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Comment by jcims | Hacker News Reader

>I'm pretty clear I'm just looking to learn/listen and not pitch.

They have no reason to trust you. I would think you're just looking for an angle to sell me on no matter what you say.

You might try attending/crashing medical conferences in the area. You could also talk to folks on the periphery of the healthcare industry to look for opportunities.

One that I experienced personally is the difficulty in matching a specific person at a specific point in their treatment to applicable clinical trials. Particularly with cancer where there are so many inclusion/exclusion criteria to consider. The terminology is very dense and not always clear. Then you reach out to the PI and find that the window is even smaller than it appeared at first.

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You hit the nail on the head on BOTH points.

They do not trust me (why would they) and they think it's a sales tactic. I couldn't be purer in my intentions, but people are on the defensive.

And your pain point is actually one I've heard firsthand. Got a few ideas and connections in this area.

Whether you can see this POV or not, I'd consider that from their perspective you are trying to sell them something. You are trying to sell them on the notion that they should give their time to you for free and they should give you insight to start a company that would be lucrative for yourself. The value trade is actually even less equal than being sold something.

I'm not trying to be rude or insulting, but thinking you have pure intentions doesn't change this.

Some people might have the time or interest in the hope that you can one day make their work easier. So overall I understand why you are asking this question and I'm sure the advice people have given here will help you make some stronger connections to people in this cohort.

You are asking for them to spend a considerabe amount of their time on you. If you wrote me a super short mesage about my field (not medicine), I might feel too that this will be 30-60 minutes of my time wasted on a likely sales call.

On the other hand, if you write me a longer message, explaining your background and position, give me all the background info, and let me answer via email, I might be more inclined to help, assuming you demonstrate that you at least have some understanding of the field.

Alternatively, you could offer to pay people for their time, which is not something sales people typically do.

Beyond trust - they have nothing to gain. You learn from the interview. They get...what exactly?

Could you buy rounds at a bar near a hospital?

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