Interesting idea, though it seems like I've seen several services like this appear and apparently not go anywhere. How are you going to achieve critical mass?
Some feedback:
1. "Our knowledge is the cheapest thing to us" seems way off; my knowledge is the most expensive hard-won thing I have. That doesn't mean I don't want to share it, but "cheap" implies low value and seems like the wrong word.
2. The focus on coffee is a bit strange. I don't drink coffee, or meet for "coffee" or anything.
3. The three characters after "Matching" in the animated demo just show up as missing-character boxes for me (Android Chrome).
4. I can't tell if it's audio-only on Android. If you included a shared whiteboard that would make many things, e.g. maths, art, etc. way more doable, especially with picture/screenshot import.
5. The quotation marks in the quote bubbles are all over the place. The two that have them are both inconsistent and incorrect. I think you don't need them, but if you want them, in English they should be “...” and look like 66...99.
Agree with 1. The thinking is that your knowledge is now readily available for you and you can use it to get other people's hard-won knowledge in exchange.
I think "Trade your experience" would be more valuable than "trade your expertise". If I need expert knowledge of a well-defined domain, there's always Google. But if I need advice from someone who's had a particular experience, there's no easy way to find answers.
For example, I'd like to talk to someone who's self-published a book and overcome the many small challenges associated with that journey. Would this person identify themselves as an "expert" in overcoming any of those particular obstacles? Probably not.
And similarly, I have a lot of experiential knowledge to share with others, that doesn't necessarily fit under the umbrella of a single "expert" label. My valuable experiential knowledge covers dozens of niche areas.
I'm not sure how a service could effectively act as a match maker for that type of experiential knowledge, though.
I'm scared off by the voice chat part. I'm happy to take part in a short text chat with someone who wants to dive into a topic I'm an expert at and wants some guidance on where to begin or help on a specific sub-topic. Just... no voice chat please.
Huh this surprises me. For me, text chat is worse than voice in every way.
* Less engaging (eg other person can be browsing HN while we chat with zero risk of me realizing)
* Less expressive communication
* Greater anonymity, and thus more difficulty establishing trust
I guess you’re coming at it from the perspective of an expert and I the person seeking expertise. But the whole value of the platform isn’t in giving away your expertise for free, it’s giving it away in exchange for the expertise of someone who can really help you!
IMO it makes the most sense as a user to optimize for a better expert-seeker experience. The benefit you derive from a super helpful conversation with an expert is likely to far outweigh the slight annoyance of voice chat when you’re the expert.
No seriously, many people are quite uncomfortable when they have to use their voice for communication with foreigners.
I don't know how Coffee Chat handles the whole 'language' problem (native vs. English), but for most non-native English speakers, having to speak English is a higher barrier than having to write it.
So your points are valid too (and I could add that some people can't type as fast as they want). Therefore it would be a good idea to have 'voice' as the primary means of communication and 'text' as an alternative.
Aside from that, it usually takes less energy to type, and you can do other things while replying (or in the gaps between). Voice is more of a dedicated channel, and it's not necessarily more productive. With text you're given a chance to think about what you're about to send before hitting the submit button. I think there needs to be a balance here. Voice has its benefits, but it's not always the way to go.
These are the reasons for me. I'm fairly charismatic and well spoken. I just don't like it for this kind of thing because it doesn't give me little extra time to formulate the best response I can.
If it takes you 30 minutes to answer, of course I'll do something else. Which is good, because I don't want you to rush the answer and you don't want me to waste 30 minutes while you think of a good answer.
You probably talk a lot, I write a lot. So we are good at different things.
Talking / writing has nothing to do with anonymity, you can talk for two hours and I would still don't know who you are.
Technology wise, voice is still (in 2018) an unpredictable mess over the Internet. There are a myriad of call quality issues even when both parties are on a fast connection (measured in tens of Mbps) for several reasons.
I can’t imagine spending several minutes trying to retry and repeat on a call that’s supposed to be no longer than 15 minutes.
Voice and a whiteboard, or text chat, would be better.
