New comment by ctbw in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2022)"

Codeless | Hybrid | Frontend Developer | Dordrecht, the Netherlands

As a Developer you will innovate and improve our in-house Low Code Development platform.

At Codeless we help businesses to renew outdated software. With that, we help businesses with unique and distinctive processes realize their ambitions by solving complex software challenges, often caused by a constantly changing software landscape. We are a small and international family company with 80 employees in the Netherlands, Romania, and Emirates.

Tech Stack: Angular, TS, HTML, CSS, JS (almost done migrating). For the rest: .Net, Azure, K8, Docker.

Apply at: https://careers.codeless.com/o/senior-front-end-developer-an…

New comment by nicbaz in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2022)"

Kaiko | Paris, France | Permanent Full-Time | SRE & Data Engineer | Hybrid or Remote EU

Kaiko unifies data feeds across 100+ crypto spot and derivatives exchanges, serving as a single access point for market information. We provide granular trade data, order books, and aggregated datasets, covering 100,000+ traded instruments.
Kaiko delivers historical and real-time data to clients through a set of HTTP and gRPC APIs, as well as CSV file datasets.

Tech stack:

* Golang, gRPC

* ClickHouse, PostgreSQL, Kafka

* Nomad/Consul/Vault

* Terraform, Ansible

* VictoriaMetrics, Loki, Grafana

* Self-managed dedicated servers

We’re hiring for the following roles:

* Senior Site Reliability Engineer: https://kaiko.talentlyft.com/jobs/senior-site-reliability-en…

* Senior Data Engineer: https://kaiko.talentlyft.com/jobs/senior-data-engineer-hybri…

If you are interested, feel free to apply through the above links or reach out directly to me: nicolas [at] kaiko [dot] com

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Leveraging Content Marketing for Brand Success

In today’s world, setting up a company is not as easy as putting some money into an idea. It involves a ton of processes and back-breaking work. It is also no longer a matter of … The post Leveraging Content marketing for Brand Success appeared first on Paper.li blog. The post Leveraging Content marketing for … Continue reading Leveraging Content Marketing for Brand Success

New comment by lyd in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2021)"

Connectly(https://connectly.ai) is hiring experienced frontend, backend and full-stack engineers. We are a distributed team and all roles are remote.

Our goal is to enable everyone to message and finalize transactions with businesses(e-commerce, hairdressers, tax advisors, etc.) and vice versa. My co-founder was the global Head of Messenger at Facebook, and we’ve raised substantial money from top investors.

I know a lot of companies were founded recently and are all looking for people, and I surely hope we are doing better in every way:

– great team/top investors/market demand is strong/modern tech stack(Golang + TypeScript + React + RxJS + Docker+Kubernetes)/top pay + equity/a significant role/fully remote

And most importantly we are building a company for ourselves – somewhere one can learn, grow and be happy

Looking for senior engineers who are passionate about building a company together. Should have good abstractions, work independently, care about eng quality as well as business impact when doing the work.

Connectly was founded by executives from Facebook and Strava and we’ve raised substantial money from top investors. Email me(careers@connectly.ai) or directly apply at https://jobs.lever.co/connectly. Speak soon!

How to Create a Services Marketplace

“Got skills? Sell ’em.”

This mantra has seen millions of freelancers turn to the internet and become location-independent.

That’s not all.

Over the last decade, service marketplaces have sprung up and distributed how we work and live.

For instance, Airbnb, a marketplace for vacation rentals, has over four million hosts who have welcomed over 800 million guests. Food delivery service marketplaces are expected to reach $154.34 billion in 2023.

The success of current platforms is one of the main reasons entrepreneurs are looking to get into the business.

In this post, I’m breaking down everything you need to know about service marketplaces and how to launch one people will use.

What Is a Service Marketplace?

A service marketplace is a website or app for buying and selling services. Freelancers, private individuals, or companies in various industries can advertise their services and get hired by people who need their help.

