Show HN: I made a site to simplify recommending talented people to others | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: I made a site to simplify recommending talented people to others

youshouldworkwith.com

74 pointsrohanmahen75 comments

Hey HN, i made this app to improve tech hiring via personal recommendations let me know what you think!

Don’t charge based on profile visits: you’ll punish people for utilising the service and you’ll create a negative experience when someone reaches that limit. People should choose to pay as an active decision to gain access to new features. I’d be happy to pay for a service like this but “the link you’ve shared isn’t going to work any more unless you pay immediately” would leave a very bad taste in my mouth.

Cheers thanks for the feedback! I think a couple other people have been mentioning the free limits / pricing as a roadblock

This type of technological solution makes society worse. If we are so anonymized by technology that we need even more technology to try and refine recommendations, we are heading down the wrong path in my opinion.

The entire problem with this is that we have created a system where we have become anonymous cogs, where machines are more and more deciding on where we go and how people get to know us.

Soon we will have a system where AI machines analyze us and communicate with other AI machines on whether we fit well with being a drone in some large corporation.

This sort of development is sick.

> Soon we will have a system where AI machines analyze us and communicate with other AI machines on whether we fit well with being a drone in some large corporation.

it could be argued that group-think is an artificial intelligence in itself, nevertheless what you describe seems common

That is a very interesting point. To take it one step further, I do think that group think augmented with machines is a sort of "new organism" that has arises.

Never looked at it like that haha – hopefully it won't only be recommendations to be a corporate cog

This reply seems a little bit pre-baked and somewhat irrelevant for the site in the link. The OP is building up a small world network of direct recommendations, i.e. it is about as far from an automated recommendation service as is possible. The warm introduction feature sounds like a simple path finding algorithm.

There may be another lens through which to view this instead of "balanced critique of technology". Describing this as "sick" seems somewhat hyperbolic.

More generally, is it really technology that makes us anonymous or is it simply an emergent property of scale? When there are millions of similar engineers out there (to use a single field as an example) relying on word of mouth, or similar non-technological approaches seems unlikely to find the best candidate with any degree of probability.

> There may be another lens through which to view this instead of "balanced critique of technology". Describing this as "sick" seems somewhat hyperbolic.

Well, when I used the word "sick" I was referring to the entire technological complex, specifically how it influenced finding jobs, that was sick -- not just the invention itself.

And sometimes it is necessary to pass strong judgment. What about everyone who raves about technology like it's the second coming? I hardly see anyone opposing their rabid enthusiasm.

> is it really technology that makes us anonymous or is it simply an emergent property of scale?

It can be both, but technology enables the scaling, and the scaling follows from our basal instincts to grab as much as possible. Therefore, the social development from the technological is almost unavoidable except under the watch of strict regulations and wisdom, which we DON'T have.

What of those who don't have a deep organic network and could benefit from additional exposure? (I'm personally grateful for a life-changing job brought in part by the algorithmic machinations of LinkedIn, for example.)

Concerns are fair, but you appear to jump immediately to the most negative possible interpretation.

It's the way I see it. Of course, some people might benefit from LinkedIn and they might get great jobs. That's the carrot, but what about the stick? Individual people will like it but only some and over time, the situation will get worse and the net effect will be negative.

Your feedback laments technology making people anonymous but at the same time seems to forget there's a real person receiving it.

Hard pass after reading "10x better than S". Based on what? I get the idea to bash on competitors but at least make claims at least someone, anyone, can measure.

5 looks random. Why not 4? Kendall has only 4.

Cheers– thanks for the feedback! Yeah completely fair just a bit of a hook. Re: 5 - just cuz people usually say top 5 etc

I appreciate the care and intention behind this project, but I’m not convinced nepotism is any more palatable for having been mediated by tech

Thanks for checking it out and the kind words – ahahah yeah definitely not going for the nepotism hires but that could be a consequence of the service

People rarely (if ever) do it on purpose which is what makes it so insidious.

Appreciate you taking the comments gracefully. The site is very slick

Thank you thats super kind!

