At a recent event I met a young guy who asked if I’d be willing to give him advice about his new venture. I get asked that a lot (especially online by anyone who has seen my film and has a beer related idea) and I just don’t have time to spend with everyone. This time I said yes. In his follow-up email he sent a link to a YouTube video that he made which generated over 2 million views. I figured worst case, I’d learn something about how he did it.

We met for coffee near my house. And after sharing his YouTube tips, he got to his idea. And I told him what I thought. I was brutally honest. Mostly because he’s nice and bright and I hate to see people waste their time. Especially since I happened to be an expert in the space. And he kept telling me that I was wrong and trying to convince me that this idea (which I’d seen before) was not only necessary but will revolutionize the industry. He kept reframing his pitch and I kept countering. Dude, quit while you’re ahead.

Finally (after an hour of this back and forth) I told him that he was wasting my time. That he should never meet with someone like me (an expert) until he’s done his homework (Google?) because I probably won’t meet with him again and he just wasted an opportunity.

And BTW, so I don’t come off as a total ruthless bitch, I have always followed my own advice. I never meet with anyone until the timing is right. And I make sure to have my ducks in a row. So I can come back to the well again.