People want to help you succeed
A community forum for engaging with lady luck
Welcome to the most magical part of our community.
I’ve written several times about the power of serendipity, and how luck plays such an essential role in our lives. But there’s a catch.
In order for you to take advantage of that luck, you must engage with it. You must put yourself, out into the world. This takes courage, and vulnerability, but ultimately the rewards are well worth the effort.
Simply put, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.
I’ve hosted over 50 startup events in San Francisco, and I’ve seen serendipity run wild. I’ve seen people meet their co-founder, I’ve seen entrepreneurs raise $10,000,000 on an introduction, I’ve seen people get hired, and even watched the beginnings of romantic relationships form.
It is truly remarkable what can happen when you leave the safety of your world, and venture into the unknown. When you toss your dreams to the ether, and wait as the bubbling caldron of luck summons a response.
The reality is people want to help people.
I’m not sure if it’s an ego thing, or a power thing, or just simply kindness. But I’ve seen strangers go out of their way, and move mountains, for people they’ve barely met.
It’s irrational, it doesn’t quite make sense, yet it happens every day.
But no one is coming in to save the day, if you’re needs aren’t known. The people who are most willing to help you, can’t read your mind.
That’s why I created a space for us to do just that. This is a space where we shout our desires out into the ether, and patiently wait for lady luck to respond.
Here’s how you can engage with this post, and get exactly what you’ve been looking for!
Introduce yourself. People love helping people, not businesses. Therefore, the more personal your introduction, the better.
Ask for what you’re looking for. No need to beat around the bush, just throw it right out there. Be specific in your ask. Once you’ve formulated what you want, and you think you’re ready to hit submit, I challenge you to be even more specific. Leave nothing up to chance, or mind reading.
Offer something to the world. What’s something you’re good at, something uniquely you. Something that you would gladly help a stranger with on their journey through life. The best way to think about this is to imagine yourself two years ago. What were your biggest problems then? What information did you need, what skills, or what connections? Imagine helping the younger version of yourself. Articulate that offer for the world.
All you need to do is post that in a comment below….and wait.
Maybe you get a response in 16 seconds, maybe you get a response in 16 months (I’ll do my best to make sure it’s closer to the former than the latter). Either way, you’ll have put your ask and offer out into the world.
You’ll have engaged with luck.
—Zac
P.S. Just click the button below, leave a request, and watch as the kindness of strangers works its magic ✨
I'll go first!
Intro
Hey my name is Zac! 2 years ago I moved to San Francisco. I had zero friends and zero connections. So I decided to start hosting small gatherings in the city. I've made a ton of friends along the way. I spend a lot of my time thinking about why it's so hard for us to make friends as adults, and how to bring communities of people together. (You might have noticed if you're a frequent reader of this newsletter lol)
Ask
The hardest part about hosting events is finding unique venues to work with, that aren't trying to charge an arm and a leg. I've been looking for longterm partners in San Francisco with a unique space to host events for 100+ startup founders and investors.
Offer
I've gotten extremely good at writing sales copy. If you want to help sell an idea to investors, pitch a product to customers, or write more compelling email offers, I can definitely help you with that.
Intro
Hey everybody! My name's Ying and I'm an early startup founder. I'm looking to help marketers automate custom attribution reporting. I think a lot about data analysis, data fallacies, org alignment, and GTM strategy.
Ask
I'm experiencing the cold start problem and need to get my first customer. I'm looking to speak with in-house marketers at seed-stage or Series A B2B SaaS companies, or directors / VPs / head of PPC at small digital marketing agencies, who are spending hours doing attribution in spreadsheets.
Here's my Calendly: calendly.com/yingfromdc/startups
Offer
Happy to help out with pitch advice, marketing / positioning / messaging advice, product feedback, or engineering discussions (hiring, architecture, etc. - I was a tech lead and hired dozens of engineers)