Creating dialog between newcomers and people working in the tech industry.Every month we update this site with a group of people volunteering to video chat or meet you in person. We try to have a diverse selection of volunteers because we believe there’s a place for everyone in tech. Having role models you can relate to is important.
I stumbled across this Medium post by @dustin which quickly evolved into a site of experienced entrepreneurs, designers, marketers, engineers, and others donating their time for "office hours" over the holidays. This includes people like @iansilber, @jmj, @uberbryn, @erondu, @shahedkhan, @broccolini, and myself.
This also made me reflect on my own upbringing into Silicon Valley and all the people that were kind enough to meet with me and help (more on that here).
I love this. Glad to see the community welcome newcomers with open arms. Do you have plans for volunteer sign up? Need more female volunteers :)
Also, you should connect with the Breaking Into Startups team: @ArturMeyster@timurmeyster@rubenharris. They created podcast show and a community of 4k+ to people people from diverse backgrounds get into tech.
@kimpham404 would absolutely love more female volunteers. You can sign up to be a volunteer here — https://www.outofofficehours.com.... I'll check out Breaking Into Startups, thank you :)
Love that this is "online", seen stuff like this in the past and it's been in person only, which really limits people from outside of the "hubs". Nice work!
Lots of great people who are making themselves available -- kudos! Also happy to speak to anyone about product design, strategy, and building a personal brand over some coffee in the OC.
nice one! from the description, it seems that if a startup founder is struggling with their startup, this is not the place for them, as it is intended for "people in school, thinking about getting into the industry, or struggling with your first tech job." In other words, specifically for people who have not taken the leap yet to the startup world. I think it will probably mostly be needed with beginner entrepreneurs who don't know how to push their business forward. Would love to hear your thoughts on that.
@nomadiceli it's a great question, Eli. You are correct, we're aiming to talk with people who are earlier in their career or just starting out. As an entrepreneur hoping to move your business forward I believe you're looking for advisors or business consultants. There are many people doing that work who typically charge for their time, or exchange their time for equity.
We're trying to make ourselves available to the folks who are new to tech or who are wondering it tech is an accepting place for them to work. When I was getting into tech I was lucky to meet some experienced people who helped me navigate new waters. Some people don't get that chance, we're hoping to change that.
@dustin makes sense, that's a good differentiation point. I only wonder if enough people have the pain of being in between and not sure if they should take the jump. That moves the platform into a more "psychological" place of "what would you like to do with your life" and facing with people's fears, and less about tactical advice, which is also good. I do think that the people who use the platform will one day want to come back to it with their startup, so that's something to consider. all the best!
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This is a seriously BRILLIANT idea. I love that it is such a diverse group, with every person who has his/her particular strengths yet I can still picture everyone hanging out at one of those great parties/work environments where great ideas fly, people get ENGAGED and excited, and everybody learns something new. Mentoring is also very valuable for both parties, because I have always found that the more you share, the more you HAVE to share!
I, myself, love techie stuff and coding fascinates me, but I have no idea where to even START, with such limited time. And I come from a background where females just don't DO this stuff! (Yeah, I'm probably a bit older than most of you: I just missed the girls-CAN-do-math-and-science curve.). But it is still such a male dominated industry up here. People who are really competent in any field, though, usually enjoy sharing knowledge with newer people. Checking this out, the knowledge-base you guys have in play looks incredible!
Great job @dustin , super grateful for people like you and this community that has given so much to me! Would love to see more and more students leveraging products like this and diving into and contributing to this world.
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