
Ask HN: Will you pay me for this? - mukgupta
Consider the following scenario:<p>a) You tell me something you desperately want to be good at and make a commitment
b) I follow up with you on a regular basis (email&#x2F;phone&#x2F;video), track your progress and send you reports occasionally
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LoSpietato
Some aspects should be taken in to account.

1 People that desperately want to be good at something are delusional because
thats is just a dream they see themselves already there but they do not have
the key to unlock that door.

2 when people go and see someone to help them out in something they want
someone to fix that for them otherwise they would be fixing that by
themselves.

3 People like that are emotional strugglers they have mental blocks they do
not follow up.

4\. If a third part is going to make them to commit into something they will
be blaming the third part for their failures.

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CM30
So basically, coaching then?

Personally, I wouldn't pay you for that, simply because (as people have
rightfully pointed out), I'd want a mentor to help me improve at things, not a
human alarm clock. 90% of what you mention here could be automated with a free
program, and the other 10% wouldn't be all that useful unless you had a decent
amount of experience in the field I'm trying to learn.

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jadzia-dev
No. If you're not good at this then you cannot provide any guidance or advice.
At which point I can just use reminders, or build an app with random positive
messages popping up as notifications every week or so.

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davidajackson
I like this variation of this idea: Put up X dollars and commit to tasks. If
you don't show proof that you did it, you don't get the money back. Maybe send
the money to a black hole if tasks aren't accomplished... like burning ether--
your company shouldn't keep the money because otherwise there's misaligned
incentives, but donating the money to charity seems like it _might_ motivate
you to work less (maybe not?), which wasn't your original goal. It's a bit
harsher but it means... it actually matters to commit.

In this scenario no one is selling you knowledge--instead, you're forcing
yourself to be more motivated. And you make money by taking a small cut when a
task gets accomplished, so you have a financial interest in your customers
succeeding.

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bigbassroller
I think your idea could work. I did this last year. I helped my friends little
brother transition from being a bartender to being front end developer
(perfect timing with covid19) and a new friend transition from being lawyer to
a QA engineer. We would chat and text message what we are working on, gotchas,
hot topics etc. We then would meetup occasionally on Fridays for drinks and
talk shop. It was a win/win situation, they got into a new lucrative career
and I got a new friend to talk tech with. This all plays into my mantra I got
from the movie Office Tigers on Netflix: On your way up, bring those around
you with you.

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psmithsfhn
I won't pay you, but I'm guessing somebody would.

I guess you would have to establish credibility.

e.g. If someone wants to be a great actor, but you have no acting experience.

I guess you could play the matchmaker role. I know there are coaching services
out there, at least one that is 'startup-y', but prob plenty more room.

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troydavis
Revealed preference
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference))
is often different from stated preference, particularly with “soft” purchases
like this one. Put up a web page - or a few different pages - and find out.

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gt2
Sounds like a great idea, partly because I don't know you and so I have less
fear of failing in front of people/the world.

How much do you have in mind?

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_ah
[https://bossasaservice.life/](https://bossasaservice.life/)

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mrfusion
I think this is a desperately needed service but I can’t think of the right
way to do it.

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p1esk
No, unless you’re good at it and willing to provide some guidance.

