

Offer HN: How can I help? - bap

EDIT: For the sake of clarity I should state that I am willing to meet with as many people as I can fit into my schedule.<p>Who am I?<p>I’m Brian!<p>Seriously though, I’ve been in technology for a while. I have been through shutdowns,  liquidations, and an acquisition. I’ve worked with a lot of smart people. I’ve led teams in both wonderful and awful company cultures.<p>I'm more of a HN lurker than contributor. Here's to changing that.<p>I’m not a VC or Angel Investor. I’m not looking to make investments and couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m not a recruiter or head-hunter. I’m just a guy with a range of experience, some free time and an urge to give back.<p>I really like (decaf) espresso and chocolate.<p>What can I offer?<p>I’m offering to meet over coffee, lunch, dinner, in your conference room, at some park somewhere, anywhere in San Francisco or the East Bay. I can probably be convinced to trek down into the valley. Maybe we could even get together in a Google Hangout or on Skype (or whatever flavor of conferencing software you prefer.) I’m more than willing to get together when I’m traveling, if you’re in a place I’m traveling to.<p>I will help however I am able. We can brainstorm startup ideas. Help you think about your technology stack. Help you think about if/who you should hire and help you craft position announcements. Help you interview technical people where I’m competent to do so. Obviously I’m not an expert in everything, but maybe I can help you rope in an expert if I can’t cover it.<p>Maybe you want to talk about how to get started climbing the technology learning curve or want some help with a strategy to get hired into a particular company or want to know how I’ve navigated awkward conversations about compensation packages. Maybe you want to talk about how I filled the gaps in my education because I dropped out before finishing my degree. Maybe you want to hear me belabor the point of how you can get a college level education free on the internet.<p>I can even help you practice your chess game.. much in the same way a punching bag helps a boxer prepare for a bout.<p>There’s probably more I can offer, let’s talk about it. I don’t want to waste your time or mine. If I can help I will, if I can’t I’ll say so.<p>What do I want?<p>If you’re a bit cynical, a little suspicious, or do not commonly encounter generosity in your life you may find yourself wondering why I’m doing this. This is a big experiment for me. I like experimenting and doing so on myself instead of others clears up a lot of legal issues. To make things perfectly transparent these are my goals:<p>1. Meet people and dramatically expand my network.
2. Get out of my own head and see what other people are thinking.
3. Find out about cool new things ( and get invited to awesome launch parties. ;] )
4. That warm fuzzy feeling you get from doing good deeds.
5. Did I mention how much I like coffee and chocolate?<p>(Here's the original blog post: http://malfunctive.com/2012/03/07/the-offer/)
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cdvonstinkpot
Just came across your offer, hope you still have time, since I'll be sending
an email, too- albeit late to the party. Maybe you'll be over the initial rush
of emails by now & it'll work out for the best.

Thanks, by the way. And I second sac2171's sentiment. Glad to be on HN today.
:)

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bap
Hi, I got your email and I promise I am working my way through the queue
toward it!

I just wanted to note here for anyone else who feels like they are 'late to
the party' that I'm trying to make this an ongoing thing.

People should feel free to get in touch!

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kapilagarwal
Hi Brian, I'll be sending you an email with a startup idea for a review within
24 hour. Right now I am very busy. Sending email will require proper drafting.
Watch out for it. Bye, Kapil

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isharabash
I'll take you up on this, moving to sf saturday, so sometime next week?

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bap
You're on! See my profile or contact info. ;)

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sac2171
Posts like this make me love Hacker News.

