
Let's have coffee. - tg3
http://coffee.tgriff3.com
======
nate
This is a tangent, but the post reminded me of this.

I've done quite a bit of cold-emailing to reach new mentors and new clients.

One of the things I started doing a couple years ago was to offer buying
someone I was cold-emailing a "virtual cup of coffee". I even played with
using that in the subject of the email.

I'd say: I'm working on a new product and I wanted to see if it would be handy
for them. If they have a chance to talk on the phone or Skype, I'll send over
a gift certificate to Starbucks so they could get their favorite drink before
the meeting.

Those emails got some nice hit rates in responses and meetings. And you can
very easily buy a $5 gift cert. online from Starbucks and email it.

~~~
mherdeg
Something about the human instinct to pattern-match compels me to point out
that this is the "reciprocity" principle of influence spelled out by
Cialdini's 1984 book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion",
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/006124189X](http://www.amazon.com/dp/006124189X) .

~~~
mathattack
When people show up to networking meetings with a gift (book, chocolate,
whatever) I know I'm being manipulated but I don't mind. I'm more likely to
pass them on with a good reference because I know they'll behave well if I
send them on. This is despite knowing that they're manipulating me.

~~~
japhyr
You can tell pretty quickly whether it's manipulation or a kind gesture.

Manipulation: gift + nothing meaningful to share

Kind gesture: gift + something really meaningful to network about

~~~
mathattack
True. But many times the networking comes from a junior person looking for
help finding a job. I take those calls because everyone has to start
somewhere. Usually I pick up the Starbucks because they're less likely to have
any income yet, and the people taking care of me back in the day did the same
thing. Though maybe I should pick up the Starbucks just to not get
manipulated. :-)

~~~
EGreg
One man's manipulation is another man's manners / ingenuity. Do you manipulate
your parents by talking to them differently than to your friends?

~~~
mathattack
Most definitely so! :-)

------
noonespecial
Not to nitpick... ok actually to nitpick, sorry. Your page bugged my to run a
media player, which when allowed, changed to a background that was hard for me
to read over and then sat there "buffering" interminably.

After 10 minutes it had reached 15%. What happens at 100%?

Edit: Ah. It finally got moving. It was coffee pouring. As the background. I
guess if I didn't have my browser set so I have to approve plugins and it
wasn't being HN'd to slowness so it started right up, that would have been
kind of cool. As you were then.

~~~
silverlight
Yeah. I mean he's just using a regular ol' <video> tag. So you would
presumably have that same issue with any site using HTML5 media tags.

~~~
noonespecial
Or at least any site with a <video> tag. It will be nice once the standard
become ubiquitous. Until then <video> causes decidedly non-deterministic
things to happen on the client.

I'd still like the ability to approve/disapprove a site that's about to play a
115meg video file as a background!

~~~
tg3
If your browser supports WebM, that version of the file is only 6.5MB. I
include the MP4 as a backup.

~~~
gknoy
Would it be feasible to fall back to an animated gif, or even just a static
image? It took so long to load that I was done reading the page, and was
looking at the fine print when it started playing, and that was a little bit
jarring. Moreover, the placeholder image you had already looked really good.

(The video _was_ pretty cool, though.)

~~~
tg3
I just added a static image fallback instead of the brown background I had
before. Keeps more in line with the intended look.

------
Sukotto
I like this idea*

It does make me wonder though... what does the "typical" startup person do to
network in SF? It seems like a lot of people locate there (and accept the high
cost of living) in order to cross-pollinate ideas and meet other cool people.

But how do you find those people? Are there popular hangouts or events? If so,
how do the organizers stop them from sliding into the usual pool of desperate
wannabe's pestering the popular people [pretend I insert a dating anecdote
here]

My guess is that you hit up hackathons, [linux|ruby|whatever] User Groups, or
meetup groups for whatever interests you (with the hope that you'll find
others with the same vienn overlaps as you with one of the circles being
"tehnology|startup|programming|business")

* How much advance notice do you need tg3? There's a good chance I'll be passing through SFO tomorrow (Wed Nov 6) or maybe Thu. I'd love to reciprocate coffees with you if you are located within reasonable distance to the airport (I'll need a cab or transit) and it fits your schedule. :) Will post to your form when I finalize my plans.

