I believe though, that you can meet amazing people that can help you in your creativity, and the process of actually building that art. And for this reason, I recommend getting out there and meeting people that share your same views. For instance, meeting someone that believes exactly what we’re talking about: staying away from the trends and buzz words.

Also, yes, I was referring to exchange value. You’re right, in that there’s definitely fallacies in that theory. Yet, there’s even inefficiencies in the opposing view.

“I don’t agree with your statement at all. A great painting is a great painting, regardless of how many people know about it or what value it fetches from an auction or how great a review it gets from some art critic. Sure it has greater monetary value if you keep flaunting it at networking events and somebody decides to put you on some cover, but is that what you want? I’d much rather settle for the satisfaction of knowing I produced something great, than deriving my sense of pride from the reviews of a fickle crowd. I guess its more of a personal choice. (Btw, yes I’m living in a box.)”

Haha, liked that last part (the parenthesis). Made me laugh. I actually had this discussion about a month ago with a buddy of mine that I work with. He’s a programmer, like yourself. We argued about how value is determined. I believe that if something doesn’t sell, it has potential value; however, in economics, as soon as someone pays for something it has value.

I’m thinking from a economics/monetary perspective; whereas, you’re coming from the intrinsic value perspective. I think both have merit–though, at this time, I lean towards the economic theory. Yet, I’d like to explore this more, and perhaps you’re right–value is determined by the creator and not the consumer.

Regarding the contradiction, I’m suggesting that one networks not with already established friends, but with leaders in their field. Shaun White made a decision to not hang out with his friends.

Choosing to interact with leaders in your industry, and choosing to grab a beer with already established friends is different in my mind.

Look, I’m not saying you need to network in order to be successful; I’m just saying that many people forget that there’s real people behind Twitter’s avatars. And getting out there and meeting leaders in your industry has proven valuable to me.

Let me know if that clarifies things. Look forward to more dialogue on what determines value. It’s quite fascinating. Thanks for commenting!

I don’t agree with your statement at all. A great painting is a great painting, regardless of how many people know about it or what value it fetches from an auction or how great a review it gets from some art critic. Sure it has greater monetary value if you keep flaunting it at networking events and somebody decides to put you on some cover, but is that what you want? I’d much rather settle for the satisfaction of knowing I produced something great, than deriving my sense of pride from the reviews of a fickle crowd. I guess its more of a personal choice. (Btw, yes I’m living in a box.)

I think being a programmer affords me a certain level of leeway. If I were to write a great piece of code tomorrow, it would take off without me having to go to networking events or even leaving my house for that matter.

Regarding the contradiction: See “They meet and interract with people at networking events, dinners, charity events and whenever they feel like grabbing a beer.”

vs.

“If he trained as normal–with friends–he knew they’d be feeding off one another and his focus might suffer at the expense of looking at what everyone else is doing.”

Should I grab a beer with my friends or shun them completely?

Not sure how Number 1 and Number 7 contradict one another. I think Ev of Twitter contradicts himself, if anything. I think there’s focused ways in which we can employ services like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin (which I’ll be writing about).

Also, you may not realize it now, but networking has huge benefits if carried out in a focused manner. For the longest time I didn’t network; however, going by Seth Godin’s logic, if people don’t know about your work, it’s worthless. And even today, the best way to market yourself is in person.

thanks again.

The old belief regarding entrepreneurs is over. The Rock Star entrepreneurs don’t seem like Rock Stars; in fact, they’re not Rock Stars. They’re silently dominating in our down economy. They’re driving average cars. They’re unassuming. And they’re conf…

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