[edw519]

it’s just contacting people you don’t know to ask/beg for favors

My take on "what being an entrepreneur really means" is 179 degrees from yours:

I can't wait to contact people I don't know to share what I'm doing and how it can improve their lives.

If you don't feel the same way, maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur.

I regularly go to Tech Breakfasts, Chamber of Commerce meetings, industry dinners, dev groups, and network over coffee or beer just for the chance to talk about what I'm doing. I love doing this almost as much as writing the code itself. It gets me off my butt and away from my terminal and also gets valuable feedback from others.

Coding in a vacuum is like trying to push cooked spaghetti through a straw. Getting away from my text editor and talking to others, regardless of method, completes the loop and improves the whole process.

And anyway, I'm not writing it for myself. It's for them. They really need to know.

[teaspoon]

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs, and the ones I try to avoid are those who think they're doing a favor to everyone they grace with their message. Like street preachers, their zeal makes them blind to the general public's disinterest in their noise, but they're sure their excitement about their social gifting platform will spread like wildfire if they can just. Tell. More. People.

If your heart doesn't cry a little bit every time you ask for a favor from a stranger, or email someone who you know only has a 1 in 10 chance of being interested, then you're probably the guy people avoid sitting next to at Tech Breakfasts.

[edw519]

I began to copy and paste some of what you said, teaspoon, but then I just decided to respond to the whole post with, "Where the hell did that come from?"

If you avoid other entrepreneurs, then maybe you're hanging out with the wrong ones.

If you liken anyone promoting their own business to a street preacher, then perhaps you're the one missing the point.

As for me, I don't ask favors from anyone. I just build what they already need and have asked for. I love writing software and I love sharing it with those who are interested, including those next to me at Tech Breakfasts. I've sold lots of software and built lasting relationships and friendships this way.

So I thought I'd share that with OP, who seems to have a problem doing and enjoying it as much as I do. Your attitude and response does nothing to help him (or anyone for that matter).

[teaspoon]

On a second reading, my comment was needlessly inflammatory. Sorry for that.

Perhaps we're talking about kinds of "sharing". I'm talking about cold-emailing strangers and asking for writeups which, to be fair, is what the the article is about. Those may be necessary evils for one's venture, but recognize when you're doing a favor and when you're asking for one. That understanding is the foundation of any business relationship.

The world could do with more entrepreneurs who hesitate before asking the favor of time and attention, and HN could do with less of the "maybe you shouldn't be an entrepreneur" attitude from everyone else.

[ahoyhere]

Or maybe, just maybe, he's right, and that you WILL want to hear the good news about his product. Customers write love letters to our support department all the time about OUR products.

You're making a classic logical mistake: Just because some men buy their wives flowers after they cheat, doesn't mean that if a man buys his wife flowers, he's cheated.

EDIT: That said, the OP (article not commenter) is not going to get his CEO wings from cold-emailing.

[mattmanser]

Some people are natural sales people, some aren't. I've noticed that the guys really really good at selling don't even think about problems of a product or social barriers to contacting people and just do it.

As I can't read their mind I'm not sure if it's a mindset they deliberately choose or just a different way of looking at life, but you definitely sound like one of those kind of people.

Great trait to have, but not everyone has it. Doesn't mean you can't be an entrepreneur if you don't have it though.

[edw519]

I don't think it has anything to do with sales or selling.

Are you passionate about your work? Obviously most of us are. We talk to each other here about it all the time. Do to any dev group or hacker hangout and it's hard to hear yourself think with all the chatter we share with each other about our work.

Emailing, calling, or talking to civilians is the same thing. As soon as we think it's "selling", we set up a mental block that's no good for anyone.

Just build a great product for others and share your passion about that product with them. Anyone can do it. In fact, most of us already are.

Just be yourself, let others know how your work will benefit them, and let the "selling" become a byproduct of that process. It's much easier than many of us think if we just give it a chance.

[mattmanser]

Now you're describing the difference between an extrovert and an introvert. Appreciate everyone is not the same!

[mattmanser]

Though I do actually think your advice is a great way of looking at the process and for introverts consciously motivating yourself with that mantra.

[zackattack]

I think you're setting up a false dichotomy.

Imagine that someone had a really annoying mosquito bite. Imagine you had a tube of anti-itch spray you could sell to that person. It would be lose-lose of you to not at least inform the person of the option to buy.

edw519 is implying that the product he is building solves a pain and he feels ethically compelled to share it. That's good, that's smart. That doesn't mean that you can't ALSO make tons of money building trinkets and selling them aggressively, 'cuz many people like to be sold things, but it seems that edw belongs to category 1.

[lelele]

> I don't think it has anything to do with sales or selling.

It does. Whether you know you are selling or not, you are selling.

> Just be yourself

If you are a natural born salesman, then that works. If not, by all means be yourself anyway, but be aware of what sells and what doesn't, and put some effort into it.

The book which has taught me what selling really is (and why techies often fail at it) is "The art of salesmanship" (I guess that's the English translation) by Heinz Goldmann (sadly it's little known).

Interestingly, Goldmann points out why sometimes skilled and passionate people fail at selling.