A connection knows you exist. A collaborator has skin in something with you.
Scroll through your last 10 LinkedIn adds. How many of them actually know what you're working on right now? How many would notice if you disappeared for a month?
Most "networks" are just directories of people who once accepted a request. That's not nothing — but it's not what moves anything forward either.
A collaborator is different. They've got something on the line with you — even something small. A shared doc, a half-built idea, a favor owed. That tiny bit of shared stake is what turns a name in your contacts into someone who'll actually show up.
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