Would love to hear your feedback for an idea

[sam22]

Hi everyone,

I joined this forum today after finishing the book. MJ, if you're reading this, thanks for writing a book that got me off my butt. As Mark Cuban puts it, I don’t want to be a “wantrepreneur,†I want to be an “entrepreneur.â€

The other day, I got an idea for a business that could work, I would love to hear all of your feedback:

Overview: A website where users can a practice and prepare for interviews. Each user will be given a pre-recorded video of an interviewer asking a set of interview questions (both standard and industry specific questions). The user’s responses will be recorded using the computer’s webcam and mic. Afterward, the user will be able to replay the recording and review their responses. They will also have the option to send the recording for someone else to review and provide feedback.

This site isn’t just a place to practice for an interview. I see it as a way for people to evaluate the way they communicate - both verbally and nonverbally. Often we think we’re communicating one message but the recipient hears or sees something totally different.

Analyzing it using the CENTS model:

Need: Obviously, everyone should practice before an interview. The one thing I’m unsure about is how many people prepare using mock interviews, and of those that do, how many of would be willing do it online (and pay for such a service).

I’ve used Survey Monkey to create a survey to help find the answer to this question. If you would like to complete it, you’re welcome to. It’s only 10 questions long. You can find the survey here: Interview Practice Website Survey

Entry: Anyone would be able to enter the market as long as they have the money to find a web developer and market the site. But so far, I haven’t found a direct competitor yet (more on that later).

Control: As I would be the (co?)founder of this business, I’d have control over it.

Scale: People all over the world interview for jobs. The reach potential (the number of people this site can serve) is certainly higher than the magnitude potential (how much I’d be able to charge).

But again, we need to go back to need. Despite the fact that there are about 1.7 million college grads in the US every year, it won’t matter if they don’t perceive the need to use such a service.

Competition:
There is one company, Interview Stream, that has something similar. They have other online-interview related products. But so far their model is to license the service to organizations such as universities for the students to use. Visit desales.interviewstream.com to see what I mean. I want my site to be open for all to use regardless of whether my school is affiliated with Interview Stream or not.

Revenue model:
I’ve thought of a few possibilities:
- Freemium model - standard interview questions are free (maybe ad supported) and users can subscribe to industry specific questions (one time fee)
- Licensing - following the Interview Stream model
- Lead generation - have career counselors/consultants provide feedback for the recorded interviews. And if the person they provide feedback to hires them as a counselor, the company would get a cut. Problem: I don’t think many people hire career counselors
- Sell career courses (in my opinion, not a great/preferred option)
- Combination of all of the above

Marketing plan: The initial target market will be college students/young professionals since they have the least amount of interview experience. Some cheap ways to market this include college newspapers/email lists and Google/Facebook ads.

Potential problems: People don’t perceive the need for such a service or see it as a glorified video recording product. A video can’t ask follow up questions the way a real person can.

I would love to hear from all of you about the viability of such a business, the need for such a service, any changes you would make, or anything else you want to say.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

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[cliqflip]

I didn't look at the model or anything, but I read the full idea of it.

I'm going to be honest with you... I don't see a need for a product like this.

The most(personally) i'm going to do is google interview questions try to get some good answers then go. I think most people are the same way - the main way people get prepared for interviews is taking a shower and looking good haha.

But goodluck with the fastlane!

You're going to have more ideas

 

[Newbie]

Hey sam22,

Another competitor would be Welcome to The Interviewr — TheInterviewr. I use twilio for other projects of mine and one of their clients does what ur wanted to do. I would check out the project page and then the site to reverse engineer it. It is based on Twilio.com, so u should check that site out too.

Twilio Gallery - Projects TheInterviewr

 

[sam22]

The most(personally) i'm going to do is google interview questions try to get some good answers then go. I think most people are the same way - the main way people get prepared for interviews is taking a shower and looking good haha.

Thanks CliqFlip. That's the sense I've been getting from other people I've been talking to. I'll ask several more people and find out if it's time to move on.

 

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[sam22]

Another competitor would be Welcome to The Interviewr — TheInterviewr. I use twilio for other projects of mine and one of their clients does what ur wanted to do. I would check out the project page and then the site to reverse engineer it. It is based on Twilio.com, so u should check that site out too.

