Whenever I see the words "Free" and "New York" in the same sentence I get a little skeptical. As the followup comment from the author indicates, his primary goal is to find someone to build his million dollar idea in exchange for shared equity. There's nothing wrong with that, but do him and yourself a favor. Respond only if you are interested in assisting with his million dollar idea or if you know someone who's a good lead for him to follow up with. Just clarifying for those who are going gaga over the prospect of free copy review.
Thanks for your insights. I too might be skeptical if the shoe was on the other foot, but I did my best to convey my message and the general responses seem to indicate that I did a pretty good job of that.
My advice? If you need help, email me and we'll talk. As I tried to make clear above, I won't be pitching anything to anyone unless they specifically ask me to. In my experience I find that entrepreneurs generally enjoy talking shop. In discussing my idea (with someone who I have just helped with their own startup, mind you) I am not expecting them to flip a switch, close up shop and found a business with me. I am looking for valuable feedback from active founders and leads in the event that someone has a contact who may be interested in working on such an endeavor.
That said, I'm also perfectly happy helping with the job at hand and going our separate ways. "That's ridiculous," you might think. It's not though. I've just helped an entrepreneur move one small step closer to his/her vision, challenged myself in the process, added an item to my portfolio and gained a contact that may prove valuable in the future on any number of levels. I've also just begun to build a solid reputation here on HN, which is hardly a trivial thing to do. That may sound crazy to some and it may be unconventional but the fact is no one has anything to lose.
So if you email me and I try to sell you on my "million dollar idea", go on about your business and you've lost five minutes of your life. If I help you, then you've gained the assistance of an experienced marcom voice and you might just benefit from it. You have also gained a contact yourself who may prove useful again in the future.
