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Ask HN: How do you find help?

12 points by kovek ↗ HN
Hi HN!

I am working on a project that I would like to push to fruition. I have knowledge in software development, and I definitely need some guidance for other aspects of the project. I think the best way to learn about these aspects is to find experts in those fields. How do you find experts, and how do you reach out to them for help?

Thank you!

kovek

7 comments

[ 0.20 ms ] story [ 26.3 ms ] thread
lemthro
Id approach experts in the field, tell them what your working on in a sentence or two and see if they will help with a quick call/email. Have a few q's prepared, dont waste their time. People genuinly interested in helping further will let you know, or can put you in touch with someone who can (eg a great junior they know).

Some general tips

- Good founders will always try and pay it forward, even the big (locally) famous ones

- Check out trade associations, they are typically open and can hook you up with an expert.

- Avoid VCs & other people who are busy or only tangentially related to the industry

- Avoid people who are very publicly associated with an industry (usually just personal-brand folks and busy)

- Look for people who have been execs but are now semi-retired (commissioners etc)

You can use a simple template like this

"Hi xx, im building yy to do zz. I was wondering if I can send you some questions to learn from you?"

I did this before and a lot of nice people gave me time, some v big names in the field (to me, a randomer). Just come prepared, keep it short, be thankful, dont try sell them your product etc.

Edit to add: I used linkedin and email to contact.

lironmo
I recommend that you become an expert in the field, study the field and see that if time controls you. For communities it all depends on the technology you write about - search in GitHub
afarrell
This is a good question and I would love to know the answer to it. Personally, I'm looking for help finding a therapist who has experience both in C-PTSD and software estimation, but I don't even know where to begin finding a... therapist-shopping-specialist?
poletopole
I may have got lucky but I found a psychiatrist who was life changing with Zocdoc. I recommend finding a private practice psychiatrist first since they can refer you to a specialist for therapy—doing the reverse is much harder. My sister is a clinical psychologist in the Navy who works with many PTSD patients, so finding a therapist with military experience would make sense in your case; she’s a proponent of exposure therapy. What I discovered was that the most helpful doctors are always in the most affluent part of town, so keep that in mind, it’s worth the drive.
afarrell
The problem is finding someone who knows about software engineering or software project management.

(Really, what I'm looking for is someone to teach me how to do estimates. But at this point in my career, such a person would also need to have an understanding of C-PTSD)

protabot
Hi Kovek,

I’ve had this same problem in the past and couldn’t find a good way to reach experts, I tried LinkedIn but conversation tends to fizzle out as people are so busy in their day to day (not to bash anyone, but it’s just how it goes sometimes)

Are you looking for collaborators? Or have a specific topic in mind? I have a group called The Polymath Club (thepolymathclub.com) to collaborate on ideas. The purpose of building the group was to get input from many smart people in cross-discipline fields. We currently have 8 members. Not trying to advertise- I just thought you might find it helpful in the future :)

Hope you’re doing great

-Jane

protabot
Also in case it isn’t clear, I would absolutely love to have you on our next meeting, curious on what you’re working on, haha