Hey Newbie,

Thanks for pointing them out. It is similar to my idea. I'll have to look into them more.

 

[JPBB]

Interesting - several years ago I had nearly the same idea, but never moved forward with it. I personally think it has possibilities, but it's all about where you enter the market. The end goal is for any job seeker, but I would start with a niche. The niche market I'm thinking of is recruiters, head-hunters, job shops. Those folks have money / reputation on the line everytime they send a candidate to interview with one of their clients. Often they do some resume counseling and interview prep, but if you can offer them better/faster results with your service, it's a win-win - you would be adding true value.

 

[johnp]

Visit desales.interviewstream.com to see what I mean. I want my site to be open for all to use regardless of whether my school is affiliated with Interview Stream or not.

I am an alumni of DeSales University. Do you go there?

Anyway, I can tell you that they were very big on using this model. The head of career services makes special visits to classes all of the time & lectures students on the importance of making contacts and stuff like that. One BIG thing that she focuses on is the interview process. I know that a lot of students at DSU use the exact product that you are talking about. They record it and send it to her to view later and she makes comments and stuff. It is a great way for students to have a professional look at their interview skills without having to sit with every single student on an individual Basis. I also know that a lot of the business teachers required their students to practice mock interviews on it. I never used the service so I can't give any opinons on how it works.

I think that there is a decent amount of competition in this market, but I'm not sure. If this is something that you are set on they why not go for it? There is a need for this. People who tell you that there is not probably don't understand the industry. There is a need for this at the college level and at the high school level. There is also a need to make the technology and process better. Think about it, DeSales is a small school that has about 3-4 thousand students. How can a small department help even 50% of the students improve their interview skills? Now think of a big state school that has a population that is 4X what DSU has. The task is overwhelming, especially when combined with the other things that the careers department is responsible for.

Also, Apple was not the first company to sell MP3 players. The thing that set Apple apart was that they knew how to capture the audience. Their 1000 songs in your pocket MP3 player beat out Creative Zen's 5GB MPG player or whatever size it was. The point is, that you don't always need the mover's advantage. There is a need for students to have some sort of process to refine their interview skills and you can do a whole lot to improve the technology - the company that DSU uses may not do it the best way. Find a way to make it fun for students.

Also, there are OVER 4 thousand degree granting institutions in the US. I would focus on pushing this on the school. One school may say no, but another school may say yes. Or target students and use them as bait to get schools on, so schools can force their students to use it. I think your best bet would be to get the schools to put your company on their career services website. So you would have to figure out how to do that.

One thing that I like about this model is that it makes people more productive. It makes students productive as they try to advance their interview skills and it makes the career departments productive. If you build something like this then I would be more than wiling to look into promoting you on my site (a productive social network for higher education) after we go live.

 

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[sam22]

Interesting - several years ago I had nearly the same idea, but never moved forward with it. I personally think it has possibilities, but it's all about where you enter the market. The end goal is for any job seeker, but I would start with a niche. The niche market I'm thinking of is recruiters, head-hunters, job shops. Those folks have money / reputation on the line everytime they send a candidate to interview with one of their clients. Often they do some resume counseling and interview prep, but if you can offer them better/faster results with your service, it's a win-win - you would be adding true value.

Thanks JPBB, I didn't think of looking at it from that angle. I'll look into that.

 

[sam22]

I am an alumni of DeSales University. Do you go there?

No, I'm not. I go to UC Davis. I just found the site when I was searching for competitors to this site.

I know that a lot of students at DSU use the exact product that you are talking about. They record it and send it to her to view later and she makes comments and stuff. It is a great way for students to have a professional look at their interview skills without having to sit with every single student on an individual Basis. I also know that a lot of the business teachers required their students to practice mock interviews on it.

That's awesome to hear that students at DeSales are using such a tool. It certainly helps validate the idea.

There is also a need to make the technology and process better. Think about it, DeSales is a small school that has about 3-4 thousand students. How can a small department help even 50% of the students improve their interview skills? Now think of a big state school that has a population that is 4X what DSU has. The task is overwhelming, especially when combined with the other things that the careers department is responsible for.

I haven't thought of that. That'd certainly be a good problem to solve. Thanks for pointing that out.

