Making Your Time Worthwhile

If there’s one thing busy people have in common, it’s that in addition to all of the things that make them busy — their jobs, their families, their volunteering, and their other commitments — they are constantly bombarded with requests for their time. While most of them are happy to help when they can, it can be hard to know if they are the best equipped person to solve a problem.

Am I really the right person for this guy to speak to? Can I really help? Do I have the time?

Today, it’s easy to inquire for help. Through social media, many adopt a “spray and pray” approach where they just ask as many people as they can. I personally get about 50–100 unsolicited requests per week. As much as I try, it’s impossible to get to all of them.

That drove me to create Quiv.

Just as doctors in an emergency room triage patients to determine who should be treated first, wouldn’t it be great if we could do the same to requests on our time?

Our solution was to put a sort of “earnest fee” in place when it comes to requests received by busy people to make sure that time is allotted adequately.

The “earnest fee” would go directly to a charitable cause. The charity would be chosen by the busy person, thus incentivizing donating their time and allowing them to feel good. They get to help a cause with which they personally connect.

We wanted to give people with skills and experience an opportunity to make themselves available to others — people who want to hear their stories, pitch startup ideas, ask for career advice, and so on — and make it worth their time.

When smart, qualified, experienced people join Quiv as Givers, select a preferred cause, and let Quivers pick their brains, they can be sure that these Quivers are people who value the Giver’s time, and who are willing to make a donation to the Giver’s cause in exchange. In doing so, the Giver also magnifies his/her impact — not only helping the Quiver by providing advice, but also raising money for a cause, thus helping even more people, at the same time.

Quivers benefit, too. Instead of sending emails out into the abyss where they go unanswered, they’re provided with genuine access to people from whom they would like advice.

In the end, the interaction is more meaningful for everyone, and no one feels like their time is being wasted.