
Ask HN: Would you (or family/friends) pay for this service? - markhall
Problem statement: Starting a new job can be challenging and anxiety-inducing. You are beholden to the onboarding process of the company and you oftentimes don&#x27;t have a pre-established network you can turn to for guidance&#x2F;feedback. Unless you worked at a well-oiled machine before, you don&#x27;t have the right tools&#x2F;resources to make the right first impressions.<p>Solution: (Company name), the first platform &amp; community for employees starting new jobs. The platform has 3 value components: #1 a community for support&#x2F;ideas, which also will include matching to an accountability partner (grouped by job similarity and start date), #2 best-in-class downloadable resources like 1:1 meeting templates, 30&#x2F;60&#x2F;90 day start plans, OKR templates, problem solving templates (hundreds of docs), #3 private coaching sessions from the executive team.<p>Pricing: $19&#x2F;month for community + resources; $39&#x2F;month for all that + 1:1 coaching sessions from team<p>[Caveat] I recognize HN is an overly-technical audience, so please consider you in your earlier career or family&#x2F;friends who are at the beginning of their journey.
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greenyoda
> $39/month for all that + 1:1 coaching sessions from team

Whether that's a good deal or not depends a lot on your team's experience and
qualifications. For example, if my new job is in product management or
marketing but all your team members are developers or have only a few years of
work experience, I'd look elsewhere for advice.

Are you willing to share what your team's qualifications are?

> a community for support/ideas, which also will include matching to an
> accountability partner (grouped by job similarity and start date).

Forums like this are difficult to get up to critical mass. People won't want
to join unless they know that there will be other people there to talk to,
which there won't be when the service is new. Are people going to risk paying
$19 up front if they don't know that anyone with their interests is going to
be there? Is there a money-back guarantee if people don't find anyone there
who's relevant to their situation?

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markhall
Great feedback - thanks for the questions.

-Re: your first question, we are aiming to build a team of broadly-skilled experts with depth. Ultimately we will ensure the coaching experts are well-qualified.

-There will definitely be money-back guarantees. Also, we are considering free trial periods

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bradknowles
There is a portion of on boarding to a new company that is common to most
companies.

Then there is the portion that is common to many companies in that field,
where you would be doing a particular type of work.

Then there is the portion that is unique to that company.

Each company has a unique combination of the above.

You could cover the first part reasonably well, with sufficient funding, a big
enough pool of advisors to pull from, good enough marketing, etc.... But
that’s not going to be enough to provide adequate coverage of the second
portion, and you won’t be able to touch the third portion.

To really reach into that second part, you’ve got to have a strong network
effect, so that you can get enough community members who can then provide
advice coverage in all the various fields. That gets the pump primed and the
flywheel going.

I have no idea what it would take to really dig deep into that third part. You
might have to already be the Facebook or the Amazon in this field in order to
make it.

Speaking only for myself, no — I would not be willing to pay for this service.

However, I might be willing to join a community network of people who are
trying to help other people in this space, but only if there was adequate
privacy and security built into that network from the very start.

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markhall
Thanks for the feedback! I agree that there are layers of distinction between
normal onboarding vs unique. We would strive to play at the 1st and 2nd layer.
I'll keep this guidance in mind.

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clintonb
I wouldn’t buy it because I get this support elsewhere. I can see this being
useful to new grads. There might also be an opportunity to partner with
universities or alumni programs rather than relying solely on B2C.

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markhall
Thanks for the feedback. The alumni partnership piece is a great idea as they
may be willing to front the cost.