How can this help me if I don't know anyone and nobody knows me?

I still get a ton of value from LinkedIn because Recruiters contact me based on my skills (or I contact them) but I don't see how this can be replicated in a better way on here (yet).

Hmm you're right, it's more likely you would get value from this if someone vouched for u / you vouch for others, haven't thought about how to help people without a network yet. Open to suggestions tho!

That would suggest that to get value, you would already have a network of folks that has good synergies with you, right? Are the vouches private between the parties or is that information socialised on the feed? There might be value in this type of transparency.

Exactly yeah, so for instance you can see people who recommend you + the people they recommend to expand your network. I totally get the transparency thing (coveted contacts and all) but I think its more about helping people out in their career, so its gotta be public

You should focus on this tbh. People who have a network already aren't going to need as much help. If you could help people without a network find employment that would be tremendously positive. It's a hard problem though, very hard. GL. You are probably do well just to offer a linkedin like alternative without spam at this point.

Thanks for the feedback! Will definitely consider it!

$18/month seems to be a tad too much. Maybe $20 would be a good one-time fee?

Cheers thanks for the feedback! I think there's been some pushback on price will definitely reflect on this

Also its $9/month annually ;)

It's a cool idea but it's also a very easy problem to solve for free. Oftentimes it never gets to the point hr is actively looking for someone: they just use internal referrals (cost 10% of a recruiter, roughly) and worst case scenario use a recruiter.

Personal introductions also seem to net a better salary in my opinion

Companies that use only recruiters are too big / growing insanely fast or so bad employees wouldn't recommend to their friends.

Me and friends / coworkers use a free trello board / free slack community and we keep hiring among us whenever we jump ship

Thanks for checking it out! Personal referrals are by far the best for the employer / employee comp + retention wise. But yeah a free trello / slack community could be great but I think the public profile approach just works with a bit more visibility!

Oh this is pretty cool actually! I recently build similar: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nik-shevchenko-08565b18b_no-o...

Just reached out to you on LinkedIn and email!

Cheers! responded!

LinkedIn also has a similar feature called “endorsements” where people effectively recommend/validate specific skills on you profile. How does this compare to that?

Thanks for checking it out! – I think a) LinkedIn is corporate social media it's really gone down hill b) Endorsements are just full of noise (hard worker, great ppl person etc) no real actionable help c) they aren't curated! ppl hand them out like candy

Why would your site's endorsements be any better?

I think cuz you can only have 5 and you get a limited say in how you label them ("hire", "start up with", "work for" etc) it makes you reflect and be more considerate in your choices.

What is going to happen once you have used your allotment and you want to change your selection as you make new professional connections? It seems like work for little benefit to have to think of which five out of who knows how many people I know deserve endorsement the most.

good point. how about allowing unlimited endorsements but only show 5 that you may choose? (and by default the newest endorsements should be shown so that older endorsements naturally disappear over time unless specifically selected to show)

Thats a great idea! Thank you!

I don't see any fundamental value here. The value of an endorsement depends on what you think of who's giving it. If a celebrated person endorses you, you don't care how many other people she's endorsed. And you have to speak to the endorser in private to get an honest appraisal. This is not something one takes at face value from a web site. That's also the problem with LinkedIn's endorsement feature.

I'd be more interested in a better ATS or CRM.

the value is twofold:

if i have 10 endorsements, i want to pick the best 5. whether a celebrated person is among them is besides the point. i still want to choose.

by default, newer endorsements are better than old ones because they are likely more current. and i am not going to go out of my way to seek a new endorsement if it isn't a better one than what i already have, so when i do get one i most likely want it at the top, so making that default reduces effort and confusion

LinkedIn lets you endorse particular skills, which is more informative than a blanket endorsement. Even then it's not very valuable. You still have to verify it in a technical interview. All it does is get you past the first filter.

ok, but initially you only asked about how to handle more than 5 endorsements and i was responding to that. that's also how i read your reply. now you are questioning the value of endorsements in general which is a different topic. one that i am not disagreeing with either.

if i put my hiring hat on, i am not sure how i would accept these endorsements myself. frankly when i am hiring, i'd mostly value endorsements from people that i trust myself, which only works for candidates that are already in my network somehow.

i would consider endorsements from a reputable testing service so that i can skip coding tests.

