I am very particular about who I spend my time with. I am close with only around a dozen people from work. By ‘work’, I mean all the places I have ever worked at. Similarly, I can count the number of friends I have. It is hard to maintain friendships when you say No to most things. But the people that I am fortunate to have in my life, I can call them even at midnight. I can open up to them, talk without being judged. Nor do I judge them. I am free to be myself with them. Maybe, I can even do a startup with them someday, if I want.  

There are a lot of people who subtweet me on Twitter. A lot of them get triggered by my tweets. But then there are people who WhatsApp me screenshots of things they liked reading on my blog. I have always focused on the later than worry about the first. Why impress strangers on the internet when you won’t ever meet them? Their opinion should not matter, good or bad.

When it comes to networking, a lot of people run after connections. They want to connect with everyone. They want to “network”. Form ties. In my case, I have always tried to create my own tribe; my kind of people. I don’t need ten thousand connections on Linkedin to validate my professional career. Nor do I need a hundred people to hang out with. A few good friends are more than enough.