~~~
OafTobark
There are a massive ton of events, pretty much if you wanted to, you can find
one almost every day/night, any time of the year. There are TONS of meetups,
conferences, hackathons, panels, private or smaller group events, and the list
goes on and on. Additionally its a bit hard not to run into someone doing a
startup, especially if you're in startup centric districts like SOMA in SF or
University Ave in Palo Alto and the various other areas up and down the entire
Bay.

On top of that, you have various things people engage in to meet other people
(dinners, stuff like LetsLunch, etc...). The problem isn't really meeting
people, its actually avoiding wasting time and going out too much that leads
to non-quality eventful meetings.

------
9f94wGqJ4g
I cringe every time I see a 21 year old call themselves a CTO. Please stop
doing that. Just say "founder". You're not a CTO and you won't know what being
a CTO entails for another 10 years.

~~~
bovermyer
You're aware that CTO is a role and not an experience level, right?

~~~
sliverstorm
Even simply as a role, it doesn't even make sense in a dinky company. _Chief_
technology officer? Does the company even _have_ other people in that branch,
or are you de-facto "chief" because you are the only one?

------
gulbrandr
Open your console, you'll see:

    
    
      Mmmm...coffee.
             {
          {   }
           }_{ __{
        .-{   }   }-.
       (   }     {   )
       |`-.._____..-'|
       |             ;--.
       |            (__  \
       |             | )  )
       |             |/  /
       |             /  /    -Felix Lee-
       |            (  /
       \             y'
        `-.._____..-'

~~~
elwell
looks like from coffeescript readme [0].

[0]: [https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-
script/blob/master/READM...](https://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-
script/blob/master/README)

~~~
gulbrandr
No, I think it's this one [http://www.ascii-
art.de/ascii/c/coffee.txt](http://www.ascii-art.de/ascii/c/coffee.txt)

~~~
jashkenas
That's where I found the CoffeeScript one. Spot on.

------
data-cat
This is a cool idea; I would take you up on it if I wasn't in New York. I
especially like your web page but have to say that the light coloring makes
some of the text a little hard to read.

~~~
johnmurch
I think it's a cool idea too - I am in NYC wanna grab coffee/beer and chat
tech?

~~~
billmalarky
Looks like you got some spam on your blog

*actually, it looks like you've been compromised. There are spam links all over your home page.

[http://www.johnmurch.com/projects/noteparse/](http://www.johnmurch.com/projects/noteparse/)

~~~
johnmurch
Thanks for the heads up but not seeing them. That link is a project I worked
on, not spam.

~~~
nicolethenerd
Uhh, clear your cache? You've definitely been compromised - content all over
your site has been replaced with spam content.

~~~
lstamour
Hmm, I'm not seeing it on that page either. Tried Chrome and Curl, source code
seems clean.

~~~
bovermyer
I'm also not seeing it. Wonder if @billmalarky is compromised?

~~~
lstamour
Maybe it looks for a certain browser string and hides itself otherwise? I knew
of Wordpress malware from last year that would never show to logged in users.

------
philfreo
I've done a few lunches in SF through
[http://letslunch.com/](http://letslunch.com/) which I'd recommend if you're
looking for a "scalable" version of this.

~~~
sebslomski
I used to organize something similar in Munich, Germany called NerdLunch.
Meetings like this are great to enlarge your network and to not lunch in front
of your machine every day.

Great to see someone made a website like this, I'll give it a try.

------
eli
I like the website and if I weren't in DC I'd fill it out... But one doesn't
need a fancy website to reach me. I pretty much always say yes to someone who
wants to learn more about what we're working on. I bet that's true for a great
many founders.

~~~
fuqua
So, what are you working on?

~~~
eli
Click my profile :)

Nice thing about an in-person meeting is that it feels (to me) like a lot less
effort than typing a bunch of stuff out. But feel free to ask me any
questions.

------
Raphmedia
Nice idea.

The contrast of the font-color/bg-color however is really bad.