While not defending the choice of voice for this particular thing, voice over the internet seems 'solved' for general purposes. People use Skype or similar for business all the time, and gamers have been using teamspeak or ventrilo for 'mission critical' things for a decade. Any laptop on a non-terrible internet connection should be a usable endpoint for VOIP comms.
Yeah, so let the two people having the chat decide if they want to use voice or abandon voice because it’s just wasting time or use text. A whiteboard would also be helpful to have.
Speaking to people with domain expertise willing to use their time to help you is an invaluable experience. A short 10-15 minutes talk can save hours or days or researching, experiments, proving yourself wrong.
Good luck!
PS. Tried to reach you at info@coffeechat.app, but got:
554 5.7.1 <info@coffeechat.app>: Recipient address rejected: this address does not exist
I would love some clarity on how they plan to be sustainable. In the FAQs they claim
"We are currently focused on bringing the best possible service to you, completely free.", which makes me sad. If they deliver a value they should charge something.
It doesn't. We will not sell data. Right now we are really focused on the best product and we will find a fair and sustainable business model when it's ready.
Right, so free means you are bootstrapped or VC-funded and later on... your users are the product ?
I can understand not wanting to communicate on a business model that isn't ready but could you maybe point out some leads other than the usual ads or data-selling business ?
Or if you don't want to be specific maybe you can point out that you are definitely against selling user data later on even if it means saving the company ?
I was happy to find a "How does Coffee Chat make money?" section but it's content isn't very helpfull if you're a user fearing data collection and adds.
Sorry, haven't seen this question :-O We will not sell data and we will create a business model without it. Also, we firmly believe that the GDPR is a great step forward for humanity and that privacy should be a fundamental human right. We will build a business model that accounts for that.
I've participated in a number of schemes aiming at sharing expertise in the past and would be glad to share and get some on your platform but, as others have stated, I think that to see traction, you'll need to specify a business model else everyone will be inclined to "if it's free, you're product" mentality.
I'm not distrusting your current statement of "no data sharing" and, if I may, "won't do evil" mentality but in this day and age, customers will need a clearer statement right on the product page for it to be trusted.
A quick and easy alternative would be "Currently in beta and free for all until December 31, 2018" would probably assuage some fears, with expectation of a coming bizmo, whatever that would be.
Please get a native English speaker with an English degree to proof your copy.
FAQ: "It feels kind of strange to speak with people I don’t know. Can't I just not do this?"
Second sentence is a double negative. It sounds even weirder than it reads.
"We have made this experience sometimes too. But people differ, and we see that there is a substantial part of society – even across all social groups, career stages, industries etc – who are happy and willing to help others out."
First sentence sounds icky. 2nd sentence applies a Germanic language structure to English which fails basic English flow.
Frankly speaking I was expecting I could get paid through this. Right now it seems like giving away my advice for free and you making a profit out of it in the long run. Or am I wrong?
You make a profit by getting other people's advice in return. Our business model is not going to be to sell your data. But of course, despite it's not the focus right now, we'll have a fair and sustainable one in the long run so that everyone is happy.
I usually appreciate reading about your future plans regarding the product. Maybe you want to publish your roadmap in public, there was a recent article [0] that I enjoyed reading elaborating on "Publishing Roadmaps".
1) bug report: your input on describe yourself is set to email, which messes with my keyboard on my phone. Have that be text input, the other to email as it is.
2) like the idea, connecting influencers can be relevant for sales referrals, recruiting, or networking. All seem like good monetization opportunities.
3) it feels tricky to get the balance right between in person vs phone call contact. Looking forward to seeing how you’re going to handle that.
It’s an investment trade off around commitment (in person is better for connecting and relationship building but is more expensive as a time investment). If it’s more transactional a phone call is better (eg, quick question or advice about something specific). If it’s something more potentially meaningful, in person Coffee makes more sense (eg, if I’m looking to network with someone or trying to hire them / get them to hire me).
The defaults you set could make a big difference in the user experience. Maybe every first touch is chat/phone, then move to real world? Dunno if there’s a right answer but feels like something to be thoughtful about.
