On the note of "Empirically, it seems like the more you need from other people in the startup community (advice, introductions, feedback, funding), the more of

On the note of "Empirically, it seems like the more you need from other people in the startup community (advice, introductions, feedback, funding), the more of a popularity contest it feels like." In the must read book called, "Winning Through Intimidation" by Robert Ringer, he postulates that... "The result you get in a negotiation is inversely proportionate to how intimidated you are by the other person." His solution is what we call Takeaway Selling...where you remove the opportunity to do business with you...creating an environment where they stop thinking about WHY they should work with you (or invest) and focus on how to get you to let them work with you in the first place. (Much like pinterest did so successfully with their beta invitations.)