I’ve long struggled for a distinction between ‘schmoozers’ and ‘power brokers’.
Schmoozers are those who have many connections, but who derive relatively little power from their relationships.
Power brokers are those with powerful personal networks.
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You can recognise schmoozers by their tendency to name drop. They tend to be good networkers. You may be dazzled by the people they know. But they hold relatively little power.
Meanwhile, such stories are told about power brokers: a16z.com/2010/04/06/ron
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I think I’ve found an effective test. Ask yourself: “can I be harmed by this person’s network?”
If you can, it’s likely you are dealing with a person who derives power from their network.
If you can’t, this person is a schmoozer.
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The harm test is useful because it demonstrates true power.
It’s easy to conflate the two: you may meet a schmoozer and think: ‘ah, this person might introduce me to people who matter.’ But in certain industries, introductions can be a lousy signal. They’re too easy to get.
Replying to
A higher bar is what they can get their network to DO for them.
Ron Conway can get people to do things for him. It requires a reputation, built over decades, along with a long history of trading favours.
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I think this criterion resolves something that I’ve long puzzled over: how do you differentiate the schmoozers from the power brokers? This is important to grok if you operate in relationship-driven markets (as it is in many markets in Asia).
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It’s also a useful mental model to hold: as a random example, a VC with a large Twitter following, who boasts about their rolodex, may very well be a schmoozer; the measure is in what they can get their network to do for them, NOT who they know.
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(Random, throwaway observation: people often say that the YC network is powerful because it connects founders to important people. But I find it more plausible that it derives power from the harm it can do to you if you mess with a member startup.)
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(Continued: if you mess with a YC startup, your name is tarnished forever, and you are locked out of interacting with the network. This may kill your career if you are a VC, since you are essentially locked out of a large source of deal flow.)
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(As a result, everyone in the ecosystem takes their interactions with YC rather seriously. The power lies in the potential for harm, not necessarily in the combined networks of the constituents of the network.)
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This summarises the principle behind the test ("can this person harm me with their network?"):
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Replying to @nonbinarystarz
Not *will* you harm someone, but *can* you. (Or can they harm you, if they wished.) Power implies a non-equal relationship. Potential for harm is one indication of the presence of power.
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More nuance: sources of power are by nature powerful because there are barriers. If there were none, the advantage would be arbitraged away.
Your network can be a source of power. But don’t mistake the task of building it as ‘just know lots of people’:
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Replying to @joonian and @ejames_c
This is a much heavier lift than just knowing people and being able to do an intro. It requires the network operator to constantly test his or her influence against nodes.
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