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Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by smacktoward on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @11:28AM (#22237469)
This is true, but it's also part of what's broken in the poli-tech space -- if you're starting a business there, the connections you have matter much more than your experience and/or competence in application design, UX, operations, etc. You don't get customers by building a better product, you get customers by lining up influential people behind you. So the software products that serve this space tend in general to be pretty underwhelming.

This can be classified as a mutated variation of Enterprise Software Syndrome, the disease that makes enterprise software suck so badly.

Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by caseysoftware on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @12:33PM (#22238368)
That's not business, that's humanity.

We work with, spend time with, and collaborate with people we trust. That trust usually comes from repeated, direct, human interaction or as a referral from someone who has that long-built trust.

That applies to the vendors we choose, the babysitters we hire, and the doctors we visit.

Asking someone to choose someone they don't trust is inherently risky, even if it works out.

Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by dsfyu404ed on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @12:52PM (#22238643)
Yup. This is no different than a bunch of blue collar tradesmen trading references. There's higher dollar amounts involved and it's a different industry but it's the same behavior.
Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by sky_rw on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @11:49AM (#22237769)
This is true for all business. People don't buy the objectively best product, they buy the product from the people they know best. Until you are capable of changing human nature and purchasing behavior challenging this phenomenon will be an uphill battle.
Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by ethbro on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @01:08PM (#22238844)
I would say: they buy the product they trust the most to fulfill their needs (as they see them).

Barring actual corruption, oftentimes ability to eventually get it done is more important to the buyer than features.

Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by basch on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @11:38AM (#22237600)
I dont think "hiring someone who knows the social landscape" for your sales/networking position is a flaw. You really just need to plan for this if you want to start that type of company. A company needs more than just product builders.
Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by ploxolo on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @01:22PM (#22239020)
Broken is just your judgement. I would rather say that quite objectively, it's just the way the world works, one can play with it or try to change it, but better be sure it's not just human nature.
Re:Democrats Declined DHS Offer to Test Caucus App by TheKarateKid on Tuesday February 04, 2020 @12:29PM (#22238326)
It’s not just poli-tech - this is how everything connected to politics is run. It’s all about who you know.