The Smartest People in the Room
The smartest people in the room generally aren't. But sometimes they are. Justin and Andrea are members of The Hustle and Trends. They volunteered to host casual events around LA and OC for the benefit of our community’s innovators and problem solvers, creative technical startups wanting to meet others like them. And so, last Thursday, in the worst of rush hour traffic, I dragged Penny down to Bootleggers Brewery in Costa Mesa, for a casual meetup without any clue of how many people would show up, and what sort of people they’d be. Sometimes, it’s just fun to throw yourself in and make new friends.
I found myself struggling to grasp some of the job descriptions. Part of that was due to the decibels in the bar, the other part is that as techy as I am, some of these entrepreneurs are doing things so beyond ordinary human comprehension, I was having trouble latching on. While I felt incredibly dumb, nobody seemed to notice, and everyone was friendly and helpful. There were about fifteen people altogether, and they formed clusters of three or four to discuss what they do and what they need help with. Nobody was selling to the room. We met Ozzy, from Turkey, who sells bathrobes on Amazon. He’s the only one in his family living here, and he is profoundly grateful. He’s got a wife from Hawaii and a baby girl he showed us pictures of (she’s adorable, naturally!). Juan was a mortgage broker who decided shortly after 9/11 that he wanted to make a major shift towards stability. He took a huge pay cut to work in tech sales and has been doing so ever since. Andrea sells swag to enterprises like Google and Harvard, to help them attract the right employees. She’s crystal clear on who’s her client and who isn’t. She’d like to meet a marketing person from Viking Cruises, and she shares Penny’s love of Elks Lodge bingo. Justin solves problems, seemingly any and all problems, just throw one at him. John is an app developer who’s coming up with fun stuff for real estate clients.
In the midst of our gathering, someone from the pizza parlor across the way popped in and made the most of a perfect opportunity. Four pies showed up like magic shortly thereafter.
Andrea started things off with a question, “what don’t you like?” The usual caveats to steer clear of politics and religion, but even still, the reception was cool and we wound up going around the circle, letting everyone know what we do. “IT peace of mind, your personal paparazzi, and an online magazine.” But you already know that. When it was all over, I told Penny, hey, at least we weren’t the only old people there. She responded, no, we were the only old people there. But here’s the thing. You’re only as old as you feel, and as old as the people around you make you feel. And this wonderful group of go-getters makes everyone feel like a part of the in crowd, even if you’re just an old country IT doctor like me. Bravo, Trends! Can’t wait for the next one.