brian

@nikitabier x.com/_brianpitts/st…

If you had to remove 1 feature or part of the X app, what would it be?

Every community has a “super connector.” They’re that person who makes a point of knowing everyone and takes pride in their ability to connect people. Find the super connector in your community and unlock the connections you need without needing to meet every person.

At networking events, everyone wants to meet the most important person in the room. But the most important person in the room is actually the least valuable person in the room. Let me explain why, and who you should be trying to meet instead. First of all, how could the most important person be the least valuable? That doesn’t even make sense… The reason is actually pretty simple. The most important person, in almost every case, has the least time to spare. So if you don’t have something completely mind-blowing to offer, how do you exchange value with them? Important people get pitched A LOT. Seriously, to the point where they are genuinely annoyed to get pitched by you. We called this the VIP problem at my last company. Networking is somewhat a matter of probabilities. If you are thoughtful, you can really skew those probabilities in your favor. So rather than trying to meet the most important person in the room, you should be trying to start conversations with the average person in the room, then piggyback off of their network and knowledge to get warm intros to the people who can actually help you. Then you’ll be able to quickly get connected to high value people with an implicit recommendation from someone they know. It can’t be overemphasized how important warm intros are. More on that in a future post. Why does this work? Well, first of all, the average person truly wants to be helpful. They are far more willing to make intros because they don’t have huge demands on their network and it feels good to help others. Second, everyone knows at least a couple people who are higher status than they are. Remember, everyone is connected to everyone else through six degrees of separation. You aren’t too many intros from a conversation with the most important person in the room. Finally, you’re able to exponentially grow your network which increases the probability that you meet the right people who can help you. So instead of getting in line to talk to the most important person, use the techniques from this post to get fast introductions to high value connections.

Building professional relationships takes more time than you think. If you're bootstrapping a network from scratch, expect 6+ months of hard work before seeing early results.

If you are worried about generative AI and being able to spot fake content, you can stop worrying. This is the exact use-case blockchain was created for.

If you are applying for jobs and not getting any callbacks, I have a hack that will help you get more first interviews. Let me explain how it works. When you are applying for a role, your resume should be custom-tailored to match the job description. What does that mean? It means when the recruiter reads your resume, they should feel like you are a perfect fit for that job. The first thing to understand is how the hiring process works at most companies. The person reading your resume, typically a recruiter, isn't actually the person who wrote the job description. Their job is to take a description from a hiring manager and find people whose experience closely matches that description. So, in other words, a job description is a series of keywords that the recruiter is looking for when reading your resume. When reading a job description you want to apply to, make a list of all the keywords that specify things like: technical skills, software products, certifications, soft skills, attitude/work-culture expectations. After you’ve made the list, rank each keyword 1-10 so you can focus on adding the most important words to your resume. Next, take those keywords and find ways to weave them into the story your resume is telling. Be honest about what you can actually do here, and write things that make sense. You’ll know you have succeeded when you read the job description and your resume back-to-back and it feels like they are describing the same person. Remember, recruiters are only looking at your resume for a few seconds, and they say no to most people. The more words and phrases that match the job description, the more obvious it is that you should get a first interview. Happy hunting! If you find this type of content helpful, like and follow along for more.

Events are probably the single most powerful way to build your professional network. Yet a large portion of attendees are walking away from conferences feeling like they didn't get as much value out of them as they wanted. Here’s how you get the most out of attending a conference. First, do your research to make a list of key people you want to meet. A lot of conference software is going to give you access to the attendee list after buying a ticket. If there isn’t an attendee list, start searching on LinkedIn for people using the event’s hashtags or keywords in their posts related to the event. You should select the top 10 people you want to meet and then use memory tricks to link as much information as you can to each of those 10 people. Get to know their faces, and get to know them well. You need to be able to recognize these people at the cocktail parties, in the hallways, or sitting at tables looking at their phones, and when you do, you want to be able to ask good questions. At the event, when you see one of your prospects, you should watch closely in order to capitalize on an opportune time to approach them. Absolutely don’t be rude and don’t insert yourself at a time that you aren’t welcome. During the conversation itself, don’t talk about yourself more than you have to. You need to nail your elevator pitch as it relates to the prospect, but then turn the conversation to them: their background, their passions, their goals. Don’t be creepy and reveal you did a deep dive on them before the event 😂 Also, be conscientious of their time; they have people they want to meet as well, so make sure to not overstay your welcome. Sometimes your conversation gets interrupted and they need to move on. That’s fine. When you see them again, casually make eye contact with them and give them a nod of acknowledgement. No need to approach them again unless it’s an incredibly opportune time. Regardless of how your first conversation ended, do your best to try to get a second chat with the person before the event ends, even if it is just to say a few words. This will help you stand out to them when you follow up. Be sure to add people on LinkedIn as close to your conversation as possible. They may not check until later but be sure to include some memorable details from your conversation so they can connect the request to you. After the event, it’s really important that you follow up with all the prospects you met. If you are in the same city, suggest a coffee or a drink. If not, no worries. Video calls work great. In your request for a follow up conversation or meeting, suggest a time a couple weeks in the future. The next week after a conference for most people is super busy while they play catch-up. Most importantly, have a specific ask for why you want to talk with them. If you can offer something of value to them as well, even better. And remember to never be a sleazy salesperson. It’s hard to have a 100% hit rate, but these tips should increase your chances of making valuable connections at conferences. I write content about how to build and get the most out of your professional network. If this was helpful, like this post and follow along for more content like this.

If you're hoping to get a better job, you need to be networking. What you know is important, but who you know matters more. As many as 80% of jobs go to candidates with internal referrals. That’s what you’re competing with.

