4 ms·

How To Meet Anyone

85 points by adebelov 14y ago

smacktoward 14y ago
TL;DR Stalk them.
curt 14y ago
I've had the pleasure to meet a couple President's and a VP of the United States, Governors, hit golf balls with a Hall of Fame running back, drink with Mark Cuban and more just because I saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. As an example, I found out the President was going to a bar near me for a surprise visit so I got there quickly and placed myself where I knew he'd have to pass. Managed to get a hand shake and exchange a few words. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to meet people if you have a can-do attitude and use a little bit of creativity.
- jarek 14y ago
  You seem to have high standards for "meet"
  - anu_gupta 14y ago
    I think you mean low standards.
InfinityX0 14y ago
Want to find anyone's e-mail? There's an app for that: http://linksy.me/find-email http://linksy.me/find-email. Pretty useful.
- anonymouz 14y ago
  As long as "anyone" has a Gravatar account with an easy to guess email address. I don't think you'll get Medvev's or Clinton's email in this way...
falava 14y ago
Very nice article, reminds me this from Tim Ferris: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/10/how-to-get-george-bush-or-the-ceo-of-google-on-the-phone/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/10/how-to-get-g...
alanctgardner2 14y ago
I have to hand it to this guy, he has gotten his marketing company exposure on HN twice now in as many weeks, and his other accomplishments are quite notable. The thing that rubs me the wrong way about his articles is they always seem to be predicated on the notion that being really incredibly outgoing to the point of recklessness is the road to success. For example, this post should probably have been titled 'How to bum-rush the Russian Prime Minister and live to tell the tale'. The last one could have been 'How to screw over your competitors and an innocent event organizer to further your startup'. He is very accomplished, but one wonders if there isn't a way to accomplish the same things without bending the rules so hard.
- bluekite2000 14y ago
  I think if there is a better way he would have done it. Path of least resistance right? In this case he is a complete stranger and has no social proof so he does what he has to do. Much props to him. Startup is a bitch and this guy gets it done.
  - alanctgardner2 14y ago
    You're confusing 'better' with 'least resistance'. Lots of heads of state have met with the Russian president. They did much more work to get to their position, so this is not the path of least resistance. But they likely had a more productive dialog, and they didn't violate any cultural norms. As someone else pointed out, people can only get away with this as long as they're taking advantage of everyone who doesn't act this way. If everyone was blindly self-interested, nothing would be accomplished, and society would devolve. But a few self-interested people can leverage the normalcy of those around them to accomplish things easily. I have to give him some respect for getting into YC, but based on everything I've seen, I'm not sure exactly what he 'gets done'. Mostly it seems like bragging and social hacking all the way down.
    - bluekite2000 14y ago
      I understand what you mean. It is a social hack but given his situation (aka he is not head of state) I m not sure if there is much else he could have done.
anonaccount27 14y ago
$$$$$
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
nessus42 14y ago
I interviewed Kate Bush a long time ago. This may or may not impress you, but since she's a notorious recluse, it's quite impressive to anyone who is a Kate Bush fan. Q. How did I do this? A. I made it my life's goal for a couple of years. So, I'd agree with the OP that you can accomplish all sorts of crazy things if you are obsessive enough about it. In retrospect, however, I might have put those years to better use, and I'm not sure that all that obsession was particularly healthy. I.e., it didn't make me happy. On the other hand, it's pretty cool to have interviewed Kate Bush, so no regrets.
- robterrell 14y ago
  Link to the interview?
  - floralskirts 14y ago
    I second this request. That is impressive!
    - nessus42 14y ago
      Oh, at this point in my life the silly questions that I asked are just terribly embarrassing to me! I'm sure that you can locate it though, if you really care. The truth is out there!
jmccaffrey 14y ago
Haha, why does Steve Wozniak have the "Bad Boys Bail Bonds" lanyard my girlfriend does?
x-sam 14y ago
Reminds me a book "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi.
zalzane 14y ago
meta: This is the second time in several weeks that we've seen a virool post at the top of HN with loads of votes within just an hour of its posting. It sure isn't suspicious that a company based around viral marketing just happens to have excellent luck getting their HN posts in the top spot on the front page. If all of their marketing tactics are this transparent, I don't think I would be very inclined to do business with them.
csmatt 14y ago
When I was living in North Carolina, I was reading 'The Mythical Man-Month' and decided to check the wiki page for Fred P. Brooks Jr. (the author). I was surprised to find that he actually worked for UNC Chapel Hill. I found a faculty email address and I was sitting in his living room the following week!
jetti 14y ago
"- If you do come in close contact with someone you would like to meet, don’t be intimidated, approach them!" This line pretty much sums up the entire article for me. It takes a "all about my wants" kind of approach. It never takes into account how the target of the meeting would feel. I for one, would be pissed if I was at a charity event and people came up to me asking about their own thing. Just doing what you want with blatant disregard to people's feelings is definitely a way to meet any person you want, but I just don't think the outcome would be the same as in this article.
- mdonahoe 14y ago
  So? What would you do about it? It's a risk the "target" won't talk to you, but there is little downside. They might think you are a pushy jerk, but they aren't going to do anything. They will just immediately forget you. If you don't talk them, then nothing will ever happen, guaranteed.

