"So, what do you do?"

http://blog.scoutapp.com/articles/2010/08/24/so-what-do-you-do

by acl • 16 years ago

62 41 16 years ago

blog.scoutapp.com

tptacek• 16 years ago

"I co-run a company. We break into banks."

I agree; the words "startup", "entrepreneur", and "small business" are all freighted. Just say "company".

acl• 16 years ago

"I co-run a company. We break into banks."

I am so going to start using that.

TotlolRon2• 16 years ago

"Fine thanks. How do you do?"

Don't have an answer? Hack the question.

toxicflavor• 16 years ago

But be prepared to answer questions about a hearing disorder.

TotlolRon2• 16 years ago

"The dinosaur is fine too. Thanks for asking."

snitko2• 16 years ago

What's up with saying "I'm a programmer"? Assuming you are, of course. Being a co-founder is not a profession. I think when a person asks this question, you should answer in the most simple and pragmatic way. Because, in my opinion:

1. Trying to be unconventional when answering this question is wrong. Most of the times you seem like a jerk.

2. Saying you're a co-founder in any way before saying what you actually do (skill) is wrong. It only serves the purpose of informing others how independent and successful you want to seem.

Goosey• 16 years ago

I agree. People asking this aren't usually asking "What is your title/position?" they are asking "What activity is it that you spend the majority of your waking adult life taking part in."

It's a relevant question.

iaskwhy• 16 years ago

I've tried it a couple of times and it didn't work out, people replay with the same question: "Yeah but what do you really do?"

To this seconds question I've tried to answer with "I make applications to help some companies" but they never understood what an application really is...

snitko2• 16 years ago

Really? In my experience they either lose interest, because in their mind I'm a computer guy who does things that seem boring to them or they get interested and we have a discussion.

ibejoeb• 16 years ago

If you're not, that's not all you do, or you do it at more than one place, I tend to think "I invest in young businesses" opens some doors and is fairly accurate whether your investment is time, energy, money, or a combination.

If you don't have the energy or the motivation to really get into it, "I am a (financial|management|technology|legal|PR)? consultant" is an easy out.

char• 16 years ago

"I build apps for people with big YouTube channels."

I find this is always the best answer, because trying to avoid conversations by saying "I have a startup", only results in the re-asking the "so, what do you do" question, to which I have to provide a real answer.

rue• 16 years ago

That is because saying "I have a startup" is the same as answering "what do you like to drink?" with "fluids".

superjared• 16 years ago

"I tell computers and cell phones what to do"

novum• 16 years ago

Computers do what you tell them to do, not what you want them to do.

TimMontague• 16 years ago

And that's why us programmers have jobs. We're professionals at telling computers what to do.

Which reminds me of a good xkcd comic about the question "what do you do?": http://xkcd.com/722/

MicahWedemeyer• 16 years ago

"I run a couple websites." - This usually results in questions about the website subject matter, which is much more fun to answer than questions about revenue and what my actual job is.

vishaldpatel• 16 years ago

So, what do you do? > I'm a programmer

Oh, who do you work for? > Myself. I started a market research company with my best friend a year ago.

Oh, like a start up? > Yeah, I guess you can call it that. We do some contract work on the side to pay for things.

Hows it going so far? > Pretty good! We've tried out some things that haven't worked out and we're trying out new things. What about you, what do you do?

- At this point, 99% of people feel as if they know everything about you. So the game, you the more intelligent entrepreneur with your max hax0r people skillz, is to find something interesting about them. If you manage to do that, then you might just have a new friend, and not just another business card.

wallflower• 16 years ago

> is to find something interesting about them. If you manage to do that, then you might just have a new friend, and not just another business card.

Well put. From a recent NYTimes

"With the exception of his time at Oxford, Haden has spent his entire adult life as the guy everybody knows as soon as he walks into the room. His friends say Haden’s gift is that he leaves knowing everybody else’s stories.

“He has such compassion and humility,” said J. K. McKay, who caught Haden’s passes at Bishop Amat High in La Puente, Calif., east of Los Angeles, and at U.S.C., where they were coached by McKay’s father, John."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/sports/23haden.html?_r=1&#...

arn3• 16 years ago

I've had a lot of problem with this question, myself. In that it's hard to succinctly put what I do, and living in not-SF, people don't really understand tech-web-startup-speak.

I guess in the end I've gotten around to saying some version of "I run some websites". Which, if there are followup questions usually evolves into questions about how you make money on websites. I tried variants of "web developer" and the like but then people think I design websites for other clients. I do very little programming these days so any version with "programming" doesn't seem to work. Never liked the term "blogger" and doesn't really fit what I do.

xiongchiamiov• 16 years ago

So what do you do?

arn3• 16 years ago

I guess "manage"? some content at times, manage writers, site direction, revenue opportunities (banner ad/affiliate stuff), just finished getting an iPhone App done (I didn't code it, I hired someone) for one of the sites. ask/coordinate programmers to implement new features I want on the site. have a couple of sites in the wings that I'm working on getting off the ground.

mattmaroon• 16 years ago

"I own a software company" is the best I've come up with. Any answer you give people is going to leave a lot of room for interpretation and how I answer that question depends on context and who is asking, but if it's a random person at a bar, you can't beat "I own a software company."

alexyim• 16 years ago

Why don't you just say "I'm running an Internet business"?

pedalpete• 16 years ago

'I run a business which does server and application monitoring for IT firms.'

