I started asking 'what's your biggest mess right now?' at meetups and it actually works

I was tired of the same old 'so what do you do' chats at local founder events in Denver. Last month, I switched my opening line to that question about their current mess. It cuts through the small talk fast (people love to vent about a real problem). One guy told me about his inventory software crashing every Friday, and I connected him with a developer I knew from a past job. Has anyone else found a simple question that gets past the surface stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucasjackson1mo ago

What's negative about getting to the real stuff people are dealing with? It feels more honest than the usual small talk.

norab211mo ago

Sounds a bit too negative to me.

kim.zara1mo ago

Honestly, that's a great idea. I started asking "what's the last thing you fixed?" at my hardware store's coffee meetup. It gets people talking about real solutions instead of just the weather. Last week a guy spent ten minutes explaining how he rigged a temporary gutter, and we all learned something.

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