Back in July, the good folks at First Round Capital came to Cincinnati and held “Office Hours” with local entrepreneurs. As they describe it:
One of the greatest opportunities in college was Office Hours. Every professor held them and suddenly became accessible. It was a few minutes where you could walk-in, sit down, ask questions, develop a relationship and catch a professor in an informal environment. We think the same opportunity for dialogue should exist for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists…. At Office Hours, we’d love to meet with entrepreneurs, people thinking about becoming entrepreneurs or folks who would like to join a start-up.
I loved this concept but honestly hadn’t thought much more about it until I read a post by Bill Taylor on “the rise of office hours in business and finance.” Bill makes the point that it may be “time to transport that familiar ritual [of Office Hours] from the Ivory Tower to the halls of business. He points to the efforts of Jason Fried at 37signals, Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner, and Flybridge Capital’s Chip Hazard as proof in this rising trend.
This really got me thinking. I have always been a big believer of setting up meetings with smart folks just to talk about what’s going on. I have often found these to be the most productive meetings and the ones that lead to the most interesting conversations and opportunities. But in most cases, they are meetings that I have to set up weeks in advance in order to make it on my calendar.
So I’m thinking Office Hours might just be an alternative for me to try. As Bill Taylor points out, it’s nothing fancy…nothing all that cutting edge,” but it could be a fun experiment for me to try both in Cincinnati and when I’m on the road traveling (like today to Boulder, CO). It would be a chance for me to meet with anyone that is up to something fun in the world of marketing, media and technology. This could be a start-up looking to get the opinion of a Brand Manager or maybe just a company looking to bounce some digital marketing ideas around. I am hoping it would be a chance for me to learn as much for the people that stop by as they learn from me.
So what do you think about the idea? Is something you would be interested in seeing me do? If so, any suggestions on a format? It seems like 20 minute blocks of time are pretty standard. And for a location some go for an actual office while others lean towards the more informal environment of a coffee house or restaurant / bar. The location also dictates what time of day / day of the week is best.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: coffee, entrepreneur, First Round Capital, Office Hours
I've already had office hours with you Dave, and for that I thank you. I'm a fan of the practice. Keeping breaking ground.
I've been thinking about this too – not just in an in-person way, but online as well. Imagine if I said, "Hey, I'll be chilling on Skype or IM at this address/number from 7-9pm today. Stop by, ask questions, let me know how I can help."
Another option would be a round table setting. What if there were several folks with office hours like I mentioned before and people could get advice from the whole group? It'd almost be the equivalent of a call in radio show, but private.
Dave, keep me updated as you think more about this. Thanks for the post.
Accessibility, in general, is a significant challenge to our quest to become better at what we do and who we are. Accessibilty to time, to people, to personal growth opps, to resources, to new ideas, to perspective clients, et al.
Office hours is a great idea and forces thought exchange while making you accessible to those that will benefit from your knowledge. The setting is key and perhaps you could tie it into your lunch break at a coffee shop. That way, you force yourself to get out of the office for lunch and are more accessible to those who want to connect.
Keeping a tight timeline is also key so you don't get monopolized by someone who wants to share their life story.
Keep us posted on how you work it out.
Dave,
I say go for it. It's simple, fundamental, and proven successful…solid. And, not sure how far you're looking to take your idea, but leveraging social media could make it rather big.
I think this is a great idea Dave. If you are every in Toronto, I would love to connect during your office hours indeed. This is something I should consider doing.
Hi Dave,
I think that's what we did Wed am at LPK.
Love the idea. Not enough sharing of general ideas…..
I think that's an awesome idea! I've had a hard time talking to most brand managers about digital and social media. They tend to lean on their agencies for "that kind of marketing". You're a rarity in the field so I applaud any efforts you can make to become more accessible.
Weird coincidence. I'm getting this going now, and will kick it into gear after the turn of the year. I'll let you know how it goes.
i was born in 1966 in upstate New York to an immigrant mother and american indian father. He was a career army man that was pretty good at blowing things up and coming out of the jungle where he entered… slightly less good at mainstream employment. Still the hockey rink and marina provided me with some intersting life experiences, not least of which were the trailer park cook outs and limmericks i learned at the VFW and local watering holes. …
just kidding –
great idea. but could be improved by increasing the cross polination/randomness factor. we often go about chatting (confirming?) what we know…increasing access to those outside our industries or even ordinary folk can open us up to interesting opportunites: take your cab driver to lunch? call a professor in a different industry? mix it up.
python – now for something completely differenc moment. be careful what you wish for i guess. Sorry Dave.
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Love this idea. Was just speaking to someone about the concept of holding "Office Hours" as a part of a program I am creating for college girls. Love having it confirmed here and by Tyler Durbin at Gen Y Journey in his post "Year In Review: What I've Learned Since College" — http://www.genyjourney.com/2009/12/year-in-review...