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Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

sellff.com

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Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#31

Post by tolbish »

MattGaiser wrote: post #26
dvtrn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turning personal trust in others into what looks like a stock market game strikes me as quite odd. Because it feels like turning the individual into a commodity?

But that is what you are in the workplace. And you admit this every time you switch jobs or ask for a raise.

Is it that common to switch jobs purely for the money? For the gigantic pay raises yes, but I think for the vast majority, you switch jobs for a variety of non-commodifying factors along with money.

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#32

Post by monkeynotes »

rsweeney21 wrote: post #30

Not directly related to the post, but developers should be aware that developer salaries will likely jump significantly this year. The VC market is super hot right now - VC firms are being flooded with cash, and they need to deploy it. Companies are raising massive amounts of money at unprecedented valuations. A large chunk of that money is going to hire developers. The recruiting industry is seeing a huge surge in h…

What's driving this new surge of cash?

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#34

Post by loremipsium »

monkeynotes wrote: post #32
rsweeney21 wrote: post #30

Not directly related to the post, but developers should be aware that developer salaries will likely jump significantly this year. The VC market is super hot right now - VC firms are being flooded with cash, and they need to deploy it. Companies are raising massive amounts of money at unprecedented valuations. A large chunk of that money is going to hire developers. The recruiting industry is seeing a huge surge in h…

What's driving this new surge of cash?

I suppose this https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttren...

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#35

Post by monkeynotes »

4sellff wrote: post #12
dutchbrit wrote: post #7

How do you plan to compete against LinkedIn & monetise?

We believe the platform is attractive to professionals who want an easy, privacy-focused way to promote the services they offer, with the ability to differentiate themselves from people offering the same/similar services. The platform is zero-cost, ad-free and includes direct messages. I hope the UI is more easy to navigate and understand, compared to LinkedIn. The TRU Score, while somewhat controversial, is more pow…

> selling blocks of time to people who want to consult with you

What does this actually mean? Would you be selling my time to someone else?

Do you have an import LinkedIn profile feature to reduce friction of adoption?

Also why doesn't your sign up support Google auth or any other identity providers? Another friction reducer opportunity right there.

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#36

Post by tgv »

4sellff wrote: post #24
5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #11

Novel idea but won't something like this just end up being manipulated or gamed in one way or another.

I believe the trading feature helps to prevent manipulation. The investments you make in others counts towards the TRU Score for you and the other person. So, if you make "bad" investments in others, it will only serve to reduce your TRU Score. Of course, some people might be willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others. But, that should be easy to identify. Example: If a high-reputation person vouches f…

But the investment is directly proportional to the number of people you know and can coerce/bribe in some way. If you know many people, you can rig the numbers in your favor, at least temporarily, which might be long enough to get another position (or whatever it is you're after).

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#37

Post by rsweeney21 »

monkeynotes wrote: post #32
rsweeney21 wrote: post #30

Not directly related to the post, but developers should be aware that developer salaries will likely jump significantly this year. The VC market is super hot right now - VC firms are being flooded with cash, and they need to deploy it. Companies are raising massive amounts of money at unprecedented valuations. A large chunk of that money is going to hire developers. The recruiting industry is seeing a huge surge in h…

What's driving this new surge of cash?

Low interest rates means managers of pensions and other large money managers can't put their money in bonds. They would lose money because the interest rate is lower than inflation.

So they need somewhere else to put it.

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#38

Post by monkeynotes »

4sellff wrote: post #4
kulikalov wrote: post #2

What's the killer feature? How is it drastically different from LinkedIn or Angel.co?

The TRU Score is the primary point of differentiation. The goal is to provide an independent way to measure reputation and trust, that uses community feedback. There are many ways to generate a score for a person. Our method involves the trading of of virtual shares, which are bought/sold just like stocks. Share price changes are reflected in that persons TRU Score. The investments you make in others is reflected in…

This is a rather brittle concept. I certainly don't want someone judging me based off of my occasional use of a professional profile. I would feel very hesitant to allow a proprietary value algorithm to judge me in my professional life. And as a recruiter that value would essentially be mostly meaningless, I'd want to look at recommendations, and experience first. A score based on trading simply measures how good you are at trading, not how good you are at doing your job.

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#39

Post by flurben »

rsweeney21 wrote: post #37
monkeynotes wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's driving this new surge of cash?

Low interest rates means managers of pensions and other large money managers can't put their money in bonds. They would lose money because the interest rate is lower than inflation. So they need somewhere else to put it.

Interest rates have been low for quite some time, though.

Maybe it is also driven by perception of overvaluation among publicly traded equities?

Re: Show HN: I built a zero-cost, ad-free alternative to LinkedIn

#40

Post by 4sellff »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #13
kulikalov wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is how people's relationships work. Putting a number next to someone's name doesn't make this person more or less reliable. The only kind of recommendation that is trustworthy is the one made by someone you know.

I think there is a range to this being true. Take app review score aggregation. Anything 3 stars and up is probably acceptable. You score a 1 star and within reason nobody will use the app. You can say similar things about tv/movie reviews, car safety scores, and I'm sure many other trust metrics.

And that is part of the problem space we are addressing. How do you find and select people to work with? Whether that is a plumber, accountant or software developer. It's great if you have a referral from a trusted friend. But what if your trusted friend does not have a referral? Or, if the referral is busy at the moment. The need still exists and you need to find a provider.

Perhaps the TRU Score is not the "perfect" solution, but I think it's far better than a simple star rating. How many times on HN do we see posts about people "buying" ratings or followers. As a result, people lose trust in the value of the rating system. So, we have created an alternative that we think people can trust.

A future release has planned to use Stripe Identity. Whereby, you will have confidence in the profile you are viewing and can make an informed buying decision. As designed, manipulation of the TRU Score [when combined with Identity], will be difficult.

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