Prologue-y/Preamble-y thing-y
I have this LinkedIn friend, Danny W. He’s a big reason I’m here.
Mostly, it’s because he’s turned my LI notifications into an endless slow clap to my meaninglessness there. It’s not his fault.
[writer’s note, 16 letter word. sweet.]
He started writing genius stuff over on BeeHiiv. He promotes them on LI. Sometimes, he tags me. So, my phone dings away. I rush to find that it’s just seven more people “liking Danny’s post” that mentioned me.
You might think I’m fun. Or have friends. Or am pleasant. I’m not. I don’t. I’ve been curmudgeonly since childhood.
[Matt H, no way you thought I knew that word, right?]
Danny writes like he’s writing to you (singular); not you (plural). His, “Hey there”-s and “Aw shucks”-s enthrall 100-200 readers twice a week. That puts him like 50-100x north of me.
I need to write more like people like me and about things that are not… Here’s why: Threads is unraveling (Sherry C., “is” here, right?), Substack is Hoagie Suckitude (thanks, Rob D.), and why I abhor ads.
It all makes me sound like the uncle you have to pretend to like or your mom gives you that disapproving look when you get home.
So, it’s time for a Danny W makeover. At least for this post.
Here goes…
Hey There –
I’m so glad you took a moment to read this. Because, this topic matters to me. And, since you have enough time to read my ramblings this should matter to you too.
It’s about helping people. No. Really.
[See, even when I’m spouting heartfelt sincerity it still comes off as disingenuous drivel. Ask Renee P. who asked if I was serious when I said nice things about her.]
Backstories matter.
A guy who slings webs and fights bad guys.
Leaps tall buildings in a single bound.
You know how they got there.
On the other hand, there are the uber successful peeps you see – often on LinkedIn. They run big things. All you get is,
Person
Senior Chief Important Officer
Big Co
Oh, and I’m on a bunch of boards too.
You don’t know how they got there.
One of my fave examples is: Evan Shapiro.
He dropped out of Amherst in 1988. By the time we pick up his resume list, it’s 1994 and he’s Head of Marketing. We see his progression to running Sundance TV and EVP at NBC. Today, among other things, he teaches at NYU and Fordham.
All of this 0 -> ∞ is awesome.
It’s that six year gap that’s the real story. Those six years are how he came to sling webs. Knowing how to pilot a ship from Krypton to Earth as a baby is how the people that matter to us learn to go faster than a locomotive.
George Tannenbaum is another 0 -> ∞-er.
In his brilliant minimalist way, he shares his ladder. You get what he worked on and who he learned from. “Hall of Famers Ron Rosenfeld and Len Sirowitz… each wanted me to marry their daughters.”
So, I’m going to share my how-I-got-bit-by-a-radioactive-spider story.
First off, let me be the first to say, I’m the luckiest SOB going. Brian, Chand, etc. feel free to mumble in agreement to yourself. I’ve been asymptotic (a front seat as it were) to some of the best and brightest folks as they changed tech and media. The guy who helped build search (Mike). The person who create the model that propelled cable TV (Bill). And, I want to be really clear here – I had nothing to do with any of it. And, neither Mike nor Bill still talk to me because they know they’re on one level and I’m not.
My backstory…
Even getting into undergrad was a minor miracle. When I graduated, it took me a while to – eventually – land a blah programming job. I quit after nine days. Went to B-school. Begged people for a job at a bank. BEGGED. Got lucky when, while sitting in front of an HR person, someone went on mat leave. LUCKY. He gave me a summer job on a trading deck. Jumping from trading to banking. Got extremely lucky when Bill Grimes bumped into me outside a Gap store and hired me to join his investment fund. EXTREMELY LUCKY. Learned from him for many years. LEARNED.
So… my backstory… beg, luck, extreme luck, learn.
This isn’t about me. It’s about you. Do the next generation a favor. Go tell one person how you got to where you are. Trust me. It will help them fly, sling webs, fight crime, and be super heroes. They don’t need to know why you love or hate Twitter. They need to hear your backstory.
Danny, this goes for your next-gen Danny 2.0. Yeah, i read your OB comment.
Oh, wait, that reminds me… here’s my big Danny style finale.