> "Wir sind zur Zeit darauf fokussiert, den bestmöglichen Service für dich zu entwickeln - komplett kostenlos." (Translates to: Right now free of charge, as we develop the best possible service for you)
I wonder what kind of monitarization is planned, connecting people to companies? To paid experts? Showing ads or selling data?
A question I'd probably ask the coffee experts, what's the difference between a Chemex and a Mr Coffee? Seems like it's both just hot water going through a filter.
Not totally sure if you’re serious, but I’m basically in love with my Chemex so
I’ll bite.
The principal is the same but there are some differences that affect how the coffee ends up tasting:
1. Water temperature control. With a Chemex you boil water in a separate device and then let it cool only slightly (down to around 205F/96C). With a Mr. Coffee or similar you don’t have any control over the water temperature, which can fluctuate quite a bit and often doesn’t get hot enough which can make the coffee taste bitter.
2. Degassing. A Mr. Coffee-type machine usually won’t go through the stage of “degassing” the grounds by slightly soaking them for about 30 seconds, so you don’t really get the full flavor out of the coffee.
3. Drip speed/motion. With a Chemex you typically pour the water over fairly slowly with a spiral in and out motion so that you soak all of the grounds. A Mr. Coffee just sort of shoots water right into the center of the grounds, so you end up with really uneven brewing.
I also think there’s something valuable in taking the time to slow down and focus on the brewing process. It really doesn’t take very long, but it’s a mindfulness-like experience where you focus on a task and see and enjoy the results of your work at the end.
Out of interest, what's the eventual revenue model here?
Middleman matchmaking services face some clear challenges to recurring revenue. Homejoy, for instance, still shut down even after showing impressive user acquisition numbers because it was cheaper for the cleaner and client to cut a deal amongst themselves. Uber only works as well as it does because geographic scarcity and immediate need - traits _relatively_ unique to the transportation industry.
A coffee chat is a brief interaction between two people who don't know each other. If you like the other person, you can stay in touch. But we are very much focused on frequently connecting you with new people for new topics. People have new questions all the time – I think that's why we didn't face "the Homejoy issue" yet.
a sustainable revenue model that i can imagine is something similar linkedin; 2 or 3 classes of monthly or yearly subscriptions to reach out to 2 or 3 different 'tiers' of experts. this way you don't have to worry too much about transactions outside the platform or locking users in.
I can't tell if we're thinking the same thing (unfamiliar with LinkedIn's model), but I thought maybe over time some users would emerge as domain experts, and this could be made apparent through some review/karma system. At some point, you could go to a model where to triage calls to those high-value experts, you charge a fee. Perhaps a share of that revenue goes to the expert in demand.
Interesting idea. I started wondering what kind of experts I'd like to talk with. Didn't really come up with anything as I feel I could just google it so why bother people. Hmm ok yeah if I had some specific problem like starting a company I could definitely use some advice. Or change careers. Or move into another country. Anyway, great idea. Hope to see it work!
While you can ask any question on Coffee Chat (everything is acceptable), I agree!
This is where Coffee Chat helps the most, and it has the potential to help everyone of us. We constantly worry about some complex problem with no clear answer – I bet you, even you do. While you can google the complicated problems and get the answer, you will get contradictory, and generic answers to complex questions.
Most of us have a small group of people we speak with a lot, and we discuss those complex problems with those people. But these people naturally have only few areas of expertise. Connecting you with more expertise to discuss difficult questions is where coffee chat comes in.
Shouldn't the "Apply as an expert" really be "What are you expert at and what would you trade for it?" Otherwise how does the matching happen?
I applied as an expert in marketing and music and I would like to trade that for software design/development expertise. But the form seems to focus on only the former, not the latter.
The idea is you help anyone that needs your expertise, and in return you can chat with anyone that can answer your questions. They will probably not be the same people.
So you don't need to tell them what you want in return, but at some point they would need to list all experts they have on file so you can ask to chat with one.
Nice try; I've seen a few (4? 5?) startups try something like this, and it always ends up as a dating service, even if it might be called something different.
