Michael Seibel

Shaan asked Michael Seibel to 'pick your brain'; he replied 'What's the question?'

Shaan once emailed YC president Michael Seibel asking to take him to lunch to pick his brain about livestreaming. Seibel replied within seconds asking for the question. Shaan realized he wanted validation and association more than help, and now opens any request with a specific question.

“I emailed, hey Michael, it's Michael Seibel at the time. And I was like, Michael, I would love to, you know, you did this livestreaming thing. I'm doing this livestreaming thing. Would love to just kind of— oh no, pick your brain. I said it. I'd love to pick your brain. Yeah. You know, I wanted to take him out to lunch as if he can't afford lunch. And I'm asking him for his time. And then he just replied like 5 seconds later, he goes, what's the question?”

Steal thisWhen you ask someone for help, put the actual question in the first message instead of asking for a meeting.