The most successful service marketplaces cater to a specific market and redefine how we manage our lives.

For example, Upwork and Fiverr have changed how companies find freelancers for gigs. These online marketplaces have also made remote work more accessible to millions of people around the world. Meanwhile, Uber and Airbnb have disrupted how we travel, created more jobs within the gig community, and given homeowners a way to make extra cash on the side.

Why Should You Create a Service Marketplace?

The service industry is lucrative. In the U.S. alone, the consumer service economy is worth a whopping $9.7 trillion.

If getting a slice of that pie isn’t enough to tempt you, here are some of the top benefits for creating a service marketplace.

  • You don’t need to be a professional: While understanding the industry you’re helping is a must, you don’t need to do the work. As an owner of a services marketplace, you only need to focus on attracting sellers and buyers. For example, you can start a website for personal trainers without having the skill.
  • It’s easy to build: These days, there are various marketplace software providers to make the process of launching your site quick and simple. Some of the top providers are Sharetribe, Shopify with Multi-Vendor Marketplace Extension, and Arcadier.
  • It may be more profitable than an e-commerce marketplace: Unlike Amazon, when you provide services rather than goods, you don’t need to figure out things like shipping and inventory. Fewer costs mean higher commissions for you and your sellers.
  • You can outwit, outlast, and outplay the competition: Sites like Upwork and Thumbtack are wildly successful because they make finding and buying services faster and cheaper. In a world where time is a scarce commodity, creating this level of convenience could give you the upper hand over your competitors.

How to Create a Service Marketplace

Curious about how to start your marketplace? Here are the top four things to keep in mind if you want yours to become successful.

Do Your Research to Find a Niche Service Marketplace Idea

The trick to finding a winning service marketplace idea is understanding the needs of sellers and buyers.

Apps like TaskRabbit and Postmates are successful because both companies figured out how to solve a problem by making it easier and cheaper to sell and buy those services.

Here are some tips for researching your niche to find a business idea:

  • Identify inefficiencies: What tasks are time wasters? What services in a marketplace would help people save time?
  • Improve trust: Are there tasks in your niche that people want to delegate, but a layer of trust is needed from both parties?
  • Costs: What services would help people save and make money if available online?
  • Overcome hurdles: What hurdles does your niche experience? How would a marketplace eliminate these hurdles or make the process smoother?
  • Bring fragmented markets together: Are people offering certain services on places like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist? Would a marketplace for that service improve the user experience for buyers and sellers?

Build a Website for Your Service Marketplace

Once you have an idea for your service marketplace, the next step is to create your website.

There are a few places to do this, including:

  • WordPress: Buy a WordPress service marketplace theme or build your site from scratch. If you go with the latter, check out my guide on the best e-commerce site builders.
  • Marketplace Platform: As I mentioned earlier, there are sites specifically made for this purpose.

Whichever option you go with, there are some key features you need to include to make sure it’s a great experience for everyone involved.

  • Buyers and seller profiles: User profiles for sellers and buyers help to build trust and credibility. Both parties will feel like they’re dealing with a real person, and it can help the seller build a reputable brand on the platform. You should consider adding fields like descriptions, testimonials, certifications, and photos.
  • Listings and searchability: How your listings will look on your service marketplace depends on the type of services your users are listing. Besides providing tools to showcase offerings, you also want to make sure it’s easy for buyers to search and filter through your listings.
listings on a services marketplace
  • Bookings: No matter what you’re selling, a solid booking management system is essential for your marketplace’s success. You want to give providers the ability to control their availability and workflow. On Upwork, users can decline gigs, and on Fiverr, you turn a gig off to prevent unexpected bookings.
  • Payments: Another crucial factor in running a successful service marketplace is how you take payment from buyers and pay your providers. Most sites usually take a commission from each transaction and pay the seller after the deduction. If you plan to do the same, you need to set up a transaction flow to ensure the process is as seamless as possible.
  • Reviews: Reviews build trust and are essential to making sure everyone feels safe using your platform. As the marketplace’s owner, you can use feedback to kick off any users who are harming your platform’s trust.
reviews for services marketplace

Optimize Your Service Marketplace for Local SEO (If Applicable)

Want to create a niche service marketplace for your city, region, or country? You’ll need to optimize your site for local SEO.