The background pictures repeat themselves which is... well, I know they're greyed out but yeah it just tells me the message: "we are smaller than it seems". My 2 ct, YMMV.
Some feedback:
1. "Our knowledge is the cheapest thing to us" seems way off; my knowledge is the most expensive hard-won thing I have. That doesn't mean I don't want to share it, but "cheap" implies low value and seems like the wrong word.
2. The focus on coffee is a bit strange. I don't drink coffee, or meet for "coffee" or anything.
3. The three characters after "Matching" in the animated demo just show up as missing-character boxes for me (Android Chrome).
4. I can't tell if it's audio-only on Android. If you included a shared whiteboard that would make many things, e.g. maths, art, etc. way more doable, especially with picture/screenshot import.
5. The quotation marks in the quote bubbles are all over the place. The two that have them are both inconsistent and incorrect. I think you don't need them, but if you want them, in English they should be “...” and look like 66...99.
Agree with 1. The thinking is that your knowledge is now readily available for you and you can use it to get other people's hard-won knowledge in exchange.
A shared whiteboard is a great idea!
Maybe something more like "Our knowledge costs us nothing to share"?
For example, I'd like to talk to someone who's self-published a book and overcome the many small challenges associated with that journey. Would this person identify themselves as an "expert" in overcoming any of those particular obstacles? Probably not.
And similarly, I have a lot of experiential knowledge to share with others, that doesn't necessarily fit under the umbrella of a single "expert" label. My valuable experiential knowledge covers dozens of niche areas.
I'm not sure how a service could effectively act as a match maker for that type of experiential knowledge, though.
* Less engaging (eg other person can be browsing HN while we chat with zero risk of me realizing)
* Less expressive communication
* Greater anonymity, and thus more difficulty establishing trust
I guess you’re coming at it from the perspective of an expert and I the person seeking expertise. But the whole value of the platform isn’t in giving away your expertise for free, it’s giving it away in exchange for the expertise of someone who can really help you!
IMO it makes the most sense as a user to optimize for a better expert-seeker experience. The benefit you derive from a super helpful conversation with an expert is likely to far outweigh the slight annoyance of voice chat when you’re the expert.
No seriously, many people are quite uncomfortable when they have to use their voice for communication with foreigners.
I don't know how Coffee Chat handles the whole 'language' problem (native vs. English), but for most non-native English speakers, having to speak English is a higher barrier than having to write it.
So your points are valid too (and I could add that some people can't type as fast as they want). Therefore it would be a good idea to have 'voice' as the primary means of communication and 'text' as an alternative.
You probably talk a lot, I write a lot. So we are good at different things.
Talking / writing has nothing to do with anonymity, you can talk for two hours and I would still don't know who you are.
I can’t imagine spending several minutes trying to retry and repeat on a call that’s supposed to be no longer than 15 minutes.
Voice and a whiteboard, or text chat, would be better.
Also as a future goal, it might be possible to leverage large communities on Reddit where a lot of users want to share their knowledge?
Speaking to people with domain expertise willing to use their time to help you is an invaluable experience. A short 10-15 minutes talk can save hours or days or researching, experiments, proving yourself wrong.
Good luck!
PS. Tried to reach you at info@coffeechat.app, but got:
554 5.7.1 <info@coffeechat.app>: Recipient address rejected: this address does not exist
http://blog.dilbert.com/2018/03/26/say-hello-to-the-whenhub-...
I can understand not wanting to communicate on a business model that isn't ready but could you maybe point out some leads other than the usual ads or data-selling business ?
Or if you don't want to be specific maybe you can point out that you are definitely against selling user data later on even if it means saving the company ?
I was happy to find a "How does Coffee Chat make money?" section but it's content isn't very helpfull if you're a user fearing data collection and adds.
I've participated in a number of schemes aiming at sharing expertise in the past and would be glad to share and get some on your platform but, as others have stated, I think that to see traction, you'll need to specify a business model else everyone will be inclined to "if it's free, you're product" mentality.
