Dear HackerNews;

My name is Aaron, and I am a professional software developer.

But I'm thinking about trying something new.

My career as a full-stack developer has spanned twenty years. I've worked in telecom. I've consulted for the federal government. I've slung code for startups. For a few years I was even the lead developer for Squidoo.com. These days I'm self-employed—it's a means to an end, and I'm pretty sure I'm almost at the end.

But before I move onto the next waypoint in my current career, I'm considering testing a fork.

When I reflect on my career, I realize I've done as much if not more listening than I have done coding. I'm not talking about the sort of listening that's necessary to write good software. I'm talking about helping my colleagues to resolve personal and professional conflicts. Sometimes I've helped by saying nothing at all—I'm good at listening.

I'm wondering if there's a marketplace among my peers for a "professional listener." We could discuss personal and professional challenges together. You'd pay up front for an hour of my time. We'd sign a mutual NDA. I would add you to my Slack Team, and we'd setup a time to chat.

I want to be clear: I'm not proposing counseling; I'm pretty sure that would be against the law. I couldn't make recommendations for treatment of any sort. I suspect from time to time I would recommend licensed practicing counselors.

No, this would be more like life coaching, but I don't want to call it that. There's too much voodoo in that market, too many "weird tricks." This would be honest, patient, professional listening—no shortcuts, just kindness.

Would you use such a service? What would you pay for it? Please reply in the comments, or e-mail me at aaron@withfatpanda.com.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Aaron Collegeman