How to Meet Startup Founders

“So, what were you hoping to get out of this meeting?”

It was Thursday, my second one since moving to New York, and I was having coffee with a guy I really admire.

Not the Grimace.

I told him “I want to get into the tech scene. You’re pretty connected, maybe you can help me.”

After that he rattled off names and events and meetups but then he said “I haven’t tried to break into the tech scene in a while, people just come to me now. Maybe you can help me by finding out how to do it.”

That question, plus the fact that I had no job at the time, got me wondering and eventually the answer came to me.

This is a website that a guy I met for coffee introduced me to. So far it’s gotten me meetings with top people at a bunch of different startups, and it can do the same for you if you let it.

It’s called Ohours, short for open hours which pretty much explains what it does. Influencials will post times they want to meet random people, open their offices if you will, and anybody who wants can come in and learn from them.

I knew nobody in the industry when I came to New York. All I had were some stories and a few minor accomplishments, but there’s no barrier to entry on Ohours, anybody can come in and meet influential people.

I was at a meetup a few weeks ago, gathered around a table with people looking for work, and the only way the majority of them met people was through networking events. There was no structure to who they met, no cold emailing, just events full of other people looking for work.

When I shared Ohours with them they got access to a tool that really could help them find a job. If they use it, that is.

Now, I want you to meet somebody new. Not just someone off the street either. Go on Ohours and book an appointment with somebody interesting right now, go to the meeting, then come back here and leave a comment letting us all know how it went, even if it’s awkward.

By the way, if you want to meet with me, I do an Ohours in the city every Wednesday night.

Good luck!

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