I'm not distrusting your current statement of "no data sharing" and, if I may, "won't do evil" mentality but in this day and age, customers will need a clearer statement right on the product page for it to be trusted.
A quick and easy alternative would be "Currently in beta and free for all until December 31, 2018" would probably assuage some fears, with expectation of a coming bizmo, whatever that would be.
Edit: maybe you can make it official on the website?
FAQ: "It feels kind of strange to speak with people I don’t know. Can't I just not do this?"
Second sentence is a double negative. It sounds even weirder than it reads.
"We have made this experience sometimes too. But people differ, and we see that there is a substantial part of society – even across all social groups, career stages, industries etc – who are happy and willing to help others out."
First sentence sounds icky. 2nd sentence applies a Germanic language structure to English which fails basic English flow.
[0] https://blog.inkdrop.info/how-ive-attracted-the-first-500-pa...
1) bug report: your input on describe yourself is set to email, which messes with my keyboard on my phone. Have that be text input, the other to email as it is.
2) like the idea, connecting influencers can be relevant for sales referrals, recruiting, or networking. All seem like good monetization opportunities.
3) it feels tricky to get the balance right between in person vs phone call contact. Looking forward to seeing how you’re going to handle that.
Good luck!
Agree with 2! Can you elaborate on 3) ?
The defaults you set could make a big difference in the user experience. Maybe every first touch is chat/phone, then move to real world? Dunno if there’s a right answer but feels like something to be thoughtful about.
I wonder what kind of monitarization is planned, connecting people to companies? To paid experts? Showing ads or selling data?
Does anybody know something about that?
The principal is the same but there are some differences that affect how the coffee ends up tasting:
1. Water temperature control. With a Chemex you boil water in a separate device and then let it cool only slightly (down to around 205F/96C). With a Mr. Coffee or similar you don’t have any control over the water temperature, which can fluctuate quite a bit and often doesn’t get hot enough which can make the coffee taste bitter.
2. Degassing. A Mr. Coffee-type machine usually won’t go through the stage of “degassing” the grounds by slightly soaking them for about 30 seconds, so you don’t really get the full flavor out of the coffee.
3. Drip speed/motion. With a Chemex you typically pour the water over fairly slowly with a spiral in and out motion so that you soak all of the grounds. A Mr. Coffee just sort of shoots water right into the center of the grounds, so you end up with really uneven brewing.
I also think there’s something valuable in taking the time to slow down and focus on the brewing process. It really doesn’t take very long, but it’s a mindfulness-like experience where you focus on a task and see and enjoy the results of your work at the end.
Middleman matchmaking services face some clear challenges to recurring revenue. Homejoy, for instance, still shut down even after showing impressive user acquisition numbers because it was cheaper for the cleaner and client to cut a deal amongst themselves. Uber only works as well as it does because geographic scarcity and immediate need - traits _relatively_ unique to the transportation industry.
Very cool concept; hope it works out for you :)
and nice work!
This is where Coffee Chat helps the most, and it has the potential to help everyone of us. We constantly worry about some complex problem with no clear answer – I bet you, even you do. While you can google the complicated problems and get the answer, you will get contradictory, and generic answers to complex questions.
Most of us have a small group of people we speak with a lot, and we discuss those complex problems with those people. But these people naturally have only few areas of expertise. Connecting you with more expertise to discuss difficult questions is where coffee chat comes in.
Shouldn't the "Apply as an expert" really be "What are you expert at and what would you trade for it?" Otherwise how does the matching happen?
I applied as an expert in marketing and music and I would like to trade that for software design/development expertise. But the form seems to focus on only the former, not the latter.
So you don't need to tell them what you want in return, but at some point they would need to list all experts they have on file so you can ask to chat with one.
I learned a lot but ultimately decided to wind it down.
PM me if you want to talk about my key learnings about this space.
There are many deeply challenging and rewarding projects ahead for you.
Not sure why.
As a side note, on Firefox I'm seeing horizontal and vertical scroll bars on the numbered steps section.
Tell them you are you are a frontend dev ;-)