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Ask HN: Will you pay me for this?

9 pointsby mukguptaabout 5 years ago
Consider the following scenario:<p>a) You tell me something you desperately want to be good at and make a commitment b) I follow up with you on a regular basis (email&#x2F;phone&#x2F;video), track your progress and send you reports occasionally

11 comments

LoSpietatoabout 5 years ago
Some aspects should be taken in to account.<p>1 People that desperately want to be good at something are delusional because thats is just a dream they see themselves already there but they do not have the key to unlock that door.<p>2 when people go and see someone to help them out in something they want someone to fix that for them otherwise they would be fixing that by themselves.<p>3 People like that are emotional strugglers they have mental blocks they do not follow up.<p>4. If a third part is going to make them to commit into something they will be blaming the third part for their failures.
CM30about 5 years ago
So basically, coaching then?<p>Personally, I wouldn&#x27;t pay you for that, simply because (as people have rightfully pointed out), I&#x27;d want a mentor to help me improve at things, not a human alarm clock. 90% of what you mention here could be automated with a free program, and the other 10% wouldn&#x27;t be all that useful unless you had a decent amount of experience in the field I&#x27;m trying to learn.
jadzia-devabout 5 years ago
No. If you&#x27;re not good at this then you cannot provide any guidance or advice. At which point I can just use reminders, or build an app with random positive messages popping up as notifications every week or so.
davidajacksonabout 5 years ago
I like this variation of this idea: Put up X dollars and commit to tasks. If you don&#x27;t show proof that you did it, you don&#x27;t get the money back. Maybe send the money to a black hole if tasks aren&#x27;t accomplished... like burning ether-- your company shouldn&#x27;t keep the money because otherwise there&#x27;s misaligned incentives, but donating the money to charity seems like it <i>might</i> motivate you to work less (maybe not?), which wasn&#x27;t your original goal. It&#x27;s a bit harsher but it means... it actually matters to commit.<p>In this scenario no one is selling you knowledge--instead, you&#x27;re forcing yourself to be more motivated. And you make money by taking a small cut when a task gets accomplished, so you have a financial interest in your customers succeeding.
bigbassrollerabout 5 years ago
I think your idea could work. I did this last year. I helped my friends little brother transition from being a bartender to being front end developer (perfect timing with covid19) and a new friend transition from being lawyer to a QA engineer. We would chat and text message what we are working on, gotchas, hot topics etc. We then would meetup occasionally on Fridays for drinks and talk shop. It was a win&#x2F;win situation, they got into a new lucrative career and I got a new friend to talk tech with. This all plays into my mantra I got from the movie Office Tigers on Netflix: On your way up, bring those around you with you.
psmithsfhnabout 5 years ago
I won&#x27;t pay you, but I&#x27;m guessing somebody would.<p>I guess you would have to establish credibility.<p>e.g. If someone wants to be a great actor, but you have no acting experience.<p>I guess you could play the matchmaker role. I know there are coaching services out there, at least one that is &#x27;startup-y&#x27;, but prob plenty more room.
troydavisabout 5 years ago
Revealed preference (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Revealed_preference" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Revealed_preference</a>) is often different from stated preference, particularly with “soft” purchases like this one. Put up a web page - or a few different pages - and find out.
gt2about 5 years ago
Sounds like a great idea, partly because I don&#x27;t know you and so I have less fear of failing in front of people&#x2F;the world.<p>How much do you have in mind?
_ahabout 5 years ago
<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bossasaservice.life&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;bossasaservice.life&#x2F;</a>
mrfusionabout 5 years ago
I think this is a desperately needed service but I can’t think of the right way to do it.
p1eskabout 5 years ago
No, unless you’re good at it and willing to provide some guidance.