Ask HN: When to pay it forward vs. focusing on your startup

[schappim]

I've been asked to do a TedX style presentation on the new “collaborative economy” (hear: my crowd funding experience) to Centre Managers of a very very large mall chain.

Quality presentations pretty much take me a week to prepare. It seems to be an unpaid gig with no short term upside.

Should I:

1) Pay it forward. (Should I be paying it forward to a very very large corporate).

2) Say no and FOCUS on my startup.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[mpesce]

Ask yourself if this is work you _want_ to do. What purpose does it serve - not just those you're teaching, but yourself? Can this be something you learn from too? Can it help open doors?

One thing to remember: people value work that they pay for. Something that is given freely has no value. And that's not something that can be changed.

If you do say no, say no as politely as possible. Make the no an opportunity, rather than a closing of a door.

[schappim → mpesce]

Thanks for the advice Mark, very helpful :)

- M

[davismwfl]

In addition to what mpesce said, In general I rarely would do anything "free" for a large corporation, unless I saw how it could lead to work. e.g. if I needed a foot in the door or they could lend credibility to me. That doesn't mean I don't want to give back (I strongly believe in it and do it), it just means that large corporations have a history of taking advantage of smaller teams, individuals etc, yet they are the ones in the best position to pay fairly for quality. If you would feel better about doing it if paid then you can also try and offer to schedule it when it might be more conducive for you to donate your time, in which case they may then offer to pay expenses etc.

Just an alternative view too. This solely depends on your goals and whether you need this but you may consider doing the talk if this company can help raise your profile or their credibility might help you with your startup. In that sense you can view it as marketing or research that directly helps your startup. In fact, if the people you would be speaking to would be potential customers for your startup, I'd really think strongly about how you could do it and meet their talk but also do a little promotion at the same time.

[taprun]

Sometimes you can benefit in multiple ways. As davismwfl suggests, it might raise your profile. You could probably film it (or get them to film it) and stick the result on udemy to recoup your losses...