Chris Yeh's post on Tech & Science | Latest updates on Sulia

Entrepreneurs need to network, but it's a means, not an end (H/T @msuster):

Note: I've had a busy few weeks, which means a bunch of posts have built up. Prepare for a barrage! I'm a big Mark Suster fan because he strips away the bullshit and says the things other people are too polite to say. Here is a recent post I really liked: http://bit.ly/136dKYK "The people who really are working hard at their startups with no money to pay real salaries and sharing a cramped office. And as they look at their Twitter or Instagram feed imagining that they should have “made it” like the people they see popping champagne at the parties. Note to said entrepreneurs – you’re not missing anything. Your 8-year-old Toyota is just fine. Your 2am coding session is more important than their 2am cocktails on the redeye back from Japan where they have no customers." I definitely appreciate Mark's point, and I can say from personal experience, that when I see my entrepreneurs hitting the conference circuit too hard, it's a major red flag. The key is balance. I also tried the "heads down, don't bother me approach," when I was a first-time entrepreneur, and that didn't work either. You need to be out there making connections, because those connections bring opportunities and ideas. But connections are a means, not an end. At the end of the day, you need to capitalize on those opportunities and make those ideas real. You're not going to change the world based on who you know; you're going to change it with what you create.