Local SEO is similar to organic SEO, but it focuses on the geographical element and is aimed at a group of people from a specific area.

To grow their market share and start attracting users, local traffic is a top priority for anyone selling in a certain market. In fact, 46 percent of Google searches are local, which means you’re potentially leaving a lot of money on the table by not optimizing for local SEO.

When creating your website, think about the search terms people in your area would use to find the services you offer. For example, “need help moving in [city].” Another thing to consider is the keywords service providers would use to find a gig, such as “freelance writing jobs in [city].”

local SEO for your services marketplace

While Google usually automatically assumes people are searching for services or products in their area, making sure your location’s name is involved is essential in case someone is coming from out of town.

Create a Marketing Strategy for Your Online Service Marketplace

Below, I’m breaking down the simplest marketing considerations to think about when you want to open your online service marketplace.

What Problem Do You Solve?

You can have the best marketplace with all the bells and whistles and still not succeed if you don’t have a specific problem to solve.

You need one to stand out from everyone else and make sure you’re attracting the right people to your platform.

For example, the problem Upwork solves is finding reputable freelancers quickly.

Who Is Your Audience?

Your marketing strategy will flop if you haven’t taken the time to understand who your target audience is. This involves determining what demographics you’re targeting, including age, background, consumption habits, and more.

Google blogs in your niche, and read the comments to see what questions people ask and how they talk about their problems. Hop onto Quora and see what questions people are asking.

If you want more information, create a market research survey. Send it out to people in your network who would be a good fit. You can take it a step further and post your survey in relevant Facebook groups to get even more feedback.

How Should You Grow Your User Base?

Your next step in your marketing strategy is finding sellers and buyers to join your marketplace.

Luckily, there are quite a few ways you can do this without investing in paid search or social media advertising. You just have to know who your target audience is and where they hang out online.

  • Facebook and Reddit: Find relevant groups in your niche and engage with users by answering their questions. Some groups even have self-promo days, which you can use to get more eyeballs on your site.
  • Craigslist: Are your sellers hanging out on platforms like Craigslist already? Find them and tell them about your marketplace. This is how Airbnb initially grew its listings.
  • Link building: Research blogs in your niche where it would make sense for them to link back to you. Once you have a list, send out a personalized email and ask for the link. 
  • SEO: Traffic from organic searches is free and incredibly valuable. People searching the phrases you’re ranking for are leads who have the problem you’re solving. Don’t skimp on investing time in researching your keywords and optimizing your site for SEO.
  • Paid advertising: If you have the budget for paid ads, take advantage of the different platforms. Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are highly targeted and can help you get in front of the right people with minimum effort.

Examples of Service Marketplaces 

Here are some of the most well-known and successful marketplaces:

  • Upwork: Upwork is one of the biggest service marketplaces for freelancers. You can use the site to find writers, designers, web developers, and more.
  • Talkspace: Talkspace is an online therapy portal. You can use the site to connect with a therapist who matches your needs instantly. The marketplace makes mental health care more convenient, accessible, and affordable.
  • TaskRabbit: TaskRabbit is a same-day service marketplace platform. It connects its users to skilled labor who can help with various tasks like furniture assembly, home repairs, or basic errands. It saves you time trying to find the right person for the job and allows you to compare reviews, ratings, and prices.
  • Postmates: Postmates is similar to UberEats, but there is a core difference. While both apps offer food delivery from restaurants, Postmates takes it a step further. You can use the app to get groceries and other goods delivered straight to your door.
  • VIPKid: VIPKid connects English teachers with students around the world. What sets the site apart from other marketplaces is its application process. VIPKid screens teachers before they are allowed to work on the platform to ensure they’re knowledgeable and will give the children a good learning experience.

