How Ron Conway became the Valley's most influential start-up investor
siliconvalley.com
siliconvalley.com
"One of his [Conway's] investments was a podcasting startup called Odeo run by Ev Williams. Odeo failed, and Williams took the unusual step of returning his investors' money.
"I thought that was a magnanimous gesture," Conway said. "I decided to set that money aside and invest in whatever Ev did next."
It's really the ideal situation to be in a position to be able to return an Angel's money, but Ron's comment seems to sum up why he's a good person to know. He strikes me as the quintessential investor that lots of people talk about, one who invests just as much (or more) in people as in their ideas.
since joining yc, i've met a lot of people and come to realize there's two types of 'networkers' and it'd be unfair to class Ron as a 'networker' without defining the distinction (as i see it):
- empty networkers: people who spend the majority of their time meeting other people, ensuring everyone knows their name, telling entertaining stories with a drink in their hand and promoting their personal brand at every opportunity. the only email you receive from them are ones asking you to do something for them or their company without offering anything specific in return. a lot of biz dev people fall into this description, especially old school ones at big companies.
- connectors: people who make a real effort to know who you are, what you're working on and how they can help you. these people follow up via email and make intro's for you, without you even asking. they're universally well liked because there's a large number of people they've helped in some way, who are continually telling other people about the story of how X helped them.
Ron is the definition of the second type. In just three months, I've lost count of the number of useful introductions he's made or things he's helped with. Granted he's an investor in YC so he has a reason for doing so but he goes beyond the standard level of being helpful into something more, it's that bit extra he doesn't have to do. I intend to model my approach to 'networking' entirely upon how Ron does it - by being genuinely benevolent and helpful to people I meet.
How does one make a living from being a connector? It sounds like a lovely job, but there's a reason why more people are empty networkers: they are pushing their own agenda to make a living.
I know you could say that one should take the long term view, and that if you are a great connector, eventually good things will happen. It's like saying that you should start a blog to find a job. The blog won't make you money, but it will land you a job (maybe). Connecting people may land you a great job at some point. Too bad, I wanted to keep being a connector. How do I do that?
Other forms of monetizing connecting include finders fees, commissions, and direct work to realize the connection, eg documentation in an M & A deal. But if the connecting has no direct benefit to oneself in the ways mentioned, the only thing one can expect to gain at best is improving one's aura, frequently just being sidetracked, or at worst doing something for a competitor.
-- if one does a random connect and one has no direct relevancy to the underlying commerce, the parties at best may remember you if you ask for some type of help later (they may also request or expect more free service from you, seeing you as a sucker), and at worst want to avoid you in the event they fear you'll want or demand a share of the gains later from the success of the connection with which they never requested.
I would have said that maybe this was a little hyped. But my name is Ron, so I think it is 100% correct.
upvoted for insight.