Genotrope Journey

So we are back up now. It was a pain in the backside to be down for so long. Sorry for the inconvenience. We actually didn’t accomplish what we set out to do yet, but now that the site is back up, we will address the port forwarding issue and be able to serve up the app without site re-direction.

thanks, ts

We scheduled some maintenance for late last nite. New firewall, but the provider did not get around to do it when we requested 2-3 am, so now we are out of commission for a few hours.

Sorry for the down time. We ask for your patience with us, but we will be back ASAP.

thanks, Tom Summit

Yesterday we decided to get some much needed feedback by putting Genotrope (web app) or Genotrope (landing page) in front of the toughest audience we could think of, the Y Combinator News community.

Within ten minutes we were receiving comments from all over the world. First of all, I highly recommend giving this a try. You won’t like everything you hear but that is the whole idea. If you can make it on YC News, you can make it anywhere. What happens when some reformed enterprise server developers build a web app and let the YC News community pick it apart? They can’t sit down the next day due to missing buttocks parts.

So the end result is that we had about 350 visits from YCN. 75% bounces, only about ten users spent much time looking into the actual application. Thanks to those users who spent from two up to 40+ minutes on the site. They came from all over the US as well as Peru, Australia, India and Eastern Europe.

What type of feedback did we receive? A few people thought Genotrope was a strange name, even by web standards. A few said they liked the site. A couple didn’t like the color scheme. A lot thought the landing page graphic was distracting or just plain bad. For the most part it was about the UI, usability and graphics. The best inputs were to improve our landing page by focusing our value proposition and clearly stating what benefits we provide to users.

Another take away was that this group does not casually register for every site they come across. Out of 350 or so visitors, we got 4 sign ups. The feedback here was, show me what you can do for me and then we will register if we like it. Some of our functionality requires registration (just an email), so that limited what the new visitors could experience.

We really needed the input regarding the site design, however, the feedback was somewhat disappointing in that it was all web designer input and there was none regarding the actual concept, business model or use of the application. Granted, the blame is mostly ours, due to a less than attractive design and muddy benefit message, maybe most could not see past that to get to the business proposition. We will make the improvements suggested by the YC visitors and then come back to get more feedback on the use of the web app.

Cant wait to do it again.

Thanks to our registered users that are giving us valuable feedback. We have already incorporated a lot of the suggestions, mostly usability stuff, and the site has shown improvements from it.

We appreciate the positive comments:

” This is amazing, I think all these years I was looking for this, this is great.”
“Job well done. I like the website and think it will very useful for the community.”

Now for the negatives. The java applet we use for the company graph is not well behaved. If there are other applets running sometimes there is a problem freezing the browser or the entire system. We are working on this, and are looking into a flash graphing module to solve this issue. Sorry for the inconvenience, we are working on fixing the problem.

Please keep the feedback coming. We have some great features planned for the next release and are continuing to make a useful and engaging service.

Since we actually launched to the general public only recently, I am pleased to say we are on our way. Thanks to all the new users that registered. This week Genotrope submitted resumes to various start-ups and will be following up with the hiring companies on behalf of the candidates.

Our goal is to be useful and engaging for our users. If you find a new position through Genotrope, that will be great too.

Let us know if you are having any problems or have some suggestions on features or improvements.

One thing we are considering is removing the defunct and public companies from the Find Company results. Although you can sort the list by clicking “Status” column title to group the early stage companies together, it may not be useful to see public companies on the list since you will mostly be looking for early stage companies. Let us know what you think.

Also, don’t forget to use the help windows by clicking on the question mark icon in the block headers.

thanks again ts add to the database when you can!

We are excited to send out the first public invitations to Genotrope. The site is fully functional and ready for you to submit your resume to the hundreds of companies hiring for thousands of jobs here in the Boston area. So as we move into the holiday season, after you Elf Yourself , check out Genotrope and let us know what you think.

A recent article in the Boston area techblog xConomy points out that the job market is back and the war for talent in emerging technology is waging once more.

Yesterday a comment  on this blog made me realize it was time to come out of stealth and let people know who is behind Genotrope.  Since we depend on our users trust, a user agreement and privacy policy are not enough information if it seems there is something to hide. So let me say that I have updated the about pages of our blogs and will change the About Page in Genotrope to reflect who is behind our pet project known as Genotrope.

Sincerely, Tom Summit

We have just added a Credit Point system to track and give feedback to users for adding to our peer produced database of start up and emerging technology companies. Once we go live with our first release, Genotrope will reward the top user contributors with Scwhag and other tokens of gratitude.

As we branch out to other cities we will be seeking Autocrats among the Top Contributor Users to help seed the database in the other top start up cities.

The Genotropic approach to building organizations.

geno- : genus : kind kin : a group united by a common interest or common characteristics
tro·pism : a natural inclination

Simply put, companies are comprised of individuals that share some common traits, goals and backgrounds. They have been attracted to their companies because of these commonalities and will be inclined to move to the next company that offers them a similarly comfortable environment.

