🛠️ Startups Update: November 2023
Some disappointing news...
Ciao, my friends!
🦙 UX LLAMA (Link)
Lots has happened since the last update, Including some major drama. Keep reading the update or scroll to the very end for the drama.
I spent a few weeks finalizing the project details:
Branding. Ecom Design Pro → UX LLAMA.
Value proposition. Helping ecommerce small business owners improve conversion by improving CX and Content Strategy → Helping SaaS founders increase customer satisfaction.
Services. Design recommendations on improving ecommerce CX → Design audits, user research, and design recommendations on improving SaaS CX.
Pricing. Unlimited monthly subscription → Project-based flat fee.
Packages.
Website updates.
Social network accounts.
Payments.
.. and opened it to business.
Then, I DM-ed 300+ direct connections, 1-by-1. I shared the news about what I launched, for whom and what value it would bring, and asked to think of my service if and when there is a need. Also, I offered a 10% referral fee if they bring a client.
The Drama
In parallel, I submitted a request to Amazon (my current employer) to review my potential side business activity for the sake of a conflict of interest. Amazon is very strict and protects itself from losing any intellectual property that its employees may generate.
After a few back-and-forth messages with the Legal team elaborating on what kind of business I intend to operate, my request was rejected 🙅♂️ 🤯 The problem is that the side business activity cannot be the same type of activity as I do for Amazon (in addition to not competing with Amazon directly). So, if I do UX design activities for the company, I am not allowed to do UX design activities for money for other companies.
I know this would not stop others, but I do not want to jeopardize my employment, so I’ll need to figure out what exactly I am going to do with this next. The first idea is to just create free educational content for the same target audience solving the same problems.
I have to admit, I was very bummed by the negative response from the Legal team. But life goes on. I’ll think of something else.
Cognitive Biases Flashcards
No updates.
MyKids.lu (Link)
No updates.
My SoulTeam (Link)
A person reached out to me on LinkedIn with some additional suggestions on how to add more value to job seekers. These were good suggestions that I’d already considered and had on the (very long) backlog.
And I agree these new features and content would add more value to one side of this platform. The problem is that I have not found the real value that the other customers - companies - would resonate with. I simplified the process of adding content several times and got to the bare minimum to minimize friction. Still, there was always something more important and time-sensitive to the companies they had to deal with.
In addition, the job market conditions today are much less favourable to the candidates. Very few companies are hiring and too many candidates are looking. Attracting candidates is a much lesser problem today, so even less motivation for companies to invest time in creating content promoting their teams and culture.
However, what I noticed is that my inner passion for this problem space still goes strong. As a job seeker, I would enjoy having a resource like this a lot. I believe this would make the job search process so much easier.
So… I am still not ready to shut it down. Hoping to come up with an idea on how I could pivot it. Perhaps, focus on remote-friendly employers for UX folks. With more and more companies forcing a return to the office, this niche has been on my mind a lot recently 🤔
