By "right group of people" I'm referring to the people you work with, the parties you attend, and the people you meet - of which the investors are only one part.
People namedrop in this industry similar to what they do in the entertainment industry. Not everyone is clued in as far as how unimportant or ubiquitous that namedropping is. There is a halo that is created. And guess what if you get funded even by a firm that people in the know think is "b" list, local investors in your city or even non-clued in potential employees will still think it's a big deal. Many people are impressed when someone is a Physician. They don't always think between the degrees of impressiveness the "MD" degree gives you a certain cache.
This strikes me as a strategy to build an impressive sounding company vs. actually building an impressive company.
Namedropping, attending parties, hiring non-clued employees, etc all seem like very non-core activities that people trying to build real businesses would not engage in a whole lot (if at all). Those sound like activities that the increasing class of "wantrapreneurial" folks engage in.
If by namedropping you mean talking about actual customers you have then I definitely agree.
"Namedropping, attending parties, hiring non-clued employees, etc all seem like very non-core activities that people trying to build real businesses would not engage in a whole lot (if at all). "
Disagree. Who you know is important. It's not all about building a better mousetrap and having the world come to your door. Business is done many ways. People choose different ways to get to the same place.
Also, specifically regarding this: "hiring non-clued employees". There are many capable people out there who don't necessarily know the "lay of the land" but are quite capable. The fact that someone is impressed with something that they shouldn't be impressed with is no reflection on their value in an area of their expertise which you might hire them for.
People namedrop in this industry similar to what they do in the entertainment industry. Not everyone is clued in as far as how unimportant or ubiquitous that namedropping is. There is a halo that is created. And guess what if you get funded even by a firm that people in the know think is "b" list, local investors in your city or even non-clued in potential employees will still think it's a big deal. Many people are impressed when someone is a Physician. They don't always think between the degrees of impressiveness the "MD" degree gives you a certain cache.