New Features!

Thanks to your feedback and requests for recurring auctions or recurring meetings, we’re excited to introduce Fixed-Price Meeting Availability — an option you can set on your dashboard that lets everyone know you’re available for meeting requests.

With Fixed-Price Meeting Availability, you are able to set your donation price, availability, and of course the charity you support, then wait for the meeting requests to roll in.

A meeting request is just that — a request from a user who is willing to pay the amount you specified to meet with you. You are able to accept or ignore as many incoming meeting requests as you want.

If you’re new to the site, you can sign up using a social media account or just your email address and password, and we’ll guide you through the steps of setting up your Fixed-Price Meeting Availability. https://connectforacause.com/users/sign_up

If you’re already a user on the site, you can set your meeting availability from the dashboard, or by clicking this link: https://connectforacause.com/meetings/new

Thanks again for doing good by doing lunch! If you have questions, feel free to email us at support@connectforacause.com or call us at 888-726-8128.

Introducing Connect for a Cause!

As of today, we’re excited to announce that Connect for a Cause has launched. Our team has worked very hard for the last few months and are proud to release version 1.0.

How Does it work?

Getting started is easy. Just visit www.connectforacause.com and create your profile. You can bid on the meetings you want, or auction off a meeting to benefit your favorite charity. As we build our audience, it may take a few days before members start bidding like crazy on your auctions.

You can share the link with anyone you think might like to participate, or charities that you’re passionate about.

What if I’m a nonprofit?

If you represent a nonprofit, feel free to claim your nonprofit’s profile. Once claimed, you can customize your page and begin creating campaigns.

We’re really looking forward to seeing the Connect for a Cause community grow, and raising money for important causes everywhere.  

We’re just getting started

More invites are going out every week, so be sure to check back often for new profiles to browse. As we grow our platform, we’ll offer new features and special meeting opportunities. Stay tuned!

P.S. We want to hear from you! Click HERE to get in touch. 

Hustle…

Gary Vaynerchuk is a guy who knows what it means to hustle, and I really look up to him as an entrepreneur. Since starting Connect for a Cause, I knew I wanted him as an advisor but that it was probably a long shot. Sometimes, the problem with reaching people who can really be game-changers for you is that everybody else knows it too. 

I’d tried a few different times to get a meeting, but traditional networking methods don’t necessarily work on a guy that has hundreds of people reaching out to him on a daily basis. I was going to have to be creative.

A few weeks ago, I heard that Gary was collecting GI Joes for one of his many ventures. Suddenly, a light went off. I ran to my attic and found this… 

Which I turned into this…

Which led to this…

Six weeks after tweeting a picture and offering to trade my Joes for a chat over a cup of coffee, I was sitting in a New York City espresso shop pitching Connect for a Cause to Gary Vaynerchuk! I told him the story of how I’d “scratched my own itch” in building Connect for a Cause, and that I really wanted him as an advisor. He loved the GI Joes and the concept, and offered some great advice on building the company. Hopefully you’ll see him offer some meetings on Connect for a Cause in the very near future!

Never stop hustling.

-Jason Nicosia

Paying it Forward

Over the past few weeks, a couple of people have asked, “why would I auction a meeting?”

One of the biggest challenges with Connect for a Cause is going to be engaging really influential people to auction meetings. Sure there are guys like me who will do it just for a free lunch or to raise a few bucks for my favorite cause, but what about the REAL influencers? There’s a pretty obvious business case for why someone would bid on a meeting, but the people donating their time aren’t necessarily getting anything more than good karma out of it. Or are they?

Everyone needs mentors who’ve been there done that, and can share their experience. When you auction a meeting on Connect for a Cause, it does a whole lot more than build your personal brand as an influential person. It’s an opportunity to share your talents and knowledge with someone who really values your time. 

Paying it forward really does work, and by giving other people the chance to pick your brain, present an opportunity, or get some advice, you’re participating in that chain, not to mention raising money for a charity that will send some major good vibes your way. Who knows, the person that wins lunch with you might present the opportunity of a lifetime! 

You’ve got to eat lunch everyday, so eat in good company.

Jason

Jason’s Reading List- 5 books that changed everything for me.

 1. Rework by Jason Fried and Heinemeir Hansson

I’m actually pretty embarrassed that I didn’t read Rework much sooner. It is the first book anyone should read if they want to succeed in business today. It’s an awesome handbook for play-by-play instructions on how to build your business the right way, the first time.

Quote- “Talk like you really talk. Reveal things that others are unwilling to discuss. Be upfront about your short-comings. Show the latest version of what you’re working on, even if you’re not done yet. It’s OK if it’s not perfect. You might not seem as professional, but you’ll seem a lot more genuine.”

Available Here

2. Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

I read this when just starting my first job out of college and it completely changed the way I interacted in business settings. Ferrazzi describes how to leverage your network to be successful and preaches that the secret to personal success is reaching out to other people.

Quote- “Never eat alone. The dynamics of status are the same whether you’re working at a corporation or attending a society event— “invisibility” is a fate worse than failure.”

Available Here.

3. Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Ries’ work is geared a lot more toward the startup crew, but is an awesome introduction to lean methodology. It’s all about getting through the build-measure-learn feedback loop as fast as possible. Staying lean is critical for most early stage companies, and this book outlines some best practices to follow. 

Quote-A video is even better for this. Click here.

AvailableHere

4. Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie  

 Blake tells the story of starting TOMS, and what it’s like to be a social entrepreneur. I read parts of this book often for inspiration because it reminds me to keep the focus of Connect for a Cause on creating social good. 

Quote- “Conscious capitalism is about more than simply making money—although it’s about that too. It’s about creating a successful business that also connects supporters to something that matters to them and that has great impact in the world.”

AvailableHere

5. Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

This one was written by the personal branding and social media poster child, Gary Vaynerchuk. I’ll hopefully have a post just about him coming soon. This is the book that got me off the bench and into the game of social media. It’s all about the HUSTLE. 

Quote- “Your latest tweet and comment on Facebook and most recent blog post?  That’s your resumé now.”

AvailableHere

Have something I should be reading? Hit me up on Twitter.

Request an invite to Connect for a Cause Here.

Startup Life, New Orleans style.

Another day of testing features with my team, hustling on AngelList, and promoting the upcoming launch of Connect for a Cause. Just a regular day in the life of a startup founder in New Orleans.

In the world of startups, the Silicon Bayou isn’t the #1 location choice for aspiring founders the world over (yet), but has been a welcoming community of mentorship and support in building Connect for a Cause. It feels like the whole city is willing us to WIN. You could chalk it up to the brain gain that the city is currently experiencing, or the collaborative attitude of the startup community, but I think it’s just a genuine belief that in New Orleans, anything is possible.

We may have to move to SF or NY someday down the road, but in a world where companies can scale globally over the web, New Orleans is  proving to be an awesome place to start a company.  The resources are all here (Launchpad, Idea Village, Etc.), and we have a community of entrepreneurs that actually execute on their ideas. 

There’s an awesome movie about what’s happening here called BeNolaBound. It’s a study on the “status of New Orleans as a model of new business progress and thinking”. Check it out!

I’m not sure what’s in store for my startup, but I’m stoked to be giving it my best in a city of doers that’ll accept nothing less.  #WhatsnextNOLA

-Jason Nicosia