Time is a limited resource, so it makes sense to at least have some type of filter. Beyond that, I found this article to irritate me and to be complete shit. You NEVER know who someone is or even will be. Jobs and Woz were a bunch of weird hippies and Zuck was a college kid who came up with a new idea every few weeks. Keep your door open and always take the time to give some advice to those who ask for it. Karma can be a bitch, but it can also be a blessing. You never know when you'll need help.
On top of it, blog as much smart shit as you can. It will spread and odds are it will impact someone's life. A month ago or so, someone emailed me with the subject: You don't know me, but thank you. He read my article on email newsletters, and it was finally the push he needed to leave his job + start his first startup. He's doing really well so far. I'm by no means popular at all. I can't imagine the impact guys like PG have had, but it has to be tremendous. We need to keep spreading our ideas and encouraging people. Selflessness and the goal to see more entrepreneurs succeed is why our industry wins. We all started from nothing, never ever forget that.
"When any sincere individual or group of people asks for my assistance in pursuit of their business dream, I will strive to help them in any way that I can, be it small or large."
Can we be honest for a second, it's almost never true altruism when you meet with someone to talk. I've been on both sides and in either case you almost always have some sort of potential benefit from it. That person might lead you to something good just as much as you might lead them to something good. I don't know everyone they know or everything they've done (if I did, I probably wouldn't be talking to them).
Amen to that. The problem is that this article makes us feel like suckers, because we do do things for free. However her entire argument hinges upon the assertion that
As [compassionate people] we like to
help and can get trapped in giving our time and ideas away
for free because we’re afraid to ask for compensation.
which, for us, is plain false. It's not that we're affraid to ask for compensation: we're not even considering that option. We don't want compensation. We love to help think through complex situations and puzzles.
Some women believe that being polite or kind is tantamount to being a doormat. Such diseased thinking is apparently caused by a course in women's studies or speed reading self-help books.
On top of it, blog as much smart shit as you can. It will spread and odds are it will impact someone's life. A month ago or so, someone emailed me with the subject: You don't know me, but thank you. He read my article on email newsletters, and it was finally the push he needed to leave his job + start his first startup. He's doing really well so far. I'm by no means popular at all. I can't imagine the impact guys like PG have had, but it has to be tremendous. We need to keep spreading our ideas and encouraging people. Selflessness and the goal to see more entrepreneurs succeed is why our industry wins. We all started from nothing, never ever forget that.
Long live Rajeev's rule.