I think it's high time someone disrupted Linkedin. Awful UI, spammy posts, pestering recruiters - there's a long list of problems with this site. One problem would be though how you plan to get a critical mass of users? Linkedin has become the default professional network for most people. How are you going to convince them to open another account?
Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
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Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#12How will you target people who are more-or-less well served by linkedin? > Ex direct stream to github projects blog articles about your work The vast majority of people won't have this, what's the value for those people? How will you make money?
Great questions
1. Github projects are just one example. Other example might be for a journalist, his article ; for a photographers, his 500px or flickr stream, for a researchers, his courses, university or google scholor links. Thats the whole point I think linkedin tries to be too generic for its users.
2. Although we have to start somewhere and engineers and tech people are easier to start with hence github
3. Monetization is something we do think about in terms of areas that would not compromise with the premise of the network i.e users first. For example if the contact form works, recruiters will pay depending on how many forms/invites they can send, so like 25 free per month but then pay for next 5 till you hit the monthly cap(Yes cap please). But needs more thinking here
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#13How do you solve the chicken and egg problem? What's the benefit of being one of the first 1000 users?
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#14I think it's high time someone disrupted Linkedin. Awful UI, spammy posts, pestering recruiters - there's a long list of problems with this site. One problem would be though how you plan to get a critical mass of users? Linkedin has become the default professional network for most people. How are you going to convince them to open another account?
Thanks and great you share the pain.
Critical mass of users
We are trying to use linkedin :). We are researching the most active set of users on linkedin (apart from sales and recruiters) and thinking to cater to one vertical to start with so maybe engineers and technology people or new graduate students
Fighting linkedin - Agreed. Its a gigantic company and a very difficult fight with amazing engineering talent. Convincing users to open another professional site account is not our value proposition, instead creating a product where they find a value proposition different from Linkedin's is where we want to concentrate.
Also, YC's and HN's guidance can help here.
Please share if you have any ideas too on your second question
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#15How do you solve the chicken and egg problem? What's the benefit of being one of the first 1000 users?
OMG I am glad you asked that.
Like traditional idea is to solve one side first.
For first 1000 users there are only fellow chickens. So it is just engineers sharing work and profiles with fellow engineers. Once we have enough chickens, eggs will start showing up. Then chickens decide how eggs contact them.
chicken - users eggs - sales, recruiters, etc
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#16How do you plan to motivate recruiters to join the platform? Having to fill a different form to reach each person means it’d take years to recruit people, no? Why not e.g. fill one form once and for all?
Great question. We believe the response rate will motivate them. If I get a well formed personalized message from a recruiter on linkedin, I always respond even when I am not looking. yes there are some assumptions here but I think the response rate from quality candidates that recruiters get out of linkedin is way lower.
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#17Spam wouldn't be spam if it was relevant. Could the forms constrain the types of enquiry to only stuff you're interested in?
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#18Spam wouldn't be spam if it was relevant. Could the forms constrain the types of enquiry to only stuff you're interested in?
Yes thats the idea. If spam is of your interest then it does not qualify as spam.
Yes the user can at anytime activate/deactivate/modify the form. Not looking for new opportunities at all, deactivate hireme form. Interested in buying a BI product, have a sellme form, etc
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#19I know 2 from Berlin
Re: Apply HN: – Linkedin without the spam
#20I know 2 from Berlin http://4scotty.com and http://honeypot.io
4scotty is different, honeypot seems to be down. I will check them again, thnx