~~~
swashboon
The input box's for email address wasnt exactly obvious to me either, do I
ommit the @? Do I just put my name in the first part and email in the second?
Do I split up my email address with the prefix before the @ in the first part,
and the suffix in the second box? Do i need the '.com'? Or is the first box a
subject line or something?

I think just putting an @ symbol between the two boxs would pretty much answer
most of these questions.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I think it's more clear in it's current form than it would be with your
suggested change. With the placeholders it's seems obvious to me how to use
the form.

It's interesting though to see that something I think is quite clear isn't
clear and could be improved to someone else. Shows how important testing this
kind of thing is (although maybe not in the case of a small site like this).

------
thejosh
Not sure about the US, but could you file these under "business expenses" for
taxes?

~~~
stingraycharles
Depends on your role within the business of course, but I always file these
kind of expenses under business expenses myself. In the end, the meetings help
my professional life a lot.

------
tomrod
I have an embarrassing sort of question for the wise folks in the community.
If I don't drink coffee, what should I drink when I take you to coffee?

~~~
ta38383
Tea. Decaf/herbal as desired.

~~~
praxeologist
I agree. I like both coffee and tea but even for someone who isn't a fan of
brown/green tea I suggest some sort of hibiscus. Maybe I am just obsessed with
Tazo's Passion blend right now, but I think people who really aren't into tea
will still like this. It is tart and lightly fruity + will often be mixed with
something like lemongrass to give it a bit of herbaceousness and/or a touch of
tropical flavor.

I'd also suggest Gen Mai Cha as something which is common enough to be in
supermarkets or coffehouses but which is a bit different too due to the
toasted rice flavor. If you end up in Starbucks, last I went there was a
berry-hibiscus "cooler" or something which was decent as well.

------
ankitshah
I've been doing something like this with a slightly different angle for a
while now (see [http://tea.byankit.com](http://tea.byankit.com) \+
[http://tea.byankit.com/penn](http://tea.byankit.com/penn)). Would love to
learn more about your inspiration and see what some of your thinking was
behind the initiative. We should talk.

------
rayiner
Someone needs to make this into a website that arranges coffee dates for
people in major metro areas.

~~~
fibbery
some schoolmates were working on [http://coffeeon.me/](http://coffeeon.me/)
not sure if it's a full-fledged thing yet though

------
wdaher
I think this is an awesome idea regardless of what comes of it.

My internal data nerd is dying for a follow-up post with a breakdown: * How
many site hits? * How many of those turned into actual coffees? * How many of
those actually showed up? (as opposed to being no-shows)

~~~
tg3
I plan on documenting all of that to satisfy my internal data nerd as well.

------
osetinsky
Trey, love it! We're doing something similar...everyone on Treatings is open
to being treated to coffee by a stranger:

[https://treatings.co/activity](https://treatings.co/activity)

------
nilkn
I'm not in a position of power and probably am not worth meeting,
professionally speaking, but hey, if I were in San Francisco, I'd put in an
application. :)

------
rafekett
A friend was doing this in Philadelphia last year and has started doing it in
SF [http://tea.byankit.com/](http://tea.byankit.com/). Not sure if this idea
was inspired by that or an independent discovery -- the design of the pages
looks samey but I think basically all designs that have the same color palate
from the same year look samey. It's just whatever's in that year.

------
pimpl
Nice idea, but… 115 MB video!?

------
drglitch
For some reason, this came to mind first... :)
[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hello-my-future-
girlfriend](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hello-my-future-girlfriend)

Jokes aside, it is a much more positive experience when you meet someone one
on one, outside of some meetup event networking shuffle.

------
Shweebz
This is a great concept. I've always had the intention of meeting people in SF
for networking purposes, but it always ends up feeling like a means to an end
- I'm a ____, I need a ____, are you the guy? This appears much more casual
and open. Looking forward to grabbing coffee with you, sir.

------
kaa2102
This is creative. I just had a friend that moved to the DC -area from San
Francisco. She works for the Federal Government and mentioned that she felt
out of place in San Fran because nearly every one is working on a start up.
This post makes it appear that it is really hard to stand out in a crowd.

------
gcatalfamo
I LOVE your idea. Since I live in Italy and not SF, I can't grab a coffee with
you, but I will still honor your project by borrowing your idea and applying
it here. (if that's ok with you)

I am going to be in SF in January (not for YC, haha) so I will contact your
for an American coffee in a few months.

