We quit our Big Tech jobs after hitting #1 on HN and Product Hunt
heyopenspot.com
heyopenspot.com
Since then: - we hit #1 on Product Hunt the next day - got featured in their daily + weekly newsletter - 1,500+ sign ups - 1,000+ waitlist sign ups from non US countries - 32,000+ website visitors - 35 recruiter signed up
The response gave us so much conviction that we decided to go all-in: we left our Big Tech jobs to work on Openspot full time.
It still feels surreal.
What we are building: In a world where AI can write the perfect resume for anyone, what actually makes you stand out is you — your personality, your voice, your story. That’s what OpenSpot helps you showcase — through video, audio, projects, and more.
If you're curious what we've learned so far — from launch tactics to handling the wave of attention to quitting Big Tech jobs to build this full-time — happy to share everything.
Wish you the best of luck, but I also wish for a tradeoff towards honesty from salesmanship in this world.
EDIT: A cursory review of your Twitter reveals several significant departures from this narrative. I'm very confused but given your goals with this, would highly recommend you at least tighten things up enough so it doesn't take 1 missed piece of ingroup knowledge on your part, and ~1 minute of due diligence on X, to find out we're reading copy-pasta.
It's also really uncool to create two bits of "someone else did it" knowledge in the world that are absolutely false and irresponsible (built quickly parttime, quit after launch).
Also, if the other founders contracted you while they were still at big tech, that can be a major problem for them.
In California specifically, Labor Code Section 2870 limits an employer's claim over inventions or products created a) outside of work hours, b) without using company resources like your work laptop, and c) not related to/competitive with the company's business.
Even outside of California, it's extremely rare for companies to try to claim ownership of side projects that check all of the boxes above. Legal action is expensive and bad PR unless the employee is clearly infringing or building something competitive.
Is a loophole big enough for a train to go through. BigTech can, and will, with a straight face, claim almost anything as "related to" something they are working on--because they work on everything. I have worked at two BigTechs and had to basically stop working on side projects because they both emphatically threatened (during onboarding) that they will aggressively claim IP ownership of moonlighting projects.
Anyone considering doing potentially commercializable side projects should do their due diligence. Even if you're right and they can't claim it, do you have the $$$ to fight their army of lawyers?
EDIT: The loophole's actual wording is:
"Relate at the time of conception or reduction to practice of the invention to the employer’s business, or actual or demonstrably anticipated research or development of the employer"
(I worked at Google 2016-2023. Open source and video games were approved, anything else wasn't even worth the trouble of asking. i.e. it was well known to be "no" and a great signal to your manager you were unhappy)
We also have the benefit of _knowing they lied_: they were hired as a contractor to build it, and weren't at big tech.
By way of analogy: you're right, of course a German could hold up 3 fingers to order 3 beers. In practice, it is a tell.
The video and audio part are clear, but how do you showcase projects?
But!
I have one issue.
You don't have a demo profile for me to view.
I saw small pieces, but I didnt know if the investment in signing up would be worth the outcome, without knowing what the outcome would be.
Just a good data point for you may not want to block on IP.
Particularly if you think of remote companies with Staff in other countries who are part of hiring for US roles.
You can sign up using your resume or linkedIn and your profile will be curated for you, so it takes about 30sec ;)
I just want to send a CV and that's it.
Openspot is more for folks who feel like their resume doesn’t tell the whole story. Maybe they’re career-switching, self-taught, or just want to show a bit more of who they are, not just what they’ve done.
That said, we’re working to make the process super lightweight — upload your resume, we generate a profile in under a minute. So it’s more of a bonus layer if you want to stand out, not a whole extra job search on top of everything else.
How will you get network effects?
Btw I hate LinkedIn
What’s wrong with LinkedIn (in our view): - It’s become more like Facebook than a professional network: lots of noise, humblebrags, and algorithm-chasing. - Everyone looks the same on paper — resumes blur together, and it’s hard to stand out. - You're incentivized to perform rather than be real — especially if you're early in your career or outside of the “right” networks.
How we're different: - No feed. No likes. No fake engagement. - You show who you are with video, audio, and proof of work — like a mini personal pitch. - Profiles are curated and designed to be browsed, not scrolled endlessly.
Re: network effects — We’re starting small and high-signal: curated profiles + inbound interest from early recruiters. Our goal isn’t to replace LinkedIn’s entire graph, it’s to become the place you go when you want to stand out and be discovered for real.
My last caution is to avoid the post function. On LinkedIn at least in my network it’s everyone posting typical self promotion but I’m seeing more political leaning content and mostly dare I say it - left leaning - which means I can’t say anything - but also means I know where my network stands on issues. That’s interesting but only serves to promote those agendas.
To build fast, we used cursor and some other third party SaaS like streamIO and Supabase.
Openspot is about curated professional identity. It lets people showcase not just what they do, but who they are — through video, audio, projects, and real storytelling. It’s built to help people stand out in a world where resumes are starting to look the same (especially with AI).
We’re also bringing in discovery tools for recruiters, so it’s not just a personal page — it’s a real alternative to the resume-black-hole problem.