A lot of the commentary here is just shifting around the definition of networking--anywhere from attending public meetup events to "people skills".
The useful realization for an entrepreneur in a place like Silicon Valley is that networking is increasingly a commodity. The social graphs are so much more open and connected than before that anyone you'd want to meet is just one or two hops away. Thus, time and attention is better spent not on networking, but on the harder task of being a person of value to the network, so that other people will want to network with you.
Comments
A lot of the commentary here is just shifting around the definition of networking--anywhere from attending public meetup events to "people skills".
The useful realization for an entrepreneur in a place like Silicon Valley is that networking is increasingly a commodity. The social graphs are so much more open and connected than before that anyone you'd want to meet is just one or two hops away. Thus, time and attention is better spent not on networking, but on the harder task of being a person of value to the network, so that other people will want to network with you.