Okay. You have the right to think in any way you want. But LinkedIn cannot change their model overnight, it has a stable business and income. Yes, they have many smart people, managers and engineers, and expert shareholders - but their goal is to keep the status quo. That's the problem with large stable businesses. And that's why we always have disruptive startups - that change the status quo and shake the whole market. Apple did this with the iPhone, when many people said buttons would stay forever. LinkedIn has a small number of active users, because they have expensive subscriptions. That's the point. Nobody is interested to use the product that doesn't provide value. The marketplace model would allow users to earn from their profiles, increasing the activity 10x times, increasing the overall revenue. This is how AirBnB works. This is how Amazon works. This is how AppStore works. You can always make basic open profiles with basic info. But if you want to get detailed info, contact the person, chat, interview, sell something - then pay. This is the merketplace model. The entire point of my entry is to describe this model to smart doers, who will take this idea and build the next billion-dollar business.
HN user
berkimbayev
LinkedIn has 1 billion users and generated only 15 billion. Of which only 7 billion from Recruiter premium plans. This is very small amount for the number of users. With the marketplace model they could easily reach 60+ billion, since all users will be interested to make money from their profiles, generating views and other activity. Just re-read my points and think about it twice. The marketplace model is much better than current subscriptions.
The marketplace model is suitable both to find candidates and to find leads. Ultimately, it's a perfect model to find people. No matter if it's recruiting or sales or dating or anything else. Pay to view the exact profile you want, to the owner of that profile, and that's it.
I've used both Recruiter and Sales plans. Both are shit with no valuable features. The price is too high. But the question is - why can't you contact people and make sales stuff, if it was a marketplace? The feed will be open. Only the profiles will be private. If you want to contact someone, just pay for that contact. It's that simple. No need to buy a monthly subscription for the whole database and shitty features.
Other implications:
1) the platform will not push everyone to activate premium subscription; 2) users will promote their profiles to earn more, eventually covering marketing costs
It's possible to implement some down-vote feature, if you see a profile that doesn't match expectations. A user with many down-votes can be banned and alll payments will be returned.
What if they make some basic info visible? E.g. role, company, and university. Similar to those headlines.
What if they connect the amount paid to the years of experience? For example, you pay less to view a student's profile and more for a top professional.
The weights to the parameters are also always changing. But slightly. This is where AI comes into play.
By the way, the scores are always growing, because one of the main parameters in some activities is duration. Especially in regular employment. The more you work in one company, the higher is the score for this activity. But there are also results. Employees with better results can be higher in rankings even if they have less experience.
Interestingly, most users try to provide as much information as possible, to increase the score and grow higher in rankings. Then, other users try to catch up. The system basically regulates itself. When all activities are added by all users, we end up with the objective ranking making all users agree. Especially if they know each other (e.g. classmates or co-workers). But real life doesn't stop, and the rankings are always changing because of new information.
Thanks, good point. I've read the rules and decided not to add, since I don't provide a link. The system is currently closed due to budget constraints. In short, I've build the entire database with weights and formulas built-in. It's different from LinkedIn or other platforms since there are much more fields to fill. First 1000 invited users were mostly graduates from the same university. Now looking to apply into YC but I'm a little bit late.
Just a dozen of lessons I learned from several startups. Cannot name them “valuable”, they are just lessons, nothing more. I’ve read some books of other founders, listened to some interviews, and hopefully you can read something new here. The lessons are short, there are no detailed explanations, so you can think by yourself.
Let's forget about OLE/OpenDoc implemetaions, since they really limit our view. I'm talking about the interface only. The change in the interface that removes borders around files and programs. So that you work on two different programs (technically), but on the screen you see them as one (visually)! We can implement this solution even with current Windows/MacOS. All we need to do is just remove those borders and make the "windows" completely transparent. Now, you don't have any windows or borders. You just have different files stacked on the screen. And different "function bars" on top of them (from different programs/apps).
Another example:
Suppose you work on a research and you have 10 different .doc files. Currently, you need to open 10 separate windows/tabs. Can we have 10 different files all stacked together in one window/tab? I think it will dramatically improve productivity, since you don't need to arrange windows or move back and forth between them. You just have 10 files in 1 window and you can arrange them any way you want.
There should be some functions to work with those files. Currently, in Word you can only have function on the top. But I more prefer the way its made in Adobe Illustrator, where you can arrange functions in any way you want - on the left, right, top, bottom.
Just imagine - all 10 files stacked around the screen and some function bars on top of them. That's how I see the future OS.
Stage Manager is just another way to arrange windows. Here, I'm talking about removing windows. Windows are just borders to work with files. Can we have just files and functions?
I like the Office app where you have Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in one program. But still you need to open files in different windows/tabs. Is it possible to make files open in the same window/tab? So that you can work on two different files without any borders. This will be very close to real-world experience where you don't have any windows/borders to work on two different papers. What if we make a file itself as a window?
And you will clearly see the difference between "function bars" of different programs. For example, Microsoft and Adobe have different UI language. You will have different files open on the screen, different function bars around, and no window borders. No barriers to work.
When it comes to programs that work with files (such as Word or Adobe Illustrator), the window is just a border around the file. It doesn't have any other purpose. I think of it as barriers to the workflow. I have to arrange windows on the screen. What I actually want is to arrange files. And have functionality from different programs - all on the same screen (stacked like those function bars in Word or Adobe Illustrator).
You are absolutely right. For example, I use laptop with Windows and 150% scaling. Otherwise the default scaling is 200% and everything looks so big.
Okay, browsers, games, Excel, Calculator, and other type of programs obviously need some "window". But Calculator can be actualy made as a "function bar" that works with any other program.
Another example:
When I open two .doc files, I can only have two separate windows or tabs. But I don't need those windows or tabs. What I actually need is just two open files on the screen. And some Word functions. From UI perspective, it can be a "function bar" on top of those two files.
If I want to open an image file and Photoshop, currently I can only have a separate Photoshop window. What I actually need is just an open image file on the screen. And some Photoshop functions - a "function bar" on top of that file.
So the visual difference is that you now have 3 different open files and some "function bars" - all in one workspace. And you can arrange or scale your files in any way you want. And you can arrange "function bars" on the screen or hide them.