| Page 2 of 2 < |
At DEMO, Innovations With High Aspirations
Get Paid to Look for A Job
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
NotchUp.com is a new job-search Web site that helps companies find talented workers who might not actually be searching for a job.
At the right price, a sought-after worker might be willing to listen to an offer. To avoid seeming disloyal to their company, workers can post their r¿sum¿ and current projects on the site while staying invisible to their current boss. In fact, workers can stay anonymous throughout the entire process, up to the point of a serious offer. They can even import LinkedIn profiles to show off a wide network of industry connections.
The prospective employee can name the price it would take to accept a phone interview. Workers can name a pretty high price -- $500, anyone? -- just for listening to the company's pitch.
NotchUp.com is self-funded and, according to the company, growing fast. A few days after it launched its test service about a week ago, the site had about 200 members. But once members started inviting other companies and employees, it took off. At the time of its presentation yesterday, NotchUp.com said 50,000 employees and 400 corporations had signed up in the past 36 hours.
Merging Mobile and Online
A handful of companies here are trying to find ways to use video and voice to communicate across computers and mobile devices.
One is Ribbit, a Mountain View, Calif., company that yesterday introduced a product called Amphibian, which lets you merge your mobile phone with your online world. The technology allows a cellphone to sync with a computer, making it possible to make calls over the Internet. It then transcribes voice messages into text messages so you can search through the messages without ever picking up your cellphone.
One of its features blends Web applications with caller ID. So when someone calls, it not only displays their name, it also pulls in images from their Flickr photo-sharing account, their Facebook page, messages from their LinkedIn profile and any other online social-network account. That makes it possible to know not only who's calling, but what they've been up to online.
The service allows its users to download an image of a phone -- which might look like the iPhone, for example. That phone is an online proxy for a real phone; it can be used to dial a number.
I happened to be sitting next to Gary Morgenthaler, general partner at Morgenthaler Ventures, one of the oldest firms on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. He turned to me and gave his assessment of Ribbit's demo: "That's really cool!"
