I tried this years ago. Some advice: target your marketing and product at “beautiful+easy portfolio” to start. See if you can make something beautiful people want to share, and when other people see one they want to create their own.
You can’t compete against LinkedIn on network for now, and many years to come. So need to talk about the now value. But try to build in network effects (tag who you worked with) as soon as you manage to crack growth.
This is really good advice — thank you for sharing it, especially with the honesty about your own attempt.
Totally agree: we're not trying to compete with LinkedIn's network (yet). Our focus right now is exactly what you said — making it beautiful and dead simple to create a portfolio that feels personal, professional, and worth sharing. Something that makes people say: “I want one of those.”
We’ve got network effects on the roadmap too — things like tagging collaborators, showcasing teams, and making intros more fluid — but only once we’ve nailed the individual value first.
You can’t compete against LinkedIn on network for now, and many years to come. So need to talk about the now value. But try to build in network effects (tag who you worked with) as soon as you manage to crack growth.
Or ignore me. My version didn’t work!