The networking FOMO curse

There’s a type of anxiety that spreads fast between founders: the feeling that you’re missing opportunities by not being at every dinner, demo day, off-site, and panel. The trap is that the most interesting person at any of those events is usually the one who built something good — not the one who attends.

the networking paradox

Professional connectors are useful: people who specialize in introducing others and often don’t build their own things. They do real work, especially when they introduce you to the right co-founder or the right customer. But that role is rare. Most of the people who live at events aren’t that. Most are running the same loop without adding value to anyone.

the no-FOMO path

Three steps:

• Build something that matters. If your work is good and honest, the connections show up on their own. People look for someone who’s making things, not the other way around.
• Communicate slowly. Share progress in small doses. One or two coffees a week with interesting people is more than enough. Density matters more than volume.
• Learn from specialists. If you want to improve the relational side, study how people who are good at it actually do it. But don’t try to be them — find your own version.

the shortcut

If you’re suffering networking FOMO, you’re almost certainly putting energy in the wrong place. Go back to your product, your customer, your team. The networking that’s worth anything will arrive as a consequence of that work, not as a substitute for it.

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