Conclusion

A service marketplace can be a profitable business model if you’ve done your homework. Before investing in hosting plans or platforms, make sure you have a problem your marketplace can solve.

Despite the competition you’ll face, if you have a solid niche and you market your platform to the right people, you can achieve the same success as the Upworks and TaskRabbits of the world. 

What problem do you think a service marketplace will solve in your industry?

New comment by sandover in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2021)"

Magnopus | Downtown Los Angeles, CA | Full-time | Onsite | https://magnopus.com

Magnopus is an experience company with deep expertise in AR, VR, mixed reality, and virtual production. The company was founded by a team of Oscar-winning artists, designers, and engineers from games, films, and other unusual places. We’re passionate about creating rich experiences that bridge the physical and digital worlds in ways people haven’t experienced yet.

We are building a new product and platform encompassing front end, back end, and middleware — and covering desktop, web, mobile, VR, and AR.

– Full stack web developer: https://apply.workable.com/magnopus-2/j/183A32ACD7/

– SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test): https://apply.workable.com/magnopus-2/j/DFCEF294C0/

– Spatial UI Developer: https://apply.workable.com/magnopus-2/j/2F5DB975A6/

The crew at Magnopus are smart, they are good communicators, and they are gracious. So ideally you’re like that, too. These are all growth roles in a growing company in a growing team; you will not only ensure we get good results up front, but you will also have an opportunity to set best practices that will serve us for years to come.

(Other positions are also open, including Security Engineer.)

The post New comment by sandover in “Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2021)” appeared first on ROI Credit Builders.

Understanding Experian’s Intelliscore and How An Expert Can Help

Experian’s Intelliscore can make or break your ability to get many types of business funding. If it’s bad, you need to fix it. That’s easier said than done however. 

Your Intellliscore is Important, but You Can Still Get Funding If It’s Bad

There are ways to improve your Intelliscore and get funding while you do so, but you need help.  The time is now. Delaying can only make the issue worse.  It helps to understand what your Intelliscore tells lenders about your business, and how Experian comes up with it. 

Understanding Intelliscore

The Intelliscore Plus credit score is a statistically based credit-risk analysis. It helps businesses, investors and possible future lenders make smart choices about who they should do business with.

It runs from 1 to 100, and can deliver insight on how much of a risk a business or business owner may be.

The higher your score, the lower your risk class. The chart below summarizes each Intelliscore Plus credit score range and its associated meaning.

 

Score Range Risk Class Risk Description
76– 100 1 Low
51– 75 2 Low to Medium
26– 50 3 Medium
11– 25 4 High to Medium
1– 10 5 High

 

Although there are more than 800 commercial and owner variables used to ascertain the score, the variables can be split into these pivotal factors:

Monetary

This specific factor focuses on how you use credit. For example, how much of your available credit is currently being used? Are you usines a lot of your credit and not repaying? Responsible credit use is a huge factor. 

Intelliscore Credit Suite

Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.

Payment History

The bureaus call it recency. However, it’s just your current payment status. It’s basically how often any of your accounts become delinquent, the percent of accounts which are currently delinquent, and your overall trade balance.  

Intelliscore Plus is considered to be one of the more reliable tools for determining creditworthiness. One of the ways it maintains this reputation is by identifying the key factors that indicate whether or not a business is likely to pay their debt.

Frequency

Somewhat closely related to payment history, frequency takes into account how often your accounts have been sent to collections, the amount of liens and judgments you may have, and any bankruptcies connected to your business or personal accounts.

On top of that, frequency can also incorporate details pertaining to your payment patterns. Were you regularly slow or late with payment? Did you start off paying bills late, but overtime, reduced this behavior? These things will all be taken into consideration.

