When I first wrote about HoneyComb, I introduced it as “a new way to think about hiring.” Since then, I’ve thought about a new way to think about HoneyComb (so meta).
What I found was, in trying to explain the HoneyComb concept to friends and family, it really wasn’t coming across clearly. When I asked a startup founder about it he said:
I wasn’t knocked over by the value prop of your service so I probably wouldn’t sign up without a personal recommendation from a trusted business colleague. Now that doesn’t mean your service doesn’t have an outstanding value prop, but it wasn’t communicated effectively to me or I just didn’t get it. Might just need more marketing juice.
So my problem was a gut-check: is this a good concept that I’m just not communicating effectively? Or is it a concept without a lot of value?
My muse asked me some tough questions. The hardest one to answer seemed so simple: “what does it do?” When I couldn’t answer it to her satisfaction, she told me the harsh truth: “You’re not trying hard enough.”
After a night of tossing and turning it crystallized in my head: HoneyComb is not a “new way to hire people”. It’s simply a way to make hiring and recruiting a certain way (through your network) easier, more manageable, and more effective.
With a clear idea, I set out to communicate it. And it came across much more clearly. (watch the video to see for yourself)
I can’t say enough good things about the Hacker News DC meetup group and last night I got some more great feedback on the concept. Armed with some good advice from this group, I can go forward, further validating and learning.
So was this a “pivot”? I don’t think so. It’s the same concept, but crystallized, and communicated differently. But it was still a step towards making HoneyComb a successful product.
To learn more about how HoneyComb can help you recruit through your network more effectively, visit www.honeycombhire.com. There’s even a video!