Using Volley to expand your network
A member’s story from the middle of the desert
I posted two questions on Volley, a platform that was listed in a newsletter that I follow, and figured I would give it a shot since it was free. My requests were for the startup I’m working on (shameless plug: whitepayments.com), one requesting to speak with a part-time developer and the other for someone with experience in financial services. The former is a bit of a free-for-all open ended type “hey pick me I’m a dev” yet I received a few good candidates (it sucks that I’m stationed pretty far away though).
I was most impressed with the latter and this is where I see the value in Volley. I’m just some guy 10,000 km away from Canada/US posting on what seems like a barely living community (it feels closer to a static page than a Facebook feed which isn’t necessarily a bad thing) and I got intro’d to 6 individuals who have deep expertise in exactly what I was looking for. It’s still early to see where the intros will lead but that’s enough. Just the intros are more than awesome and it’s been the easiest way to connect with relevant people in the industry. Even connections I know and tried contacting directly haven’t been as responsive or interested in helping.
In a message to Mike, co-founder of Volley, I told him that I would consider making the platform donation based because the real value is only seen after posting a request - and boy is there value..
