Re:Ask HN: Do people want a LinkedIn alternative?
by sokoloff on Tuesday June 14, 2022 @07:16AM
(#31737341)
That doesn’t actually remove the pressure for growth from what I can see.
A network site has value only when the people I want in my network are on it. That’s pressure for growth, whether driven by me inviting them or you enticing them somehow.
I doubt you’ll find many people willing to pay for a subscription to a new upstart LinkedIn that doesn’t have at least some critical mass of users already. Would I pay $20/yr for an actually better LinkedIn? Probably. Would I pay $100/yr for news.yc? Absolutely. Would I pay $20/yr for a networking website with 50K users, 0-3 of which I know? No.
A network site has value only when the people I want in my network are on it. That’s pressure for growth, whether driven by me inviting them or you enticing them somehow.
I doubt you’ll find many people willing to pay for a subscription to a new upstart LinkedIn that doesn’t have at least some critical mass of users already. Would I pay $20/yr for an actually better LinkedIn? Probably. Would I pay $100/yr for news.yc? Absolutely. Would I pay $20/yr for a networking website with 50K users, 0-3 of which I know? No.