An Early Adopter of People
What’s that?
A passionately curious individual that looks to connect and learn about interesting and innovative people around them on a consistent basis.
Why be one?
First and foremost a deep interest in people obviously leads to greater digital and physical connections with awesome people in this world that you go onto to spend time with, hang out and learn from. More specifically, great people:
Lead to stimulating conversations and perspectives which results in enjoyment and learning. Think “birds of a feather flock together” or “you are the average of the five people you spend most time with”
Lead to opportunities (personal/job) that may not otherwise be apparent on the surface. Along the lines of “not what you know but who you know”.
Lead to (potentially great) companies and products. Connecting with an individual at a startup greatly increases the chances of you knowing about a product, the team behind it and the vision of the company. People bring you to the products and companies you need or want to know about. In addition, having a personal connection can often provide you extra features or early access. One added benefit of this humanization is the increased patience and understanding that comes with knowing the real people are busting ass on a daily basis trying to produce something of value.
Lead to recruiting opportunities. We’ve all long heard the importance of recruiting A players for an organization or company. The best startup CEOs devote significant time to recruiting which is a consistent exercise and need. Building a diverse network and having talented folks at least on your radar is crucial. Related reading: Peter Thiel Class 5 Notes (Stanford course)
The list goes on and on of how being a passionate early adopter of people is extremely rewarding. These four points stuck out to me as I did my best to frame it in the world I live in (tech startup community). Twitter is by far the most powerful tool for an “EAP”.
Of the 600+ accounts I follow on twitter, a half dozen or so are brands and companies. I’m not interested in reading a press release or generic tweet. I prefer to hear candidly from the co-founder or head of the division so that I can stay informed and mentally in tune with their recent success, announcement or failure.
One quick exercise to work backwards and become an early adopter of people is to think of the products and companies you love or use on a daily basis. Chances are they created by people you admire and/or would want to connect with. Follow at least one person from the company and you’ll soon be reaping many of the benefits mentioned above. I’ve developed a habit of visiting the About/Team page of almost startup I hear and read about out of a passionate curiosity. The things and people you discover are amazing. 1. “Oh wow, he’s a Babson alum…let’s get him connected with Startup Babson.” 2. [Hiring an intern…] [Forwarding to a classmate in need]
A quick tip for a focused people search is to find those great people you know of and see who they are regularly engaging in conversation. See who they tweet with or who they follow. This will result in a tree branch like path.
Now get to following! #peoplediscovery I’m @ryandawidjan and would love to continue to conversation.
