The Strength in your Weak Connections, and other stories from HUMM’s Andy Henson

Linus Lee
BearX Stories
Published in
2 min readJan 5, 2019

HUMM is a Cal startup working on a headset to help you improve how you work with a headset and some hard science! But they have a more interesting story that it would seem, because they started out in Perth, Australia, and moved here to Berkeley to continue building their company.

We talked to Andy, one of HUMM’s first engineers, about the experience of starting HUMM, moving to the Bay Area, and working with Cal students and the community to build the Edge headset.

In this second part of the interview (you can find the first part here), Andy talks about the ways that our weaker connections often become helpful for finding new team members, cofounders, or customers.

“I found the strengths you have come more from your weak connections than from your close friends, so if you expand your network out, you know a lot of people. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to hit someone up with an idea, and they’ll be interested in that idea, and maybe you can work together.” — Andy

Check out the video for more stories about how HUMM started as a gaming-focused company, moved from Perth to California, and his thoughts on how students can find mentors and new opportunities!

We’ll have lots more conversations coming up with founders from all around Berkeley! Stay tuned ⏰, and let us know if you want us to talk to anyone you know.

If you’re a Cal student, founder, or alum, come join us at BearX to connect with almost 100 mentors and advisers and 2000 students and entrepreneurs on campus. We make it simple and straightforward — search through people on BearX to find mentors in your industry or field, and send them a quick message! It’s free to use, and we’re here at BearX to help you move forward, no matter your next idea.

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Linus Lee
BearX Stories

Thinking about community building, tool-making, and venture ecosystems. Fan of small teams doing big things. These days I write mainly at thesephist.com.