.