[benny306]

Hello everyone,

Problem: You are looking for a job and want a professional way to advertise yourself
Solution: Create a website that allows you to upload video and create a resume/profile.

I want to create a website that allows users to post their video resume and send it to potential employers through email links. The site would also allow the user to create an online profile and normal resume. It would be completely free and all content would be user driven.

The goal of the site would not be to compete with any huge sites but offer a place where say myspace users could present a more professional appearence instead of sparkling text all over the place.

We would also create a mashup from huge job sites like craigslist, monster, workopolis to list all available jobs.

I am planning to start off small, just concetrating on my city of Toronto for now.

Do you guys think this idea has legs or is it just too hard to compete with the big boys? Also does anyone an idea of some sites that are doing this? I can't really seem to find any.

Let me have it. Also if anyone is interested in possible investing or partnering please give me a shout.

Thanks in advance everyone.

[akula]

well...let me tell you

we've done this before at hiveresume.com, so I used to think this was a good opportunity (site offline now)

it's very, very tough to make any money from these sites

and we're not the only failures with this kind of product

gojobby.com was really, really popular when it got started, but now, no one's using it

the only real success story with this space is linkedin.com

my advice for you is to copy them

and, you better be cashed up big time

if you have an estimate for how much it costs to make a profitable, web based, consumer product - take that estimate and times it by 100, and that's and underestimate, and I'm not kidding.

the point: would I use this product? YES!!! would I pay for it? NO. what does this mean? Its means you're buggered.

Also, keep in mind that people often just use a blogger account to advertise them selves......but most don't because they're afraid that their boss might see their resume and assume that they want to leave the company

[akula]

ok....just a small addition

what opportunity do I see with helping people find work?

I fully well recognize that it's often hard for people to get the right breaks in their career

there's a whole bunch of products that self-help gurus sell to remedy this problem

in terms of software, is there an opportunity selling job seekers web based software that helps them find work? no. I haven't seen anything successful other than linkedin and zoominfo

is there any point trying to complete with linkedin or zoominfo? no, because it's too expensive

so where is the opportunity? I think the opportunity is in selling social networking software to large employers

[benny306]

Hey Akula,

All very good points, I was assuming there was a few attempts at this.

What was your revenue model with your site?

[benny306]

Originally Posted by akula

ok....just a small addition

what opportunity do I see with helping people find work?

I fully well recognize that it's often hard for people to get the right breaks in their career

there's a whole bunch of products that self-help gurus sell to remedy this problem

in terms of software, is there an opportunity selling job seekers web based software that helps them find work? no. I haven't seen anything successful other than linkedin and zoominfo

is there any point trying to complete with linkedin or zoominfo? no, because it's too expensive

so where is the opportunity? I think the opportunity is in selling social networking software to large employers

I agree, it is impossible to compete with LinkedIn and the likes, however I think there is still room in the employment/jobseeker market.

CNN Money -

"LinkedIn is all about business: recruiting, sales, investment. It's not exactly a marketplace or a job site but rather a community of more than 8 million people who rely on one another to get things done."

I am just thinking of allowing users to create a video profile and be able to send that profile to job seekers in an email link.

Along the lines that many people tell their friends: "Check out my Myspace page"
Now they can tell employers: "check out my xxxxx page"

[akula]

well...

look...let me try to make this productive...

you seem like a nice guy and I want to help you as best I can

I can see how you're reasoning about the probable success of this venture (you're reasoning by analogy to myspace)

is your reasoning flawed? yes

why do I say that? for a lot of fact based, objective reasons

just because myspace is successful, doesn't mean that this venture will be successful, because there's ALOT of differences between myspace and your venture

the point is: you've asked if this is a good business opportunity. i've told you that it's an interesting product, but you won't be able to make this into a profitable venture, even if you blow a million bucks on marketing

why am I so certain? for a lot of very simple, factual reasons

would I pursue this venture if I were you?

NO

am I stupid?

It's HIGHLY likely

what would I pursue?

selling social software to large employers like JP Morgan for alot of money and recurring maintenance charges

why? for a large list of very simple, sound and factual reasons

question: seriously bro, do you even care about what I says? you're still gonna launch this site aren't you?

[benny306]

Hey, your advice is definately appreciated. Your observations are correct, I am of limited experience. But, NO I will not jump into something I don't believe is feasible. The main reason I'm here is to get opionionated advice.

"why am I so certain? for a lot of very simple, factual reasons"

Can you elaborate on this?

[akula]

Originally Posted by benny306

Hey, your advice is definately appreciated. Your observations are correct, I am of limited experience. But, NO I will not jump into something I don't believe is feasible. The main reason I'm here is to get opionionated advice.

"why am I so certain? for a lot of very simple, factual reasons"

Can you elaborate on this?

ok, let's do it

let's look at the facts, the market and crunch some numbers

what's your business model? ads, subscriptions, both, neither, undecided?

[benny306]

An ad supported site would be the easiest.

Video hosting using BrightCove studio