3 ms·

Yeah, I did a double take when I saw this line in the story: > It’s not about making friends with the right people Because my takeaway was the opposite… if yo

Yeah, I did a double take when I saw this line in the story: > It’s not about making friends with the right people Because my takeaway was the opposite… if you have good connections, your actual product isn’t as important.

rhizome 5y ago
Same. It's not about making friends with the right people...except for the part where he had already done so. It's a tremendous blind spot, where "the right people" are defined as people his friend would have to pay for some business thing, rather than the people who have the money to give him. Coincidentally I'm helping someone in this way right now. She has a good business idea because she has the talent and potential clients already (as well as being a good people-person), but the fact that she has me to make a website for her and advise on her technological needs for free isn't the thing that makes it a good business idea. Don't get me wrong, it can be extremely valuable and thrifty to have someone who knows enough to know where and when to say "no," or YAGNI, but those are cashflow and time questions, not a fundamental viability one.
xwdv 5y ago
Same. I could build damn near any product, but I cannot even make 1 friend in the right place in the right industry.
hinkley 5y ago
It's always interesting to hear people talk about what made a successful project successful, especially if you were part of that project. Everybody has theories, and none of them line up.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
I figured it was a play on the "networking industry" rather than knowing people who know people bit. He was able to build trust with people he worked with every day. Not much different than getting a recommendation from someone who you worked closely with and landing a new contract.
MrDunham 5y ago
I quite literally came to the comments to quote this: > No, it’s about embracing the constraints. They proved to be his true allies And say pretty much the same thing you did. Constraints helped them ship by Monday (a seriously admirable feat) but the direct relationships with both the customer (restaurants) and infrastructure (couriers) was what made it a profitable endeavor.
Rastonbury 5y ago
I wouldn't call these 'good connections' in the traditional sense. Not the kind that recommends you for a job or can hook you up to seed investors. What they've done is had a shortcut to finding their first customers and convincing them to use the product. Often the hardest part, no fiddling with a contact form or landing page

rhizome 5y ago

Same. It's not about making friends with the right people...except for the part where he had already done so. It's a tremendous blind spot, where "the right people" are defined as people his friend would have to pay for some business thing, rather than the people who have the money to give him. Coincidentally I'm helping someone in this way right now. She has a good business idea because she has the talent and potential clients already (as well as being a good people-person), but the fact that she has me to make a website for her and advise on her technological needs for free isn't the thing that makes it a good business idea. Don't get me wrong, it can be extremely valuable and thrifty to have someone who knows enough to know where and when to say "no," or YAGNI, but those are cashflow and time questions, not a fundamental viability one.

xwdv 5y ago

Same. I could build damn near any product, but I cannot even make 1 friend in the right place in the right industry.

hinkley 5y ago

It's always interesting to hear people talk about what made a successful project successful, especially if you were part of that project. Everybody has theories, and none of them line up.

stjohnswarts 5y ago

I figured it was a play on the "networking industry" rather than knowing people who know people bit. He was able to build trust with people he worked with every day. Not much different than getting a recommendation from someone who you worked closely with and landing a new contract.

MrDunham 5y ago

I quite literally came to the comments to quote this: > No, it’s about embracing the constraints. They proved to be his true allies And say pretty much the same thing you did. Constraints helped them ship by Monday (a seriously admirable feat) but the direct relationships with both the customer (restaurants) and infrastructure (couriers) was what made it a profitable endeavor.

Rastonbury 5y ago

I wouldn't call these 'good connections' in the traditional sense. Not the kind that recommends you for a job or can hook you up to seed investors. What they've done is had a shortcut to finding their first customers and convincing them to use the product. Often the hardest part, no fiddling with a contact form or landing page