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> If they are actually going to pay for your time, why just don't take the job? You probably never received such am offer. It's always in the form of "I bring

> If they are actually going to pay for your time, why just don't take the job? You probably never received such am offer. It's always in the form of "I bring the idea, you do all the work and, instead of money, you'll receive a ${rand(5,20)}% share of the resulting company!". And if you offer to do the work for money instead, you'll never hear back. People serious enough to put money behind their ideas won't randomly ping Reddit mods with them.

mrtksn 4y ago
I wouldn't dismiss everyone as grifters though. Every now and then it's not the guy with the idea who just needs someone to implement it, but it's actually someone who got lucky in something previously and has resources. That's why I say do it if they are actually going to pay for your time. I don't know if anyone ever falls to the guy with idea but no resources and no expertise to do it themselves anyway?
- acdha 4y ago
  Maybe but the style of that definitely felt more like someone getting ready to low-ball. It brought back dotcom-era memories of the guys who wanted to clone some big web site - they always thought it would be “fairly easy”, too.
  - mrtksn 4y ago
    Same, it brought back dotcom-era(post crash, actually) memories but memories are about me making good money as a high school student. The trick is to ask for downpayment and don't do it for promises(unless it's trivial and the person asking is really nice).
    - acdha 4y ago
      I was fortunate enough to avoid that thanks to knowing a few freelance designers and some Usenet communities where people explained why you never work for exposure and always get a down payment.
- Sebb767 4y ago
  I'm not dismissing everyone, but those people the post referred to are all in this category. People with money to put behind an idea will either open with "I'm looking to hire an ML engineer with experience for a startup idea" (keyword being "hire") or maybe "I'm planning to found a startup and am looking for a technical lead/cofounder". That is, in the unlikely case that they'll hire by pinging Reddit mods instead of going to a known job site. There is maybe a minuscule chance that there's indeed someone in there who had a windfall, is willing to invest money and has a good idea but no clue on how to hire people, but this is a bit like responding to every spam email in the hopes that you indeed have a deceased Nigerian relative, which inherited you millions but was unable to afford a lawyer that actually speaks English.

mrtksn 4y ago

I wouldn't dismiss everyone as grifters though. Every now and then it's not the guy with the idea who just needs someone to implement it, but it's actually someone who got lucky in something previously and has resources. That's why I say do it if they are actually going to pay for your time. I don't know if anyone ever falls to the guy with idea but no resources and no expertise to do it themselves anyway?

acdha 4y ago
Maybe but the style of that definitely felt more like someone getting ready to low-ball. It brought back dotcom-era memories of the guys who wanted to clone some big web site - they always thought it would be “fairly easy”, too.
- mrtksn 4y ago
  Same, it brought back dotcom-era(post crash, actually) memories but memories are about me making good money as a high school student. The trick is to ask for downpayment and don't do it for promises(unless it's trivial and the person asking is really nice).
  - acdha 4y ago
    I was fortunate enough to avoid that thanks to knowing a few freelance designers and some Usenet communities where people explained why you never work for exposure and always get a down payment.
Sebb767 4y ago
I'm not dismissing everyone, but those people the post referred to are all in this category. People with money to put behind an idea will either open with "I'm looking to hire an ML engineer with experience for a startup idea" (keyword being "hire") or maybe "I'm planning to found a startup and am looking for a technical lead/cofounder". That is, in the unlikely case that they'll hire by pinging Reddit mods instead of going to a known job site. There is maybe a minuscule chance that there's indeed someone in there who had a windfall, is willing to invest money and has a good idea but no clue on how to hire people, but this is a bit like responding to every spam email in the hopes that you indeed have a deceased Nigerian relative, which inherited you millions but was unable to afford a lawyer that actually speaks English.