Meeting people. | Irrational Exuberance

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In the earliest bits of my career, I spent a lot of time worrying that my lack of pedigree was holding me back. How much easier things would have be for me, I imagined, if only I’d attended a feeder school like Stanford or started out at a prestigious company like Google. Memories of that angst bubbled up when I was chatting with someone at a recent conference, and they asked how I knew so many of the people nearby. My first reaction was that I don’t know very many folks, but it’s also the case that I know meaningfully more folks today than I did just a few years ago, and that change isn’t entirely accidental.

In the earliest bits of my career, I spent a lot of time worrying that my lack of pedigree was holding me back. How much easier things would have been for me, I imagined, if only I'd attended a feeder school like Stanford or started out at a prestigious company like Google. Memories of those worries bubbled up when I was chatting with someone at a recent conference, and they asked how I knew so many of the people nearby. My first reaction was that I didn't know very many of the folks, but it's also the case that I know meaningfully more people in my industry today than I did just a few years a

Meeting people. | Irrational Exuberance

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