JobeeHive (www.jobeehive.com) is a unique web 2.0 community platform that brings professional networking services together with career information on companies and industries. "Where do you wanna go next?" is the question JobeeHive helps you understand and answer by (i) providing insider information from employees and ex-employees about a company so that you have authentic information to aid your decision (ii) tapping the knowledge of your professional network in order to add credibility to the information you have (iii) getting information directly from the companies themselves about work, culture, business and opportunities. JobeeHive incorporates all these utilities and more so that you have a blend of opinions and facts to help you choose your next move in your career or business with an enhanced sense of confidence.
RV College of Engineering, 2003, graduates Sandeep & Vishwas launched JobeeHive ALPHA in September 2007. On 08.08.08, JobeeHive BETA version was released. You can now signup at www.jobeehive.com, which is open to public. To keep the company reviews and salary details fresh, it is required for users to submit either a review or salary report before you signup. However, if you get an invite from an existing JobeeHive user, you need not write a review to signup
How it started?
Both Vishwas & Sandeep felt that there should be some system/ methodology to understand the work, culture, salary details & leadership of a company before you take employment with them. The idea got more strength when one of their close friends got cheated by a renowned company in Bangalore. So, that was the starting point for them. Jobeehive helps people to take Informed Decisions, be it in their careers or business – this is their mission.
How it evolved?
To start with, JobeeHive only had company reviews taken by employees and ex-employees of a company. This was no doubt a great medium. However, as they started approaching industry experts, friends and groups like KickStart for feedback; they realized that people needed a credible and interactive platform. Adding a professional network with features to tap collective knowledge seemed like a perfect blend. Later, they also added a third dimension of creating social networks or communities for companies within JobeeHive. One unique aspect here was that JobeeHive will bring companies themselves to engage their communities.
Prior experience helps
From the college days, both Vishwas & Sandeep dreamt of having their own venture and that too create something that is cool and useful. However, they understood that they will not succeed unless they have concrete experience in the corporate world. Before jumping into JobeeHive both of them worked with various software firms nearly 5 years and were start performers in their companies. It is this confidence that they leveraged when they started JobeeHive. Their families supported them a lot – all types of support that one can get – which has helped them to move forward.
Tough times
The biggest challenge for JobeeHive has been funding. Although they engaged with various VCs over a period of time, they were sure they didn’t want funding for a year. This was because they wanted to nurture the startup according to their plans – something which people should love using.
Because of this reason, they revamped their old startup Talentify and renamed it as PeopleStorm Services, a recruitment outsourcing company. This was something very interesting – starting a company to fund another company. But, the risk paid off and now PeopleStorm is generating enough business to sustain JobeeHive as well.
Team spirit
Right now, they have a team of 6 at their JP Nagar office; the chemistry between the team members is amazing – diverse thoughts for a common cause. If you have positive messages then spread it but don’t spread the negative ones, as the team is very young & negative vibes can distract or de-motivate them. Even at one point of time, Sandeep got offer from ISB, Hyderabad but he preferred to stay with JobeeHive to move this concept beyond everyone's imagination. When they first presented this idea at Barcamp Bangalore, they got many questions about the business model but today when they have launched their BETA version, users see a platform that is both useful and cool. Their revenue model is based on recruitment solutions for companies, premium user subscription, selling statistics, advertisements among other streams.
Mentors
Professor Suresh of IIMB and Dr. Kalyani Gandhi of NSRCell helped them a lot whenever they needed any help. Vishwas & Sandeep recommend startups to have good mentors to overcome many issues in the initial days.
Future plans
JobeeHive has many features in the pipeline. One such useful feature is tentatively called “Startup Buzz” – where startups will showcase their work, culture, pictures, demos, etc. and use it to create their own community for business, marketing and recruitment campaigns.
Our society really needs this type service, as our fellow professionals and students are being deprived of many promised things after they join a company. We need more transparency in the corporate world, where both companies and employees need to understand each other better. This can be an answer to creating great workplaces, controlling attrition and checking adhoc salary increases. Thanks for this innovation idea & service. We all wish them best of luck for the rest of their journey with JobeeHive (www.jobeehive.com).
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