Of Starfish, Spiders and Networkers

Of Starfish, Spiders and Networkers Earlier this year I was at dinner with Scott Allen of The Virtual Handshake and he slipped me a book that a friend of his wrote: The Starfish and the Spider. I finally cracked it open last night and read 30 pages I couldnt put it down! Today while on the plane I was able to finish most of the book (I have about 35 pages left) and I love it this is one of the funnest books Ive read. Ill have a review in a few days but I wanted to bring out just a few things that really grabbed my attention today. Quoting Auren Hoffman, who is what they call a catalyst (as opposed to a power connector, a la Keith Ferrazzi two different roles on being powerful): There are some people who believe in only having deep relationships with people, but then youre limited to twenty close friends. Beyond those twenty, every other relationship is a weaker tie. I find a lot of value in those weak ties. Casual acquaintances fascinate him: You can learn a lot, and you can meet really interesting people. Everyones interesting for at least an hour. And most people remain interesting well beyond that. Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom go on to talk about Auren for a few pages, and what makes him a catalyst it is really intriguing and gives me a new, authoritative perspective on networkings quality vs. quantity debate. Of Starfish, Spiders and Networkers Earlier this year I was at dinner with Scott Allen of The Virtual Handshake and he slipped me a book that a friend of his wrote: The Starfish and the Spider. I finally cracked it open last night and read 30 pages I couldnt put it down! Today while on the plane I was able to finish most of the book (I have about 35 pages left) and I love it this is one of the funnest books Ive read. Ill have a review in a few days but I wanted to bring out just a few things that really grabbed my attention today. Quoting Auren Hoffman, who is what they call a catalyst (as opposed to a power connector, a la Keith Ferrazzi two different roles on being powerful): There are some people who believe in only having deep relationships with people, but then youre limited to twenty close friends. Beyond those twenty, every other relationship is a weaker tie. I find a lot of value in those weak ties. Casual acquaintances fascinate him: You can learn a lot, and you can meet really interesting people. Everyones interesting for at least an hour. And most people remain interesting well beyond that. Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom go on to talk about Auren for a few pages, and what makes him a catalyst it is really intriguing and gives me a new, authoritative perspective on networkings quality vs. quantity debate.