
Tell HN: Will design for food - parque
Hey HN. I&#x27;m a senior UI designer (6+ years of experience. Have worked for Disney, MTV, United Nations, large banks and others cool companies).<p>I&#x27;m flying to California in the upcoming weeks and I&#x27;m looking to meet and work with cool startups for free. Yes, free. (Company size doesn&#x27;t matter. NDA&#x27;s are ok too).<p>I can help with branding, UI (web&#x2F;mobile), presentation decks, &amp; product design. For free. No equity either.<p>In exchange, I&#x27;m asking for food and a room to sleep. Ideally I will work with each startup up to 1 week and then move to another city&#x2F;startup.<p>If you&#x27;re interested lets chat!
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keyle
Be sure to mention that you have the appropriate visa to allow this, and show
what you did for those big brands!

Good luck, sounds like a fun adventure!

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parque
I do have a business (not work) visa. Which allows me to make business in the
US but not get hired. Which I'm not looking for first hand. Thanks!

~~~
jedmeyers
If this is B1 visa you are talking about, then it does not allow you to
exchange your services for compensation. The only B1 traveling purpose that
might fit you, in theory, is "training" where you are reimbursed for your
living expenses, so you might look into that.

[https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/BusinessVisa%20Pu...](https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/BusinessVisa%20Purpose%20Listings%20March%202014%20flier.pdf)

~~~
Inviz
How about consultancy work? That's what I did in US with B-1, and
specificially I talked to border officer about this being legal.

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jedmeyers
IANAL but I think that depends on whether or not a US entity pays for the
actual consulting.

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jackbquick
Is a portfolio link too much to ask when an individual petitions others to
accept their brilliance and provide room and board?

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doozy
If you are good at something never do it for free.

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ajkjk
That aphorism assumes some things about a person's goals in life that don't
hold for everybody.

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coderholic
Link from profile: [http://lafolie.co/](http://lafolie.co/)

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dorianm
If it's setup as a freelancer with a business visa (B1), you should be fine.

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jedmeyers
Are you flying from overseas on tourist visa?

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gerby
You want to know what, I'm going to call you out for this. I don't like people
who are politically correct, and if you work for the Government, and truly
believe that someone can "work" in another country without actually really
working (in my opinion) because they're not making any money, and then have
that person be rejected at the border for life (yes this really happens),
among other things, for planning to "work" (according to you), for no money,
you're part of the problem. This person is not asking for money. Stop trying
to loop them into getting themselves in trouble, by admitting anything like
that on a public forum, because I see you as potentially a politically-correct
government troll collecting intelligence for evil purposes.

~~~
jeremy_wiebe
Are you aware that border officials don't care about whether you are receiving
compensation? If you are doing work an American could have performed they'll
care.

Note: I'm Canadian but live close to the border and cross occasionally.

~~~
gerby
Yes, that's why I was suggesting the guy say nothing about his
citizenship/visa status if he was indeed planning to help people for free. I'm
the type of guy, where even if I'm open-minded about the government (and might
even help them with my startup), I'm sticking up the little guy.

I would personally never "work" in the US without the right visa, because I am
well-aware of the laws and am a very knowledgable man. I'm also reasonable,
and the US government is not reasonable sometimes. I see that changing under
Donald Trump, because I firmly believe that he will change his mind and end up
being socially liberal because of people like Peter Thiel. I'm just doing a
public service for this innocent man.

~~~
ryanx435
what does this have to do with trump?

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gerby
Previous presidents enabled laws around people being considered "working" when
they're not making a dime and it's destroyed families because noones
considered changing it yet. I'd like to see Trump change that.

Downvote the _fuck_ out of me, do I care? Of course not. I will always stick
up for the little guy even when it's unpopular.

~~~
gerby
Look, DrScump, if a Canadian (like the one I know) can get deported for
helping his girlfriend who he spent 6 months of the year with (because he
legally could without "working" with his visa), with painting a house for
free, realistically there are laws and regulations which are an impediment to
freedom. Times are changing, and I'm going to be the messenger, so that people
like the guy who posted this remain free, _even if it 's unpopular and could
keep me away from getting an investment, or help_ by performing a public
service by telling him why he should say nothing to people about stuff like
this if he was planning to help people for free. You can't help people for
free and have freedom at the same time, according to past US government
administrations, apparently.

Also, US Presidents on both sides of the political spectrum have issued
"Executive Orders" to bypass both Congress and the Senate and write things
into law. They are considered unconstitutional by some, and constitutional by
others.

~~~
yarou
What a great person you are, liberator of the downtrodden immigrant! A
divinely ordained role one must assume.

~~~
gerby
Haha! A person who believes in free speech I am. An otherwise legal immigrant
who wants to help his girlfriend paint a house for free, being discriminated
against, exiled from a country for life and having his love with his lady
being shattered because of unreasonable governments (such as my friend)? No
way. Never happens. _I 'm kidding_. I will always stick up for what I believe
in, even when it makes my karma on HN go from 10 to -1. By the way, I'm going
to strongly suggest that this person _not_ _" work"_ for free (there's no
money involved, room and board are NOT money) in a foreign country like the
United States, the _freest country in the world_ and also _the most
incarcerated population in the world_. I'm also saying that if he does, he
should shut his mouth and not tell people on HN.

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irunbackwards
Super cool! You should blog about your experience(s), at least the non-NDA
ones!

~~~
parque
Yeah. I'll be writting a blog post about this whole process, including this
post on HN. How it all started, what we achieved, etc. Thanks!

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deepnotderp
Will you be coming to portland?

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parque
Never been to Portland! Happy to go there! Hit me up!

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deepnotderp
Any timeline? Also, what exactly are you doing? Seems like you have the money
to go out and fly places, so why do you need a place to stay? Just asking.

~~~
parque
The whole point is about visiting places I never been to before (or some that
I loved and want to go back like DC, Miami, etc) and getting to know local
entrepreneurs there.

This would be sometime next month. I'm scheduling my trip now because the
amount of offers I've received it's pretty great. Drop me a line and let's
chat.

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kaa2102
Let me know if you come to the Washington, DC area!

~~~
parque
Happy to go there. DC is my favorite city in the US. Let's chat!

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parque
Anyone in Miami? Happy to go there too! :D

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DrScump
What you seek to do is illegal, and I'd consider any company who offers to
take you up on it as suspect.

~~~
parque
It would be illegal if I work AND get payed. The whole point is not really
about this. I'm doing this just so I can get to know and work first hand with
a bunch of awesome entrepreneurs and also visit places that I haven't been
before!

~~~
DrScump

      It would be illegal if I work AND get payed
    

No, minimum wage laws still apply; Federal law offers a baseline while many
states have a higher threshold.

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peller
Can you explain how what OP's proposing is any different from bartering? What
makes wage laws apply, other than OP's perhaps not their primary language word
choice? I'm genuinely curious, because it sounds like an entirely reasonable
request to me - but I'm no lawyer.

~~~
DrScump
You can't "barter" labor, either. Allowing it would leave room for a return of
a _lot_ of abuse, especially in the hospitality industry (e.g. jobs that
elicit substantial tips, like a cocktail waitress in a resort).

Whatever you think of their effect on what the OP wants to do, such laws are
well-intended and are a response to a legacy of past such abuses.