I would love to get this site developed. The only thing slowing me down is that I'm still assessing the need (you helped a lot with that) because one web developer I talked with gave me a quote of $10,000. As a college student, I don't have that type of cash lying around. I'm hoping to spend $5k or less. How're you getting your social network developed?

Thanks for all your input, John.

 

[AcquireCurrency]

Create a Minimum Viable Product to test the market before wasting money and time on a potentially "dead" idea.

A simple splash page with an email signup offering a free PDF in interview tips, and some Google advertising, should be able to tell you if there is a demand for the product.

 

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[johnp]

That's awesome to hear that students at DeSales are using such a tool. It certainly helps validate the idea.

I know that students at a lot of schools use tools like this. I know people who to go schools all along the East Coast. This is becoming a popular way to train for interviews. If you could find someway to make the videos rate their performance then that would be great. But that would be extremely hard to do.

because one web developer I talked with gave me a quote of $10,000. As a college student, I don't have that type of cash lying around. I'm hoping to spend $5k or less. How're you getting your social network developed?

Where did you get that quote from? If you outsource to another country then it is usually cheaper. Most American companies that I looked into where trying to charge me between 50-200K. My advice though, if you want to outsource then be very careful. There are a lot of benefits to it, BUT I believe that the negatives outway the benefits slightly. You have be extremely proactive. You might as well just learn to code. That is what I am doing. I outsourced the development. But I do most of the design work. I actually have found that I have been doing a lot to learn how to code and now I am telling the coders what to do. It makes things that much easier. So no matter what you decided to do, I suggest to start reading up on coding. It will make things that much easier.

If your developer tells you 5K, or 10K, then make sure you have a lot more than that on hand.

I don't have that type of cash lying around.

I also started my business when I was in college. I didn't have that type of cash either. I had an idea, I had my business plan, and had some market research put together, but I did not have the money. I spent a few weeks trying to think of ways to get it; use my credit cards, get a job, gamble a lot, rob a bank, or become a hitman. I started looking at investors, then I soon realized that the big firms won't even respond if I only have an idea. And you don't really need a big investment to make it big with an internet company (a huge misconception in the tech world). Eventually I got some good advice from a very successful person. Stop focusing on all of the stuff on paper. Start talking to people & networking. Eventually the smart one's will listen to you and get involved. 2 weeks later I managed to come up with the full amount of money for development and marketing (a lot more than 10K). I found friends, family, and a few private individuals to get involved in my business. And I still have people coming up and asking to invest, but I don't want anymore money as of now.

So the point is, don't let the college no money situation stop you. This could be your idea, or you may have another one in the future. Money is somewhat easy to get if you find the right people. I have been turned down by people too. It's just a matter of sticking your neck out there. Be patient. That's another thing that I learned.

Also, there is a lot going on out in California in the education & technology community. You should be able to find people who will listen.

 

[sam22]

A simple splash page with an email signup offering a free PDF in interview tips, and some Google advertising, should be able to tell you if there is a demand for the product.

Yes, I was planning on using LaunchRock to do this. Good point with the Google advertising, didn't think about that.

 

[sam22]

If you could find someway to make the videos rate their performance then that would be great. But that would be extremely hard to do.

Yes, I've thought of having software that'd rate them on things like number of smiles and "uhs" and "ums." But I think that will not be in the early versions of this site for sure.

Where did you get that quote from? If you outsource to another country then it is usually cheaper.

It's from a company called Viteb (Viteb.com); I believe their development/design work is done overseas but they have offices in the states. They said it'll team of 7 people and 504 man-hours.

You might as well just learn to code. That is what I am doing. I outsourced the development. But I do most of the design work. I actually have found that I have been doing a lot to learn how to code and now I am telling the coders what to do. It makes things that much easier. So no matter what you decided to do, I suggest to start reading up on coding. It will make things that much easier.

I would love to learn to code. I've started using Codecademy, but I want to learn more HTML/CSS first, along with Photoshop. Any sites/books you'd recommend?

Eventually the smart one's will listen to you and get involved. 2 weeks later I managed to come up with the full amount of money for development and marketing (a lot more than 10K). I found friends, family, and a few private individuals to get involved in my business. And I still have people coming up and asking to invest, but I don't want anymore money as of now.

Awesome, congrats! Yes I definitely need to stop seeing lack of money as a constraint and be creative with what I have.

 

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