
Ask HN: Is there space for a technology matchmaker? - meticulouschris
I&#x27;ve been a programmer my whole life, so I&#x27;ve been asked hundreds of times through the years if I (or someone else I know) can help create a new tech product. In the old days it was just, &quot;I need a website&quot; and it has become, &quot;I need an app.&quot;<p>Depending on the person&#x27;s budget, time, risk tolerance, and desire for an MVP, I direct them to freelancers I know, agencies I&#x27;ve worked with, cheap tools I&#x27;ve used, or even people who could be a co-founder. Basically people or things I trust and that I know will meet their needs.<p>So instead of saying, &quot;go find someone on ODesk,&quot; I say, &quot;call Joe, he will take good care of you.&quot;<p>My question to those of you who have started a technology-based business or are looking to start one... if I take this thing I do on the side to help others, and make it a real business, would it be valuable to you? Any reasons why it would or wouldn&#x27;t?<p>Thank you, I appreciate your time and welcome any and all feedback (positive or negative).
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calcsam
Aline Lerner, an engineer turned technical recruiter, wrote a blog post about
it here:

[http://blog.alinelerner.com/if-youre-an-engineer-who-
wants-t...](http://blog.alinelerner.com/if-youre-an-engineer-who-wants-to-
start-a-recruiting-business-read-this-first/)

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meticulouschris
Wow, that was insanely informative, thank you.

I especially liked how honest she was about the difficulty with finding
engineers. Something I didn't think about.

Since I'm hoping to focus on more independent people (freelancers and
agencies) as opposed to employees, hopefully I won't need to keep finding new
engineers as regularly. But I could definitely see where I say, "you need
agency X or y" and both are too busy to take on a project. Definitely wasn't
thinking about that potential headache.

~~~
calcsam
Aline is one of the most helpful people I've met. I'd encourage you to contact
her if you're seriously considering this, she may be able to point you in the
right direction.

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asperous
I believe what you are talking about in general called a professional referral
service (it's used in legal firms). It's not used in tech as much because its
broken down into two parts:

If you are talking about referring individuals for work, you'd be called a
recruiter.

If you are talking about giving people advice on what tools and agencies are
good, you are a consultant.

You can make money as a consultant and a recruiter. Consultant and recruiting
agencies are big business.

~~~
meticulouschris
That explains why I couldn't find anyone doing this is because I was using the
wrong terminology!

I think you're right in that what I want to do is very similar to a
consultant. But I'd like to do it on the individual level too (a la a
recruiter). The one difference from a traditional recruiter is that I'd
provide additional value. The folks I'm recommending are vetted by me. And I'm
totally open to the possibility that recruiters also vet candidates, just with
my limited experience of getting messages on LinkedIn, they usually just want
me to interview so the company can decide if I know my stuff.

My end goal is to help the people who say, "I know I need someone to do X, but
who?"

