Start with a real need.
Activate Otter Assist on eligible Requests, Questions, and Work posts when you'd like help finding the right people.
Request
You're looking for something specific and would rather not guess who to ask.
Question
You need an answer from someone who has genuinely been there.
Work
A role, a project, or a hand on something that needs doing.
Let Otter understand the ask.
Otter Assist creates a need summary and evaluates potential matches based on their overall relevance to what you need.
A fractional finance operator with climate hardware runway experience, comfortable modelling scenarios ahead of a board review.
Relevance is a judgement about overall fit — not a keyword count.
Give Otter a few clues.
Refine matching by Industry, Region, and Work Setting—and mark preferences as Preferred or Required.
Decide how far to swim.
Search your Network, extend beyond it, or reach into the wider eligible Startup Otter community.
Tell people when it matters.
Choose Immediate, ASAP, Soon, Within X Days, or Flexible so potential helpers understand the timing.
Timing travels with the need, so helpers know what they are stepping into.
Reach the right people—not everyone.
Outreach expands progressively in waves of 5, then 10, then 15 instead of blasting the entire community at once.
Relevant needs come to you.
Matched members can review opportunities in Community Needs and decide whether they're a fit — then answer with one simple response: I Can Help.
A short list, not a firehose.
Needs arrive with a plain-English reason you matched, the timing, and nothing else to wade through.
Looking for a fractional finance operator who has run climate hardware runway planning. We have a board review coming up and need help modelling scenarios.
You have recent public activity on this topic, you work in a closely related problem area and your working style is compatible.
One simple response: I Can Help.
Members can volunteer to help without forced introductions or unwanted conversations.
I Can Help
Volunteer, and optionally add a short note about how.
Not a good fit
Pass quietly. Nobody is told you said no.
Not right now
Keep it out of the way and get on with your day.
Keep every need organized.
Track active needs, outreach progress, responders, urgency, status, and next steps from My Needs.
You control what reaches you.
Manage matching preferences, digest frequency, preferred industries and regions, pauses, daily limits, and notification settings.