As a founder with a long history as a PM, I would try to narrow in on one really specific use case that is valuable enough for someone to (eventually) shell out $18/month to solve. Reading over the site, it's not immediately clear to me who really needs this service, what problem they have, and why they would sign up.

Got it thanks for the feedback! I think the hiring manager / tech recruiter is that customer. Trouble is I wanted to aim the messaging towards the network members first... definitely needs work

The whole point of a personal recommendation is you're introducing people you know are good to people you know and trust you. What's the value-add by inserting a new app into the process, that charges one side?

LinkedIn works because you attract supply (e.g professionals) with the draw of getting the personal recommendations/network effects for free and then make money off demand (e.g employers/recruiters) by letting them pay to win and send you spam.

Two-sided marketplace businesses are supposedly the hardest to get off the ground. Especially if you're trying to charge for something that is currently offered for free.

Thanks for checking it out! The Pro Plan is only to have unlimited profile visits, and meant for hiring managers so i'm charging kinda like linkedin sales nav.

I think the value add is that you can traverse a network of recommendations (u -> your friend -> their recs etc).

So it's a limit on displaying other profiles, not a limit on how many times my own can be. Okay.

Yeah exactly – my bad I gotta make that clear!

So - interesting to see this as I did some work for a company a couple of decades ago that did this, but pre-digital. The way that worked, they just took a referral cut of first work done via referral to the referer (well, actually, to the referral network, but mostly the referrer).

Worked quite well!

Cheers! Got it will definitely think about implementing it, will have to try hard to avoid gaming tho

Yes - they avoided gaming things by just having a regular-sized business and meeting in person :) I'm not sure how you do it in your case.

Cool! Usually talanted people hang out in some network they have, this is a cool idea I think.

Cheers glad you like it!

The idea is nice, but I wouldn't subscribe - simply not worth it. Consider one-time payments or some kind of pay-per-usage model instead.

The Succession characters usage is clever, kudos.

Cheers thanks for the feedback!

What is the basis for recommendations? I.e. what is the platform doing to make sure that the recommendations that I receive are relevant to me?

Nothing at this point haha but they can only be positive and help your profile out. But i get where ur coming from – what would you suggest an acceptance of a recommendation from the receipient?

How do you quantify talent?

Thanks for checking out the site – no idea haha the 10x thing is just a hook

In all seriousness, I think talent is quantified on the platform through the perceived talent of those who recommend u + who u recommend

So you list people without their consent or do they need to approve?

Recommend people publicly but they have to be signed up yeah – can only be positive recommendations though!

> can only be positive recommendations

Curious: how is it ensured? (I mean moderation is hard..)

It's a dropdown you can choose (Hire, Startup With, Freelance From, Work for etc)

Does this require everyone to be on the platform to get any value?

Yeah pretty much but it's sign in with Linkedin so ez onboarding

Is it already down? Just out of curiosity, what is the bottleneck?

Shouldn't be haha

Dunno. Can't reach it.

    curl -v https://www.youshouldworkwith.com
    *   Trying 76.76.21.61:443...
    * connect to 76.76.21.61 port 443 failed: Operation timed out
    *   Trying 76.76.21.22:443...

Hmmm no clue getting tons of people rn could the be the issue

i think you were blocked by hotel wifi for some reason.

Huh thats super bizarre

$18 per month is exaggeration

A guy can dream haha

I mean it looks cool, but I don't see how it competes with the network effects of LinkedIn and LinkedIn recommendations.

I tried LinkedIn but its corporate garb nowadays. connections are like follower lists, recommendations are fluffy ( Great Communicator, Hard Worker) and there's no curation, everyone hands out recommendations left and right

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