Eric-Jorgenson The-Almanack-of-Naval-Ravikant indd

How important is networking?
I think business networking is a complete waste of time. And 
I know there are people and companies popularizing this con-
cept because it serves them and their business model well, but 
the reality is if you’re building something interesting, you will 
always have more people who will want to know you. Trying to 
build business relationships well in advance of doing business 
is a complete waste of time. I have a much more comfortable 
philosophy: “Be a maker who makes something interesting 

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86 · T H E A L M A N A C K O F N A V A L R A V I K A N T
people want. Show your craft, practice your craft, and the right 
people will eventually find you.” [14]
And once you’ve met someone, how do you determine if you 
can trust someone? What signals do you pay attention to?
If someone is talking a lot about how honest they are, they’re 
probably dishonest. That is just a little telltale indicator I’ve 
learned. When someone spends too much time talking about 
their own values or they’re talking themselves up, they’re cov-
ering for something. [4]
Sharks eat well but live a life surrounded by sharks.
I have great people in my life who are extremely successful, 
very desirable (like everybody wants to be their friend), very 
smart. Yet, I’ve seen them do one or two things slightly not 
great to other people. The first time, I’ll say, “Hey, I don’t think 
you should do this to that other person. Not because you won’t 
get away with it. You will get away with it, but because it will 
hurt you in the end.”
Not in some cosmic, karma kind of way, but I believe deep 
down we all know who we are. You cannot hide anything from 
yourself. Your own failures are written within your psyche, and 
they are obvious to you. If you have too many of these moral 
shortcomings, you will not respect yourself. The worst out-
come in this world is not having self-esteem. If you don’t love 
yourself, who will?
I think you just have to be very careful about doing things you 

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B U I L D I N G W E A L T H · 87
are fundamentally not going to be proud of, because they will 
damage you. The first time someone acts this way, I will warn 
them. By the way, nobody changes. Then I just distance myself 
from them. I cut them out of my life. I just have this saying 
inside my head: “The closer you want to get to me, the better 
your values have to be.” [4]