We over-idolize fast success in business. The type where someone has a brilliant idea and makes a billion dollars overnight. The type where someone goes viral and suddenly everyone knows who they are. Fast success is almost always luck-based, and is more akin to winning the lottery than something skills-based like training for a sport. We should be idolizing slow success because it actually represents the persistence required to start a company, grow a community, or build a career. Slow success is when you start something but it doesn't work right away. It's when you work for months or years but still don't have a huge success on your hands. When you are experiencing slow success, you have to iterate like crazy, trying everything and anything to figure out what works. You never have enough money or time. Slow success is succeeding through sheer force of will. Year after year, a slow success climbs until a decade goes by. It may not be a billion dollar business yet, or maybe it is, but it's cash-flow positive and provides jobs for people. True, repeatable success is slow and challenging. That's why it's important to persist at your goals for longer than seems comfortable and keep improving along the way. So rather than idolizing fast success, keep your head down and put in the work. Strive for slow success, and you’ll be way more likely to get there.

If you’re looking to raise money, get a promotion, get a raise, or generally get ahead, here’s a hack you should be using every day that’s dead simple. Respond to emails within 5 minutes and Slack/Teams messages within 2. Below I’ll explain why this works and how you can actually make this happen without killing your work-life balance. Why does this help you get ahead? First, it’s rare for someone to respond that quickly and it’s rare because it’s generally perceived as hard, so when someone pulls it off, it really makes them stand out. Second, getting ahead is partly having the knowledge and skills in your job function, but it’s also about the relationships you build. When someone needs something, you become the go-to person because they know you are going to get back to them quickly. Soon, that becomes a critical piece of your reputation and word spreads fast. Finally, it gives the impression that you are always working. If someone messages you at 10pm and you respond within a couple minutes, it seems like you are still working away on important business (even if you were just sitting on the couch watching TV). How can you respond that quickly? Here are a few tips that will take some of the stress off. When you first read a message, figure out whether the sender actually needs a response right away. If they don’t, this is your chance to really shine, because the response should only take you a few seconds. A simple “Hey, I’ll get this over to you by X time/Y day.” Easy, right? Next, if they do need an immediate response, determine how much time it’ll take you. If it’s fast, do it right then. If it’s going to take you more time, set expectations as soon as you read the message, with something like “Hey, that’s probably going to take me like 20 mins to get together for you, is that cool?” If it’s late at night, you can always say, “Hey, happy to grab that for you now if necessary but I think it is going to take me 10-15 mins. Do you need it now, or will it be alright if I grab it for you first thing in the morning?” Finally, and most importantly, do what you say. If you say you will get back to them in a few seconds, do that. If you say 10 minutes, make sure you get back to them in 10 minutes. Keeping them in the loop is what matters more than actually delivering in the original window you gave, though you do want to try your best to actually deliver results within that time. A key to this technique is to never be overly verbose. Respond quickly with the minimum amount required to make them feel heard, understood, and that you fulfilled their request completely. Avoid long paragraphs. These will kill your efficiency. You’ll notice that even though you are responding immediately, you aren’t necessarily giving them the answer they need immediately. That doesn’t actually matter. The fact that you got back to them quickly is what makes you stand out. If you consistently fire off replies and deliver on any timeline promises you make, you are golden for that next big capital raise, promotion, pay raise, or whatever else you are trying to accomplish in the business world.

The business world is a series of systems created by other humans and should be treated like a game, with rules, that you can win. Playing the game well requires that you understand the rules in order to use them to your advantage. Understanding doesn’t mean reciting, but knowing the mechanics of why the rule functions and exists. Don’t expect the rules to be what people say they are, the rules are dictated by how people feel and respond to your actions.

@nikitabier Mixers can be life or death for many. My last company wasn't in a tier 1 city (SF, NY, etc), and we didn't have a blowout success from day 1. Networking seriously improved our ability to get warm intros. We wouldn't have survived without the network we built at events.

@rabbithole_gg this timeline is off by decades

In five years, earning crypto by participating on-chain will be the most common job in the world

@nftworldsNFT The token cap seems like a premature optimization. Why worry about it now when you are years away from this being an issue? Given the state of the project, the optics on this proposal are truly awful.

@jonahpeake If you rank the results by closeness to desired outcome, in almost every case there will be a single "way" that positions you best for what comes next. Due to compounding, accepting "second best" decisions has massive effects in the long run.

Turns out there are a ton of ways to skin a cat (weird saying) and nearly everyone has a different suggestion for how to do it

@Evanish release a deadlier virus

If you were trying to cripple and dismantle the US economy, what would you do now?

@dlitwak this tweet really resonated. doing something once is a huge challenge, but consistently creating great art, on canvas or in business, requires so much more than getting lucky. the parallel to entrepreneurship is spot on. mastery requires a lifetime of dedication and focus.

Serial entrepreneurs (no judgement, but distinguished from one & dones that eventually are a better fit for VC) need to increasingly think of themselves as artists -- if you aren't going to only do one "show" you need to refine your craft 🧵

@jbrukh if history is any indication of the long-term value/success of communities, brands, media, 99% of them are, in fact, going to zero...

People who think that 99% of NFTs are going to zero must also think 99% of communities, brands, media are going to zero.

@jonahpeake @Padres kindred, so bomb.

Guess where #sandiego ? P.S. go @Padres

@jasonlankow @brandon_galang @jbrukh i'm fairly confident there are still more web2 startups than web3. a large percentage of the best talent flooding in is quite used to the pace.

web2 people coming to web3 are amazing and experienced. But there’s one skill they cannot transfer: how to speak to/build for a crypto audience.