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Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

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Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going to third the "need more information on this." Are they job hopping, in which case wouldn't that also be a revenue stream for 70MR? Did they find that it was such a sellers' market that they didn't need 70MR's services to get good jobs anymore? I never really understood this "shortage of workers / great resignation" phenomenon to begin with, so perhaps this specific situation would be a good one to use as a conc…

I would imagine the recruiting company that provides the placement only gets paid after the employee has been with the company for a certain period of time. The same way companies offer a bonus to current employees if they recommend some for hire and they maintained their employment for 90 days or so.

From their website, employers pay $135-$145 per 1 month ad. Which is very reasonable, I current pay Indeed over $3k a month for 1 job listing (based on a daily sponsor rate).

But if the applicant pool is bad with the majority quitting then I could see employers leaving the platform.

https://www.70millionjobs.com/page/pricing

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#122
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's your type of understanding and fervor that's needed for a 70MR to move forward. Have you considered taking it over? Think about it. Sometimes you're the solution.

I haven't considered taking it over until your comment just now. I've always told myself I'd write a book and do some talks at some point in my life, but I've been heads down either trying to survive or building companies that I put it off. Thanks for the idea. Richard, I'll shoot you an email.

just a suggestion, but another option is to make a high-quality archive of the business - contacts, software packages used, consultants who worked with them, etc., in order to revive it efficiently if/when the day comes.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to be "unemployed through no fault of your own" to be eligible for unemployment. https://edd.ca.gov/en/unemployment/eligibility/

Yes, that is the law. A nanny I employed in CA had put her two weeks in with us, then the last day of work she no-showed last minute. With two working parents you can imagine how well that was received. Anyhow, I told her to not come finish out her last day. So then she applies for unemployment a few weeks later. I got a notice from EDD and responded to it with the facts around her unemployment request, thinking sure…

You can appeal the ruling, all the way up to presenting your case before a judge(at least in AZ).

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Great Resignation is curious, if I could speculate maybe it was the pandemic bailout and markets bubble (crypto too) making people think "I've got money now!". Now that everything is tumbling down, I wonder if people will start returning to work. Except now most businesses have seemingly stopped hiring yet again (even retail/hospitality?), so I guess whichever way it goes, OP is in trouble.

how large was the "pandemic bailout"? it looked like two checks from the govt and Was this enough to make a large number of people stop working, even now into mid-2022? I really feel like the impact of several thousand dollars would be gone after a year, at most. yet many businesses near me are still under staffed and having trouble hiring.

I often read /r/povertyfinance, and they were not hiding the fact that it was a damn bonanza. Most people made it perfectly clear that they were doing very responsible things with the "free" money, but you know...

A lot of people for various reasons have never seen more than a thousand or two in their checking account at once (typically, from tax refunds). So, 8000 is a once-in-a-lifetime amount of wealth. It's sad to think of what's happening at a higher level of course. The government was borrowing money on behalf of everyone and telling everyone to go spend it. Thanks, uncle, I wasn't stupid enough already.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#126

When I announced the launch of 70 Million Jobs on HN back in 2017, it proved to be one of the most widely read and discussed posts ever on the site. I was totally blown away. Once again, I am struck by the incredibly sensitive and supportive tenor of the reactions to my news here. For some context, besides having a criminal record, I was/am a solo founder who somehow talked his way into Y Comb. Perhaps most surprisin…

This sounds awesome, I want to do something similar, only with housing for people with bad credit, or records, or anything really that makes keeping housing rough.

My grand idea is creating an intentional community with some glamping areas for cashflow, a community garden, shared tools and worker space with 3d printers, recreational vehicles, brooms, rakes, etc...things you really don't need to 'own', and cut back on too much consumerism. The idea being if you had 2 city blocks and everyone was related or at least friendly and built a huge garage to share items they maybe use infrequently, how much space would that free up for more people to live, or to work on a hobby or something?

My idea is build a homestead, in an area where zoning and building codes allow, maybe use some earth-friendly building methods like earth bag homes, there's an awesome youtube channel called My Little Homestead where they basically built free standing buildings as 'rooms' for each of their kids and it's basically like their own studio apartment. Each one cost If you could build like 50 of these things, you could maybe house 50-100+ people and maybe just charge like 300/person 100 per child, and build bigger buildings as needed for larger families, etc. Rinse and repeat across the USA and bring rent and home prices down because you'd flood the market with cheap homes anyone can afford. The glamping section might have 5-10 spots each bringing in 50-200 per night throughout the year.

The community would be gated, and protected well, and work best probably for those who could work online or from home, or willing to commute as it'll probably be in a rural area.

They might not even be places you'd want to stay in forever, but great starter homes to live in while you save up money for something bigger or build up some investments or passive income sources.

Alternate to earth bags, we also could use tiny-homes which are roughly 50k per pop, possibly less if we manufacture them from kits.

I just have no idea how or where to begin to launch something like this, or if the brilliance is just in my own head, or if people/communities would actually find it valuable.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#127

When I announced the launch of 70 Million Jobs on HN back in 2017, it proved to be one of the most widely read and discussed posts ever on the site. I was totally blown away. Once again, I am struck by the incredibly sensitive and supportive tenor of the reactions to my news here. For some context, besides having a criminal record, I was/am a solo founder who somehow talked his way into Y Comb. Perhaps most surprisin…

been there, can commiserate. i had to shut down my startup in a similar space a few years ago after we failed to round out our post-seed raise. literally had to let everyone go one day, then my co-founder left, and then, packing boxes and walking out the door for the last time.

it sucks, no two ways about it. hope you can find the next thing quickly.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#128
post #37

Hi Richard, I'd like to donate towards retiring the debt you've personally guaranteed. How can I do this? Thanks for trying, it's more than most do. My genuine condolences you were unable to maintain traction due to the macro. (agree with 0des' sibling comment, hibernate the effort vs this being the death of it)

Same. GoFundMe?

+1. Would strongly encourage a gofundme for this. I know many HNers including myself would be happy to pitch in to help retire any debt you have remaining from this.

Re: Tell HN: I'm Afraid We're Shutting Down

#129
post #31

This really bums me out. I was a convicted felon at 18 years old, poor, living on the street. It wasn't any government re-integration program that helped me, it was a random person I met in highschool. I worked my way through everything -> college -> jobs -> startups -> lucky windfalls -> owning my own company. I've immigrated to Europe (3 times in the last 10 years technically), beating the legal issues each time. A…

Emigration honestly is the most logical option for a felon. A few nations will accept local background checks in the immigration process, so if you move to a state where you don't have a record you can just get your police report from a place where your record is clean. Another option is to go live in a Compact of Free Association nations such as Micronesia or Marshall Islands. US citizens are authorized to live and…

How is a person with a criminal record, no job, no support network, and no savings supposed to move to another country?
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