Their DMs Became Deals. Mine Became Drafts.

There's a stage almost everyone on LinkedIn goes through: watching other people message, collaborate, and jump on calls together, and quietly thinking, "That's not really me..."

I was there too. Sending a DM felt less like networking and more like walking into a room I didn't fully understand the rules of.

What changed it wasn't a script or a strategy. It was simply receiving more of them.

What the "Salesy" DMs Actually Taught Me

At first, the sale pitches landed as noise. Then I started paying attention to what was underneath them.

Watching that, again and again, turned out to be one of the more useful things I picked up this year. Not every message led anywhere. But a few turned into real conversations — and a couple of those became relationships I'd now call on if I needed help.

That's the part nobody mentions: a DM isn't just a message. It's a small window into how someone approaches people.

The Shift That Made It Feel Natural

Once I understood why people were reaching out to me, reaching out myself stopped feeling like a performance.

I started opening conversations them to understand — what someone's building, what they care about, where the conversation might go on its own.

That one shift changed everything:

From "I need something from this person" to "I want to understand this person."

The moment the intention changes, the awkwardness goes with it.

The Unexpected Win: Real Calls

The part I didn't see coming was how many of those conversations turned into calls.

Getting to hear how someone thinks in real time, understand their world and their challenges directly, turned out to be the actual win. Not a lead. Not a deal. Just a genuinely useful exchange with another person.

The Takeaway

Networking stops feeling strange the moment you stop performing and start connecting. DMs aren't awkward when the intent is genuine. Calls aren't scary when the conversation is real.

If this still feels unfamiliar to you, that's normal — it was for me too. But the shift is smaller than it looks, and it's worth making.

🔵 Spotlight: Boop by Alex Dragomir

This edition is about connection, hesitation, and that first, soft step — so it felt right to spotlight an app built entirely around that moment.

Because DM'ing someone you don't know is one thing. But what about the people you do know — the ones you think about, but never quite reach out to?

That's the exact moment Boop is designed for.

Most apps assume you're already ready to talk. Boop is built for the step before that — the quiet, honest question: would they even want to hear from me?

No swiping. No profiles. No feeds. Just three Boops a day — enough to reflect on who's genuinely on your mind.

Most relationships don't end in drama. They drift. Time passes, and reaching out starts to feel bigger than it should. Boop simply makes that first step softer.

Most apps assume you are already ready to talk. Boop sits one step earlier, in the quieter moment where the real question is not “What should I say?” but “Would they even want to hear from me?”

Alex Dragomir

Thinking about someone? Maybe they're thinking about you too.

👉 Try Boop — send one, and see what happens.

👉 Follow Alex Dragomir - Founder @ Boop

💬 Your Turn — Let’s Build the Next BBF Edition Together

If you’ve built something cool — an app, a project, a story, or even a small idea you’re proud of — DM me .

That’s how every edition starts. A conversation. A message. A spark.

Whether you’re a creator, founder, or just experimenting with something new, I’d love to hear about it. You might be featured in the next BBF: Build or Be Forgotten edition.

So if you’re building something worth sharing — send me a DM . Let’s make the next spotlight yours.

Building SIMPLionEX . Sharing the journey through BBF: Build or Be Forgotten .

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