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This is true, but it's also part of what's broken in the poli-tech space -- if you're starting a business there, the connections you have matter much more than
by smacktoward 7y ago
This is true, but it's also part of what's broken in the poli-tech space -- if you're starting a business there, the connections you have matter much more than your experience and/or competence in application design, UX, operations, etc. You don't get customers by building a better product, you get customers by lining up influential people behind you. So the software products that serve this space tend in general to be pretty underwhelming.
This can be classified as a mutated variation of Enterprise Software Syndrome, the disease that makes enterprise software suck so badly.
- basch 7y agoI dont think "hiring someone who knows the social landscape" for your sales/networking position is a flaw. You really just need to plan for this if you want to start that type of company. A company needs more than just product builders.
- sky_rw 7y agoThis is true for all business. People don't buy the objectively best product, they buy the product from the people they know best. Until you are capable of changing human nature and purchasing behavior challenging this phenomenon will be an uphill battle.
- ethbro 7y agoI would say: they buy the product they trust the most to fulfill their needs (as they see them). Barring actual corruption, oftentimes ability to eventually get it done is more important to the buyer than features.
- TheKarateKid 7y agoIt’s not just poli-tech - this is how everything connected to politics is run. It’s all about who you know.
- caseysoftware 7y agoThat's not business, that's humanity. We work with, spend time with, and collaborate with people we trust. That trust usually comes from repeated, direct, human interaction or as a referral from someone who has that long-built trust. That applies to the vendors we choose, the babysitters we hire, and the doctors we visit. Asking someone to choose someone they don't trust is inherently risky, even if it works out.
- dsfyu404ed 7y agoYup. This is no different than a bunch of blue collar tradesmen trading references. There's higher dollar amounts involved and it's a different industry but it's the same behavior.
- ploxolo 7y agoBroken is just your judgement. I would rather say that quite objectively, it's just the way the world works, one can play with it or try to change it, but better be sure it's not just human nature.