"I got lucky -- I got mashable as a platform to build my career. But I also worked 10-hour days consistently to break stories and build my visibility and brand. I think the big thing for me was building an expertise in social media and technology through my blog posts and social media. It raised my profile. Networking was the other big thing. As Editor of Mashable, I got to meet a lot of amazing people and I kept in touch. I made it my mission to meet as many people early on in my career as possible. When a college grad moves to Silicon Valley, my first piece of advice is for them to focus on meeting people at events, at coffee shops, everywhere. Build the network, then focus on building a great product. I will say, though, that I taught myself programming so that I could understand the industry better. I taught myself PHP, I took C in college, I even taught myself a bit of Scala (I love Scala). 2)" - Ben Parr