Being fun

http://david.weebly.com/1/post/2008/05/being-fun.html

by drusenko • 18 years ago

21 15 18 years ago

david.weebly.com

edw519• 18 years ago

Nice advice.

Implicit in all the Q & A, of course, is being yourself and really caring. You don't want to ask a question because it's on your "to do list"; you ask because you really are interested. Coming off as a phony is worse than doing nothing at all.

wumi2• 18 years ago

"really caring" I think applies to not just start-ups but to life in general.

so many of us ask "how are you" without "really caring" that it's startling to find someone who "really cares" and wants a truthful response when you ask.

I'd also add "like people." If you genuinely like other people, and you like yourself, your attitude will most likely rub people the right way.

vlad2• 18 years ago

I agree with the other post here that it's important to genuinely care, so this Startup School, I visited justin.tv and scribd; incidentally, I danced at the hotel afterwards (coincidentally to a french song) because I was genuinely happy just to be in the area with smart people interested in new technology.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OWVdoZDsjqo

Your article is great because many young entrepreneurs aren't very social unless one is an alumni of the same college as the other, or have experience with the same technology. On the other hand, it is also a very efficient way of finding people who are exactly like oneself, in the case that a startup's business plan requires all members to look and act like clones of one another in order for it to succeed.

drusenko2• 18 years ago

haha, i love justice, looking forward to their new album. and although i was born in france, both of my parents are american, which makes me american... funny how the nationality rules work

gms• 18 years ago

Are you fluent in French?

nextmoveone• 18 years ago

awesome dance, no homo.

ivankirigin• 18 years ago

first time i'd seen that statement suffix on this site.

vlad2• 18 years ago

Thanks, I'm straight, too.

wallflower• 18 years ago

"there's something very weird about someone who stands around and doesn't introduce themselves."

A master networker once explained to me that if you don't commit yourself to meeting someone (e.g. introducing yourself with energy/smile) the other person feels awkward because they have to invest energy in figuring out who you are. While if you act outgoing, then the other person doesn't feel as put upon.. If you are shy, it requires the other person to put in effort while if you act outgoing/take initiative, the other person can relax because they can see who you are (at least in the public realm)

jestrohm• 18 years ago

"How to behave as if you do not have Asperger's"

xlnt• 18 years ago

so do you agree asperger's is not inborn, and can be "cured" by learning alternative modes of behavior?

petercooper• 18 years ago

Good advice, but very American-centric. Being overly friendly and outgoing does not fly with a significant percentage of Europeans, I've found, whereas these sorts of things work great in America (probably why I'd rather live there, but well..)

wumi2• 18 years ago

out of curiosity, with David being fluent in French, any reason you guys don't have a French version of Weebly out? (Pardon if I'm mistaken on this)

raju• 18 years ago

Nice article. I agree with petercooper in that this works in the US, and thats in most places. I lived in India for a while, and in the bigger cities, this will not fly.

Someone once said that if you have don't say anything in a meeting, then you should not have attended to begin with. I take this (or try to anyways) in real life. Treat any interaction as a way of getting to know someone else. Everyone is interesting, everyone has an opinion, and everybody wants to be listened to. All you have to do is the opening act. But at the end of the day you have to be sincere. If you are _not_ interested, don't bother. People can smell phoniness a mile away (thats the reason why the whole networking thing has such a bad name).

"Never Eat Alone" is a good book on this subject. I don't agree with everything he has to say, but I agree with his core philosophy. If I know you, and you succeed, then I succeed. And I will do everything I can to help me succeed. (Thats my version)

Being fun

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