‘Deep’ Job Platforms and How to Build Them | Andreessen Horowitz

Solving the problem of assembling a good team: When I became the CEO of a new company, every founder I talked to had the same warning: hiring is the hardest thing you will do... Currently, we use approximations: we look at the school a person attended, the jobs they’ve held and the length of time they were there. We might take a look at two or thre... See more

In this new future of work, jobs will be more transient and dynamic — switching costs between jobs will be lower, opportunities will be more visible, work will be reduced down into more atomic units, and the entire world will be unified under a single workforce with access to all opportunities. We will discover new opportunities based on our on-cha... See more

There’s a pressing need — and an opportunity — to build vertical-specific tools for workers striking out on their own. Much has been written about the proliferation of vertical software tools that help firms run their businesses, but the next generation of great companies will provide integrated, vertical software for individuals going solo.

Societies and platforms flourish when there is a path for everyone to have upward mobility, achieve financial security, and learn and grow. The beautiful thing is, in the real world as well as in the digital world, it’s up to us to build this path.

Conventional hiring processes are designed to recruit the most skilled people to fill a specific role at the right price. The experience can feel dehumanizing — it’s laden with unwritten rules, negotiation, posturing, and indirect communication (if you’re lucky) through recruiters.

The process, at its core, is a transaction of resources. It’s not fi... See more

Employment at a company is itself a bundle of various services and infrastructure, and there’s an opportunity for platforms to replace what workers lose when they leave traditional employment arrangements. For micro-entrepreneurs, the tradeoff of independence is a de-risked company environment for learning, pivoting, and risk-taking—and there’s an ... See more

Product

• Fewer jobs-to-be-done. Focus on just 1-2 jobs-to-be done that are shared by many clients. The more jobs, the harder to productize. You can always expand.


• Scalable access. Find and tap into high-quality talent channels. Mechanical Orchard did this with the Pivotal Labs network (CEO Rob Mee used to run that company). Where’s your leg up?


• Piggyb

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