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No offense, but I think you may have aimed too high in reaching out to the CEO. Unless you honestly think you're going to nab a position on the CEO's staff (wh

by brk 16y ago

No offense, but I think you may have aimed too high in reaching out to the CEO. Unless you honestly think you're going to nab a position on the CEO's staff (which is possible, but unlikely) you should try to get an intro to the person(s) most likely to be able to make you an actual job offer. I've seen variants of your situation several times in the past. CEO meets someone, is impressed in some manner, passes the contact over to the lower-level person, that person has no time/interest/need for candidate and the process halts, usually after initial expectations were high. I'll also say I find it a touch odd that after this single experience you find it necessary to post the whole thing here. tldr; you have some experience, you pursued 1 job opportunity which wasn't even an actual open position req. and then you didn't get hired. You could fill 100 HN sites with 1000 variants of that exact same story EVERY DAY. Again, not trying to be harsh, just trying to filter the reality out of this, which is yours is a very non-noteworthy experience in life.

coryl 16y ago
The difference is I wasn't looking for a "job". I'm a hustler, willing to do what it takes, and I made it clear from the beginning. I wanted the opportunity to learn and do, and money wasn't an issue. It's a shock to me that I couldn't hustle my way into interning a startup at virtually no cost to them, given my experience. Maybe I'm overrating myself :). Also, its a small startup, so I would have had to gone through the CEO anyway. If you aren't satisfied with the quality or uniqueness of my story, you have the luxury of flagging, not commenting, or otherwise ignoring it completely :D
- alanthonyc 16y ago
  Just because they won't be paying you money doesn't mean it's cost free or them. Taking on a person into any organization, but especially a small startup, has many associated costs, from the time spent just getting to know you, to teaching you stuff (if you're learning) to the opportunity cost of you taking up some other potential person's slot.
  - staunch 16y ago
    Add to that the risk of not paying someone for work done. Or paying them a token salary but being required to offer them the same health coverage all your employees have (due to plan requirements).
- amazed 16y ago
  Lesson from this which I learned from similar experience. Never work for free.
- brk 16y ago
  But money is an issue for them. No matter what you bring to the table it takes time and resources on their part to get you integrated into the company. You impose a liability of sorts on the company just by showing up. Ideally, your contribution outweighs that liability and it's a net gain for everyone. Working for free or a reduced rate can be a good strategy to get in the door, I've used it and advocated for it in the past on comments here. However, there still needs to be a bona-fide position and job you're fulfilling, otherwise you're ultimately just some guy hanging out and getting in the way. I'm neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with your story. What I was pointing out is that it's not a unique experience. It happens to lots of people all the time, the underlying intent of my statement being don't get discouraged by it or dwell on it.
- lockem 16y ago
  Well, there is an alternative to "Working for free". You could try to find something which has monetary value for them and try to create it by yourself and selling it to them. It doesn't have to be a technological solution it could be any business related thing - potential customer database, sales leads etc.. (I am not sure what you are good at so...) Basically, if you have something of value you could always try and sell it to someone - and if it is of value someone will pay for it or at least might consider your contributions worth more than what it costs to have you there.
- matthewcford 16y ago
  I get few offers for 'free' work, the problem is that time is money. Having to mentor or guide someone, even if you are not paying them, it costs that person time, which they probably cannot afford to spend.
DanielStraight 16y ago
Indeed. The degree of extrapolation from this one experience is staggering: You got rejected, so you "can't get a job?" There are people who have experienced a constant stream of rejection letters since losing their jobs in the recession last year. A few people didn't seem to care about you, so "nobody gives a shit about you?" What about the people who worked with you in previous startups, or the people who wrote up stories about you, or the professors who invested in you in school? What about the 20+ people who voted you up and left 30+ comments trying to help you for free? I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just think some perspective could help. You can get a job, just not this one. And people do care about you. Call you mom/dad/friend/brother/favorite professor (someone who's been instrumental in your life so far) and ask them if they have time to hear you vent and give you some advice. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 people just from my school years (not that long ago, but still a few years back) that would listen and give advice to me. I can't imagine there isn't a single person in your life who would do the same.

by brk 16y ago

coryl 16y ago

The difference is I wasn't looking for a "job". I'm a hustler, willing to do what it takes, and I made it clear from the beginning. I wanted the opportunity to learn and do, and money wasn't an issue. It's a shock to me that I couldn't hustle my way into interning a startup at virtually no cost to them, given my experience. Maybe I'm overrating myself :). Also, its a small startup, so I would have had to gone through the CEO anyway. If you aren't satisfied with the quality or uniqueness of my story, you have the luxury of flagging, not commenting, or otherwise ignoring it completely :D

alanthonyc 16y ago
Just because they won't be paying you money doesn't mean it's cost free or them. Taking on a person into any organization, but especially a small startup, has many associated costs, from the time spent just getting to know you, to teaching you stuff (if you're learning) to the opportunity cost of you taking up some other potential person's slot.
- staunch 16y ago
  Add to that the risk of not paying someone for work done. Or paying them a token salary but being required to offer them the same health coverage all your employees have (due to plan requirements).
amazed 16y ago
Lesson from this which I learned from similar experience. Never work for free.
brk 16y ago
But money is an issue for them. No matter what you bring to the table it takes time and resources on their part to get you integrated into the company. You impose a liability of sorts on the company just by showing up. Ideally, your contribution outweighs that liability and it's a net gain for everyone. Working for free or a reduced rate can be a good strategy to get in the door, I've used it and advocated for it in the past on comments here. However, there still needs to be a bona-fide position and job you're fulfilling, otherwise you're ultimately just some guy hanging out and getting in the way. I'm neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with your story. What I was pointing out is that it's not a unique experience. It happens to lots of people all the time, the underlying intent of my statement being don't get discouraged by it or dwell on it.
lockem 16y ago
Well, there is an alternative to "Working for free". You could try to find something which has monetary value for them and try to create it by yourself and selling it to them. It doesn't have to be a technological solution it could be any business related thing - potential customer database, sales leads etc.. (I am not sure what you are good at so...) Basically, if you have something of value you could always try and sell it to someone - and if it is of value someone will pay for it or at least might consider your contributions worth more than what it costs to have you there.
matthewcford 16y ago
I get few offers for 'free' work, the problem is that time is money. Having to mentor or guide someone, even if you are not paying them, it costs that person time, which they probably cannot afford to spend.

DanielStraight 16y ago

Indeed. The degree of extrapolation from this one experience is staggering: You got rejected, so you "can't get a job?" There are people who have experienced a constant stream of rejection letters since losing their jobs in the recession last year. A few people didn't seem to care about you, so "nobody gives a shit about you?" What about the people who worked with you in previous startups, or the people who wrote up stories about you, or the professors who invested in you in school? What about the 20+ people who voted you up and left 30+ comments trying to help you for free? I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just think some perspective could help. You can get a job, just not this one. And people do care about you. Call you mom/dad/friend/brother/favorite professor (someone who's been instrumental in your life so far) and ask them if they have time to hear you vent and give you some advice. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 5 people just from my school years (not that long ago, but still a few years back) that would listen and give advice to me. I can't imagine there isn't a single person in your life who would do the same.