85 points by adebelov 14y ago

TL;DR Stalk them.

curt 14y ago

I've had the pleasure to meet a couple President's and a VP of the United States, Governors, hit golf balls with a Hall of Fame running back, drink with Mark Cuban and more just because I saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. As an example, I found out the President was going to a bar near me for a surprise visit so I got there quickly and placed myself where I knew he'd have to pass. Managed to get a hand shake and exchange a few words. You'd be amazed at how easy it is to meet people if you have a can-do attitude and use a little bit of creativity.

jarek 14y ago
You seem to have high standards for "meet"
- anu_gupta 14y ago
  I think you mean low standards.

InfinityX0 14y ago

Want to find anyone's e-mail? There's an app for that: http://linksy.me/find-email http://linksy.me/find-email. Pretty useful.

anonymouz 14y ago
As long as "anyone" has a Gravatar account with an easy to guess email address. I don't think you'll get Medvev's or Clinton's email in this way...

falava 14y ago

Very nice article, reminds me this from Tim Ferris: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/10/how-to-get-george-bush-or-the-ceo-of-google-on-the-phone/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/10/how-to-get-g...

alanctgardner2 14y ago

I have to hand it to this guy, he has gotten his marketing company exposure on HN twice now in as many weeks, and his other accomplishments are quite notable. The thing that rubs me the wrong way about his articles is they always seem to be predicated on the notion that being really incredibly outgoing to the point of recklessness is the road to success. For example, this post should probably have been titled 'How to bum-rush the Russian Prime Minister and live to tell the tale'. The last one could have been 'How to screw over your competitors and an innocent event organizer to further your startup'. He is very accomplished, but one wonders if there isn't a way to accomplish the same things without bending the rules so hard.

bluekite2000 14y ago
I think if there is a better way he would have done it. Path of least resistance right? In this case he is a complete stranger and has no social proof so he does what he has to do. Much props to him. Startup is a bitch and this guy gets it done.
- alanctgardner2 14y ago
  You're confusing 'better' with 'least resistance'. Lots of heads of state have met with the Russian president. They did much more work to get to their position, so this is not the path of least resistance. But they likely had a more productive dialog, and they didn't violate any cultural norms. As someone else pointed out, people can only get away with this as long as they're taking advantage of everyone who doesn't act this way. If everyone was blindly self-interested, nothing would be accomplished, and society would devolve. But a few self-interested people can leverage the normalcy of those around them to accomplish things easily. I have to give him some respect for getting into YC, but based on everything I've seen, I'm not sure exactly what he 'gets done'. Mostly it seems like bragging and social hacking all the way down.
  - bluekite2000 14y ago
    I understand what you mean. It is a social hack but given his situation (aka he is not head of state) I m not sure if there is much else he could have done.

anonaccount27 14y ago

$$$$$

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

nessus42 14y ago

I interviewed Kate Bush a long time ago. This may or may not impress you, but since she's a notorious recluse, it's quite impressive to anyone who is a Kate Bush fan. Q. How did I do this? A. I made it my life's goal for a couple of years. So, I'd agree with the OP that you can accomplish all sorts of crazy things if you are obsessive enough about it. In retrospect, however, I might have put those years to better use, and I'm not sure that all that obsession was particularly healthy. I.e., it didn't make me happy. On the other hand, it's pretty cool to have interviewed Kate Bush, so no regrets.

robterrell 14y ago
Link to the interview?
- floralskirts 14y ago
  I second this request. That is impressive!
  - nessus42 14y ago
    Oh, at this point in my life the silly questions that I asked are just terribly embarrassing to me! I'm sure that you can locate it though, if you really care. The truth is out there!

jmccaffrey 14y ago

Haha, why does Steve Wozniak have the "Bad Boys Bail Bonds" lanyard my girlfriend does?

x-sam 14y ago

Reminds me a book "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi.

zalzane 14y ago

meta: This is the second time in several weeks that we've seen a virool post at the top of HN with loads of votes within just an hour of its posting. It sure isn't suspicious that a company based around viral marketing just happens to have excellent luck getting their HN posts in the top spot on the front page. If all of their marketing tactics are this transparent, I don't think I would be very inclined to do business with them.

csmatt 14y ago

When I was living in North Carolina, I was reading 'The Mythical Man-Month' and decided to check the wiki page for Fred P. Brooks Jr. (the author). I was surprised to find that he actually worked for UNC Chapel Hill. I found a faculty email address and I was sitting in his living room the following week!

jetti 14y ago

"- If you do come in close contact with someone you would like to meet, don’t be intimidated, approach them!" This line pretty much sums up the entire article for me. It takes a "all about my wants" kind of approach. It never takes into account how the target of the meeting would feel. I for one, would be pissed if I was at a charity event and people came up to me asking about their own thing. Just doing what you want with blatant disregard to people's feelings is definitely a way to meet any person you want, but I just don't think the outcome would be the same as in this article.

mdonahoe 14y ago
So? What would you do about it? It's a risk the "target" won't talk to you, but there is little downside. They might think you are a pushy jerk, but they aren't going to do anything. They will just immediately forget you. If you don't talk them, then nothing will ever happen, guaranteed.