

Ask HN: Help me validate a business idea - parttimefounder

If you’re an HN regular, you’ve probably heard of the growth vs. fixed mindset idea. Here’s an article, just in case:<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.brainpickings.org&#x2F;2014&#x2F;01&#x2F;29&#x2F;carol-dweck-mindset&#x2F;<p>During my last job search, I noticed that the vast majority of companies approach recruiting with the fixed mindset – they need someone to do X, so they look for someone who has done X before. That works well enough most of the time, but I’d like to start a business that matches up companies and individuals who have growth mindsets.<p>HN has a lot of smart people, so here’s a few questions I&#x27;m trying to answer:<p>-Would you use this to find good companies to work for? To find talented individuals?<p>-How would you filter out teams or applicants who just pay lip service to this idea?<p>-How would you structure this business? A website, recruiting firm, consulting firm that helps shape the interview process?
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tixocloud
While the idea on the surface is great, it would be good for you to map out
all the stakeholders that are involved in the recruiting process. Figure out
who will be the one paying for your service. Is it the company? The talented
individuals? Recruiting firms?

Companies approach recruiting with the fixed mindset because there is a job
that needs to be completed and they want to minimize their risk/cost so they
hire someone who has done it before.

As JSeymourATL mentioned, you're going to have to educate a lot of folks on
why the growth mindset is a better alternative than the fixed mindset. In
theory it's great but you'll need proof that it's better for the company and
by better, either it saves them money or makes them more money. I would start
with working with companies who aren't doing great and are willing to
experiment.

For structuring the business, that's your job to validate what works. This was
essentially the same question that I asked a few months back while starting my
company and our customer development process is helping us to figure out where
we should play. Build multiple models and test to see which fits. You could
even become a training company to help people along that mindset. You'll have
to find out what is the real problem and who is going to pay you to solve that
problem.

Hope that helps! Best of luck!

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JSeymourATL
> How would you filter out teams or applicants who just pay lip service to
> this idea?

What you're describing is the elusive "Match.com" for job-seekers and
employers. There are several players out there working on this idea now.

You might think one could determine a solid match based on shared personality
profiles of both job-seekers & employers. But that gets impossibly complicated
when dealing with large global matrix organizations. The company profile is
based on the combined make-up of multiple personalities and influencers. Worse
still, any growth-mind set platform is ruined once touched by HR flunkies with
limited clue as to what you do or what the hiring executive needs.

The best filter remains 1:1 dialogue, a conversation between the job-seeker
and the hiring executive. Each party probing for how the other thinks. Do they
share the learn-and-help-others-learn framework? What are their goals, how do
they stay on track? Can you help one another up your game?

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nicholas73
I think this is a great idea from the job seeker standpoint, but how did you
validate that some companies want this?

