Reid Hoffman

Right? So all of a sudden – and then it got bought by eBay. So all of a sudden you had this talent group of people that had a bunch of money in their pockets and the network within – and that believed in the consumer internet – So the network of Silicon Valley at that point had thought the consumer in it was played. They were going into clean tech and to enterprise.

So if you ask, if you try to ping a venture capitalist, I have a new consumer in it idea, they wouldn't even take a meeting with you. They would take a meeting if it was clean tech and they'd take a meeting if it was enterprise software, right? Now, then you get all the PayPal people coming out going, hey, I can fund my own initial idea. I've got this great idea. YouTube. LinkedIn.

And I can fund it and I can get it going. And then – and this is part of the Web 2.0 movement. I coined the term Internet 2.0 and then Tim O'Reilly made the much better term Web 2.0. Right? And so – These folks going, no, no, the consumer internet is – like that was just the first wave on the beach. The tsunami is still coming, right?

And so we were all out investing and we were talking to each other because, frankly, we're like, well, these VCs don't get it. Like this is coming. And then, of course, you started seeing YouTube and you started seeing LinkedIn and you started seeing – and it was like, OK – Like we will – like these are important things that we're going to invest in.

And that's part of the reason why the – that's the – because by the way, remember, you know, bad competition, right, is one of the reasons why not just talent, not just capital, but also competitive steering is part of the reason why the PayPal network or the PayPal mafia had such a massive suite of success.

And just from hearing you today, sales is so like... Whatever your go-to market is, and it can be sales, B2B, enterprise, et cetera. But like, for example, in... In social networks, it's usually a viral marketing or viral growth plan.

Yes. You must. You said like partners, investors. Yes. Because you have to come on board my vision. Invest in my vision. Because by the way, a partner, when you're a startup, is also investing in your vision.

An employee is investing in your vision.

There's a limited set of skills that you can actually teach to entrepreneurs versus the entrepreneurs just learning by doing. One of them is pitching, right? One of them is understanding the how do I communicate my vision in a way that other people can go, that's really exciting. I want to join your vision with you.

And by the way, we could spend the entire podcast only doing this. I mean, there's a very deep well. But here's some simple tips. So one is… The mistaken lesson that most people learn is to try to do reality distortion. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Silicon chips to make ice cream shakes. It's the thing. No one's thought of it. It's really big. Right.

And people are like, okay, what you're convincing me is you're crazy. Right. Like you're literally like, please leave now. Yeah. Right. So you have to realize that all pitches are dialogues. And you want to be listening to smart people. And you, like, generally speaking, everyone you want to be recruiting, you want to be recruiting smart people. You want the absolute best talent working with you.

You want the absolute best talent working in your company. You want the absolute best. So you want people who are thoughtful and asking good questions. Like, for example... I pitch insanely aspirational businesses. But I don't pitch them saying, oh, LinkedIn is guaranteed to succeed. There's no universe in which LinkedIn won't be the transformer of professional work and careers.

What I do is say, it can get here. Like, we have a real chance at this. Now, we have to navigate these risks. But if we navigate these risks, we're going to be here. Right? And then people say, ah. You're credible. You have a huge vision. You're compelling. I think you can do this, right? And then they come on board with you.

So one of it is to pitch the huge vision, but show that you're aware of the difficulties of getting there, right? Now, you don't have to go through all of them. You just have to go through enough of them or a big enough one that the person goes, okay, great. I get it. You're seeing it, right?

Another part of it is to say, this is part of the reason why competition is important, is like, I understand what game I'm playing, right? Here is my theory. This is what competition plays in. This is why I think the market will favor me. This is why I think technology trends will favor me. This is why I think I have a very unique edge.

And, you know, in Blitzscaling, which I think is another book on your thing, Most consumer internet plays are what we call Glen Gary, Glen Ross markets, which is first prize is a Cadillac, second prize is steak knives, and third prize is you're fired. So you have to be pitching why you're possibly first.

Right.

Yes. And so this is why we can win. And so now there's also mechanics in pitching, which is how do you tell a story of it? Part of the thing I tell entrepreneurs is to even if the person doesn't ask you the risk, tell them what the risks are and how you're navigating them because it will establish trust.

So, like, for example, in pitching investments – now, this I didn't know until I started learning it in terms of a mechanic of pitching is entrepreneurs tend to go, oh, when I need money is when I write up my PowerPoint and I hit – knock on the door and say, hey, give me some money. That's a foolish time to start the conversation.

Much better to start the conversation when you're not saying, give me money. So as much as you can in all of these things, start the conversation well before you're getting to a potential contract. of any sort, a partnership or an investment or even an employment contract. Like, so for example, always be recruiting doesn't mean, oh, I want to hire you right now. It's like, okay, find great talent.