I’m a recruiter. I have been a recruiter at start up companies for almost 20 years. I’ve seen or heard most of it, but I like to learn and I like to think about how to improve the process. One day, I was doing some competitive analysis on my industry and I plugged ‘recruit’ into a search engine. For the most part I got the typical job boards and career sites, but one of the entries was related to microbiology. From that point I found that this domain uses the term recruit pertaining to cells trying to attract specific cells to perform a specific function. This was notable because at the time, I was also thinking how the process of companies and groups spawning other companies, growing, coming together, splitting, and recombining can be described using genetic language.

As all that was mixing around in the back of my mind, I read an article that talked about changing how we should view the world. In the industrial age our taxonomy was based upon a mechanistic model. Now, in the information age, we should follow a biological model. At that point, I knew why this was making sense and I began to formulate the Genotropic principle to describe how companies form and grow.

First, let me say that I have a very low tolerance for B…sh.., so even attempting to write this has me questioning my own convictions. However, this is not a scientific endeavor and as long as it makes a good read and provokes some thought, I will be happy.

The heuristic for our analysis will be to describe a company’s growth as a biological phenomenon. Then, by using terms from the fields of microbiology and genetics, explain the process and variables effecting how companies acquire that ever so elusive resource badly named “human capital”. Once we have described how these terms relate to building companies, we can apply that understanding to improve the success rate of attracting, hiring and retaining employees.

Companies exhibit growth like organisms do. Organizations incorporate individuals into powerful forces with a common goal just as small polyps measured in centimeters, form some of the largest structures known on earth, the coral reefs. Every day, VC’s “breed” companies by adding a key individual to a team or combining two start up groups pursuing similar markets to become one entity.

I found it very interesting the there is a term from genetics ,”the founder effect” , which describes a small group breaking off from the larger population to form a smaller group. One of the exercises I have always thought would be useful is to create a map or family tree of start up companies. Although this is a huge undertaking, I would love to help any academic institutions up to the challenge. Once created, it would be evident that certain companies are at the root and that the branches and leaves contain some elements of the root companies.

If you view the core team as a company’s DNA you can then observe specific traits and characteristics exhibited by the organization. One company’s engineering team profile might look something like this; micro biology degrees from Harvard, worked at the Whitehead Institute then Genzyme, enjoy bicycle racing. Another’s might be; into sci-fi erotica, involved in the free software movement, look like Richard Stallman, like the band Boiled in Lead, practice martial arts and have a disdain for corporate environments. The point being, individual companies have distinct characteristics determined by the core team that describes their make up. Furthermore, you can observe that over time, successive generations of companies inherit traits from the recombination of founders and employee groups. As a result, probabilities for successful hires as well as the potential success of the company can be determined based upon the make up of the organization. I use this process daily to help me determine candidates for the searches I conduct. Combine this with knowledge of stock option prices, lock up periods and merger and acquisition phases, and one can generally predict who may be susceptible to recruitment and from where the next start up might emerge.

The process of recruiting can be explained using terms from genetics as well. First of all, just as DNA has an intermediary (RNA) to the outside world, a company has a recruiter. The function of RNA is to protect the DNA from the outside, transfer messages and deliver those messages to the appropriate targets. In microbiology, cells recruit other cells using promoters, attractors and receptors. Combining all these terms and concepts, we can fairly accurately describe the variables required for a successful recruitment effort.

At the most basic level, recruiting is a marketing function. The first branding exercise for a start up is putting together the profile that will be used to create a buzz in the marketplace and entice potential employees to investigate the opportunity. The attractors in this case will consist of the investor information, background on the founders and a basic description of the target market. Once the message has been crafted, a campaign can be mounted to target the audience most receptive to the pull of the core team. The obvious next step is to contact the personal networks of the founders and then to mine their networks. Depending on how stealthy a company needs to be, the promotion efforts can be regulated as a company progresses through the stages of growth. In my experience, the best companies hire the bulk of their team through internal referrals. Ideally, once a company has an employee from a competitor or recruiting target, a steady stream of candidates will be available from that company. Some interesting points I should make are that a company that is comprised of a core team from only one company, will have a harder time recruiting than one where the founders come from two or three different companies. Having a larger pool to fish from will prevent them from hitting the wall as their personal networks exhaust themselves. Also, companies that hire everyone that has the same background tend towards a sort of “inbred” situation that amplifies the negative traits of the group and becomes less attractive to the candidate pool.

Being involved in this revolution of technological advancement is exciting for all of us. Understanding that it is driven by people, not capital is the first step to winning the war to build and grow companies. By determining the “genotype” of your company based upon common experience and cultural affinity you can define your archetype candidate and put together a message that will be attractive to them. With a little research utilizing the knowledge that companies form and grow in an evolutionary manner, you will be able to determine the target companies that will produce the highest probability for a successful hire.