If you haven’t started or don’t have a long history of business based transactions, how will Experian rate you?

This is addressed by using a blended model to identify your score. This means that they take your personal consumer credit score into account when calculating your business’s credit score.

What if You Have a Bad Intelliscore? 

If it’s bad, you have to fix it. It’s that simple.  However, it’s not as simple as it sounds.  In fact, you may not be able to do it on your own.  The best and fastest way to fix the issue is to start paying your obligations on time.  

Of course that sounds simple.  However, there is likely a reason you fell behind in the first place.  The fact is, you need business funding to pay your bills and raise your score.  But, how do you get funding without a good score?  There is no one size fits all solution, but there are some things you can do. 

Talk to a Business Credit Expert

If you are struggling with a bad score, you are going to need help.  Not only help with rebuilding your score, but help with funding and fundability as a whole.  Many business owners do not realize that business credit scores, like Intelliscore, are not the only thing lenders consider when it comes to business funding.  There are a number of factors that must be taken into account, but the business credit scores, including Experian’s business credit score,  are a big piece of the puzzle. 

A business credit expert will help in more ways than one.  First, they can help you find the best funding to fit your needs right now, that you can get even with a bad business credit score. Then, they can help you rebuild your business credit and evaluate your fundability overall, showing you how to make adjustments where necessary.  

What Business Options Exist with Bad Credit? 

Now is the time to talk to an expert, before your Intelliscore and other business credit scores get any worse. A business credit expert will likely suggest one of the following options to catch up on debt and start rebuilding your credit. 
Intelliscore Credit Suite

Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.

Credit Line Hybrid

A credit line hybrid is unsecured business financing.  It allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use.  

Your personal credit score should be at least 680.  In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments.  Furthermore, in the past 6 months you should have less than 4 credit inquiries, and you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards.  

 Now, here’s the catch that helps a lot of business owners out.  If you do not meet all of the requirements, you can take on a credit partner that meets each of these requirements.  Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business.  If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding. 

The best part of this type of funding is that it reports to your business credit report, regardless of whether you use your personal credit to apply or that of a credit partner. That means, you get your funding and build your business credit at the same time.

If this still isn’t enough funding, or it won’t work for you, you  may qualify for other options.

Account Receivable Financing

To get this type of funding, you have to have open receivables from another business or government agency, not individuals.  In addition, you need to have been in business for at least one year. The minimum credit score is just 500.

You can get up to 80% of receivables advanced in as little as 24 hours.

Merchant Cash Advance

If you accept credit cards as payment, you may qualify for a merchant cash advance.  You only need a credit score of at least 500.  To qualify, your business must bring in $100,000 or more per year in credit card sales.  Typical approval amounts equal one months’ credit processing volume.  In addition to the application, you’ll need 3-6 months bank and merchant statements. 

Equipment Financing

If you need equipment, it might be better to consider equipment financing.  You will put up your existing equipment or the new equipment you want to purchase as collateral.  Amounts are available up to $10 million with terms ranging up to 60 months. You will  need a credit score of at least 550. 

Real Estate Financing

You can get real estate financing in amounts up to $10 million with terms from 6 to 60 months and interest rates as low as 6%.  You will need a 500 minimum credit score, and there are a few other requirements. 
Intelliscore Credit Suite

Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.

Business Revenue Lending

Another option is business revenue lending.  Again, the minimum credit score is 500.  Your business must earn annual revenue of $120,000 or more, and it must do more than 5 small transactions each month.  If your business brings in at least $15,000 monthly, then 6 months in business is acceptable.  You will have to fill out an application and provide 6 months worth of bank statements. 

Intelliscore, Business Funding, and Help for the Future

If your Intellicore is bad, you need help now.  It will soon become impossible, if it isn’t already, to get the funding you need to run your business.  An expert can help you come up with a plan to get your credit back on track, help you figure out what other issues you may have with fundability, and help you find funding you qualify for now to help you out in the meantime. 

 

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