~~~
zenojevski
Nice, I was thinking of doing the same, too. Plus coffee here is basically a
given, so it feels very natural.

Where in Italy, if I may? Fellow transplanted milanese here.

~~~
davidw
I have a standing offer open to buy people a beer/spritz/whatever here in
Padova if anyone is in the area.

~~~
gcatalfamo
I'll contact you if I happen to be in Padova!

------
fit2rule
I think the logical conclusion of this is going to have to be a weekly coffee
event, sort of some sort of show or media format, where you podcast a video of
the highlights of the week.

If you just opened up 'the coffee door' semi-persistently, I'm sure you'd meet
a lot of people.

------
hsukenooi
[http://coffeeme.in](http://coffeeme.in) is Tinder for startup people. I've
personally used it to meet like 50 people in the past 30 days. Obviously you
don't have to meet so many if you don't want :)

Disclosure: It's my startup.

~~~
timhargis
Tried to "apply" and logged in through LinkedIn and it says "something went
wrong."

~~~
hsukenooi
Ugh. We've been having a lot of problems with Linkedin going down. Should be
up now. I just tried it.

------
frankyurban
It's an awesome idea, and you've done a great job of making it look sweet. I
have actually been working on something similar so that I could connect with
the local designers/coders in the Philadelphia area. I'll post it here when
its ready :)

------
johnmurch
I wonder if you could make a linkedin app that would not only show people in
your area (city) but also show the 2nd and 3rd connections and who you should
reach out to in order to get drinks with that person. Cool idea - love it!

~~~
antsar
Make it not have anything to do with LinkedIn, and you've got an awesome idea!

------
sriram_sun
Folks from companies I wanted to meet: Hobby electronics, robotics etc.
Couldn't find any category related to those. Do they have any Denver/Boulder
coffee shops in their database? Site seems pretty slow now.

------
pacifi30
[http://www.truffle.io/](http://www.truffle.io/) is on similar lines but for
dating among start up people. It's only launched in Seattle though.

Disclosure: It's my startup :)

------
adamzerner
Brilliant.

I'm thinking about doing something along these lines in college. I'd like to
meet more cool people, so maybe I'll set up a table with a sign offering free
coffee.

------
faizanaziz
Either your looking for a job or your giving a job :)

------
rbosinger
#1? This guy might have to buy a lot of coffees!

------
veganarchocap
That's a novel idea, very brave also. There needs to be a blog post follow up
to see how this went!

------
Brajeshwar
[http://letslunch.com/](http://letslunch.com/)

------
franklovecchio
It'd be cool to do this on a city-by-city basis. Like a nano Meetup or
something.

------
TheMagicHorsey
Meetup.com is a great way to connect with other entrepreneurs in your area.

------
joshfraser
I'm a big believer in serendipity. I scheduled a coffee.

------
wehadfun
Awesome webpage. Love to know if you get any good connections

------
rajeshinf
Good one - can be called ice breaker oops coffee breaker

------
mittermayr
We tried building urbanvisitor.com for that purpose.

------
iamkoby
looks like an idea for a startup... thumbsup

------
ollydbg
Great, now I am thirsty for some coffee!

------
scottoreilly
I love it - what a cool idea!

------
sjreese
try facebook dot com and setup an event - works better

------
bjpcjp
Nice!

------
chatman
Could it be possible that this guy is a kidnapper? I would never meet a
stranger like this.

~~~
keithpeter
In a public place like a coffee shop or something, probably safe.

Friend at work tells of a friend of hers meeting a date. The lady picked the
bar in New St Station in Birmingham UK. At least 30 police within seconds of
there always, and saturation CCTV, has to be the safest meet up place going.