Maybe it's just me, but when a person asks what you do, and you say 'i'm a programmer/entrepreneur/doctor/whatever', you're only scratching the surface.

You're doctor? what type? You're an engineer? What sort of stuff do you do.

Would you ever meet an actor and not say 'would I have seen you in anything'?

If the person didn't care what you did, then hopefully they wouldn't have asked.

Give them the full answer, it's isn't like you're tweeting it!

At the same time, don't get into what sorts of hosted applications or stuff like that, just figure out what people are going to understand.

HeyLaughingBoy• 16 years ago

If the person didn't care what you did, then hopefully they wouldn't have asked.

You wish! It's like asking "how are you?" Most people don't care; they're just being polite/making conversation.

Give the stock answer in an inviting tone. If they want more information they'll ask for it.

charlesju• 16 years ago

I use, "I make video games."

These guys should say, "I simplify monitoring web servers."

johngalt• 16 years ago

As an IT Director managing multiple people/offices over many states, and a former senior engineer at a fortune 500 I would say:

"I'm a Computer guy"

No one actually cares about our jobs/titles. If you were interested in that, go be firefighter. There are vanishingly few people that even know there's a difference between sysadmin and development.

x0t2• 16 years ago

Computer Guy generally translates to "this cat could fix my computer sometime." I'm a Network Administrator by day and I don't do any end user desktop support. Telling them I'm a Computer Guy automatically sets me up for "Hey, so I had this problem on my computer..."

I just tell them that I'm a Network Administrator and when the inevitable question comes up, I tell them that I manage the equipment that computers use to talk to each other. If it goes beyond that, I simply tell them it's kind of like telecomm and try to move the conversation to something they're interested in. I rarely tell them that I do software development on the side, that just furthers the confusion.

I remember an article a while back (I wish I could find the link) about a software developer that had the same problem. "You write programs? Oh, great, can you get rid of these viruses?"

donaq2• 16 years ago

I get that too, but what I've come to realize is that mostly people aren't really asking you to fix their computers. They just have insufficient information for proceeding with the conversation in a knowledgeable way, so they try anyway with a starting point you can both understand.

The people who ask these questions are usually trying to be friendly, is what I'm trying to say.

angusgr• 16 years ago

Same. After lots of awkward silences from "I'm a software developer", I just say "I'm in IT" and then judge from the person's reaction if there's any point elaborating.

Some people switch off immediately, so you know you need to find something else to talk about. People who are techy, or work in IT themselves, will ask a follow-up question and that's when you can unleash all the details. :)

joelbauer• 16 years ago

I build crowds. Guaranteed.

guns• 16 years ago

For those who missed the reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk

terra_t• 16 years ago

I make web sites that make money. I'm trying to make them bigger so they make more money.

That's good enough.

Even people who understand nothing about the web understand that some people make money off it, so... It's a good enough answer.

_delirium• 16 years ago

For this among other reasons, I tend not to use "what do you do?" as an opening query (though that doesn't help you if someone else does). I prefer something more like, "what kinds of things are you interested in?" For some people it's the same, but I've met plenty of people with boring day jobs and interesting projects, so if I don't already know the person I'd rather let them decide what they find interesting to tell me about themselves.

arn3• 16 years ago

I always liked the question "what's your secret dream job?" as a get to know icebreaker. cause (almost) everyone has one, and most people aren't doing it as their day job.

cstross• 16 years ago

If you want mortification, try writing for a living. In reality, you're running a small (one and a half person) business supplying IP to large multinational OEMs. But if you say "I'm an author" everyone thinks you spend your days swigging dry martinis by the pool while languidly dictating to your busty secretary -- or that you want them to think that's how you spend your days. The media have a lot to answer for, for turning "author" into a lifestyle rather than a job description.

(I think in future I'll start saying "I run a contracting company in the intellectual property sector". "What kind of intellectual property?" "Stories about space nazis ...")

donaq2• 16 years ago

Hmm. So what do you actually swig while languidly dictating to your busty secretary, if not dry martinis?

Thanks for the hours of entertainment I derived from reading the Laundry novels, by the way. I especially loved The Jennifer Morgue. Accelerando was awesome too. More!

fookyong• 16 years ago

Why does this seemingly come up so often on entrepreneur blogs? People care about perception from strangers way too much.

There's no silver bullet for this. There's no magical phrase that's going to get people unfamiliar with startups to understand or care about the nuances of your multi-faceted responsibilities in marketing, development, sales and the top-down strategic stuff.

So I just say I'm a dolphin trainer most of the time.

snikolov• 16 years ago

This summer, I've mostly been saying 'machine learning', 'biological machine learning', 'artificial intelligence', 'programming', or 'artificial brains' depending on the person, the situation and where I want to try to take the conversation. AI and brains sound cool to non-technical people and usually they are curious and it stimulates conversation. Sometimes I tell nontechnical people 'programming' if I want to cut short the conversation about professions (most people will lose interest at the mention of programming) and steer it toward something potentially more interesting. Of course, another way to avoid professions is to not mention one at all and stay that I am a student --- but then I have to go on about what I'm studying. I reserve 'machine learning' mostly for EECS/mathy people who might know what that means.

"So, what do you do?"

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