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This was a very interesting read and I hope that she continues blogging about her startup journey. Having interviewed the team, I have my own expectations for h

by paul 13y ago

This was a very interesting read and I hope that she continues blogging about her startup journey. Having interviewed the team, I have my own expectations for how it will play out, so I would love to see how that matches with reality. However, it definitely isn't the case though that we're just looking for a bunch of Zuck clones. In this business, we make all of our money off a small number of outliers, and my assumption is that outliers are likely to be outliers in a number of ways. For example, Brian Chesky was a bodybuilder who graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. If anything, I'm more likely to take a chance on an unconventional team. Also, a word of advice, if people are consistently getting the "wrong impression" about you, then perhaps you should work on hacking their perception. To build a big business, you're going to need to sell yourself to potential employees, customers, investors, etc.

mindcrime 13y ago
Also, a word of advice, if people are consistently getting the "wrong impression" about you, then perhaps you should work on hacking their perception. Danger, Wil Robinson, danger! If you start down the path of trying to project yourself to somebody as what you think they want to see, you are taking on a big risk, as you never really know what the expectations are. You're probably just as likely to screw things up by trying to be perceived differently, than by just being yourself. To build a big business, you're going to need to sell yourself to potential employees, customers, investors, etc. Right, but you have to sell yourself not some alternate-reality, fictional version of yourself. Of course you want to present your best self to people, to the extent that you can know what that is. And maybe that's all you're really saying. If so, then sure. But if it means actively molding your dress, behavior, mannerisms, speech, appearance, etc. to something artificial in order to cater to someone's whims, I'm not so sure.
- paul 13y ago
  Maybe we have a different definition of hacking. I'm not particularly good at molding myself to cater to other people's whims, which is part of the reason I have always avoided normal jobs. However, that doesn't mean I can't still be mindful of how others perceive me.
  - mindcrime 13y ago
    Maybe we have a different definition of hacking. I'm not particularly good at molding myself to cater to other people's whims, which is part of the reason I have always avoided normal jobs. However, that doesn't mean I can't still be mindful of how others perceive me. Sure. And based on that, I'd say we probably don't disagree much, if at all. I'm just saying that there's a risk in worrying too much about how others perceive you, since you won't (usually?) know - in advance - what it is they want to see. I do agree with "put your best self forward", I just worry if it goes beyond that. Of course, my own biases are probably showing here, since I tend to prefer outsider / renegade / iconoclast types anyway. :-)

by paul 13y ago

mindcrime 13y ago

Also, a word of advice, if people are consistently getting the "wrong impression" about you, then perhaps you should work on hacking their perception. Danger, Wil Robinson, danger! If you start down the path of trying to project yourself to somebody as what you think they want to see, you are taking on a big risk, as you never really know what the expectations are. You're probably just as likely to screw things up by trying to be perceived differently, than by just being yourself. To build a big business, you're going to need to sell yourself to potential employees, customers, investors, etc. Right, but you have to sell yourself not some alternate-reality, fictional version of yourself. Of course you want to present your best self to people, to the extent that you can know what that is. And maybe that's all you're really saying. If so, then sure. But if it means actively molding your dress, behavior, mannerisms, speech, appearance, etc. to something artificial in order to cater to someone's whims, I'm not so sure.

paul 13y ago
Maybe we have a different definition of hacking. I'm not particularly good at molding myself to cater to other people's whims, which is part of the reason I have always avoided normal jobs. However, that doesn't mean I can't still be mindful of how others perceive me.
- mindcrime 13y ago
  Maybe we have a different definition of hacking. I'm not particularly good at molding myself to cater to other people's whims, which is part of the reason I have always avoided normal jobs. However, that doesn't mean I can't still be mindful of how others perceive me. Sure. And based on that, I'd say we probably don't disagree much, if at all. I'm just saying that there's a risk in worrying too much about how others perceive you, since you won't (usually?) know - in advance - what it is they want to see. I do agree with "put your best self forward", I just worry if it goes beyond that. Of course, my own biases are probably showing here, since I tend to prefer outsider / renegade / iconoclast types anyway. :-)