Inspired by this recent article, I thought I'd sit down and compose my secret for talking to people. I've been lucky in that I've never had a problem with shyness, (edit: largely, I believe, because I've had this mentality since as early as I can remember - only with less profanity. Despite being someone who thinks Meyers Briggs tests are a joke, I'll mention that I'm only a borderline "E") but I think this is sound advice.
It worked with Paul Graham the first time Steve and I met him in Cambridge after his reading of How to Start a Startup. He courteously accepted my offer for a drink in exchange for hearing our startup pitch.
This was before Y Combinator, mind you, so I suspect this would be much harder to pull off with his current schedule.
Unfortunately, this didn't work with Scarlett Johansson in the lobby of the 4 Times Square building -- I couldn't think up anything clever in time and didn't want to be "that guy."
Nonetheless, I still feel like this has served me exceptionally well over the last twenty-five years:
Everyone eats, shits, and dies*Remember that, we're all equal, so what are you waiting for?
*Not to be confused with "Everyone eat shit and die!"
