Now what?

The power of networking - Kevin Rose interviews Brian Wong

Really enjoyed the recent Foundation interview with Brian Wong. Here are some of the notes from it:

• Counter Strike was a big help for Brian’s design skills….eye hand mouse coordination helped with his speed of design.
• Brian seems like a master at the cold-call email. Just email and get to talk to people, for any amount of time, doesn’t even have to be about stuff related to your startup.
• When guessing email addresses, put your best guess in the to:, and all the other guesses in the bcc line.
• Don’t ask for what you want directly
• He wanted to see the Valley with his own eyes, to understand what made it special….and his take away is that people “don’t come to SF to build a tool, they come to start revolutions.”
• “Leveling up” is why people get sucked into games How can we augment the game achievement?
• People who succeeded broke rules by not knowing what they’re doing (ie: the shitty poker player). Most of the things he was able to accomplish was because he had no choice.
• For the 1st few months of the biz, just sit and listen with people who’ve done it before.
• Don’t hide your authentic excitement around a business. Be grateful. When people see your honesty, they want to help.