beBee , on INC by Neil C. Hughes

This is a great interview, by Neil C. Hughes, Top 10 technology LinkedIn Influencer.

You can read and listen the complete interview here :

http://www.inc.com/neil-c-hughes/how-this-new-professional-social-network-attracted-10-million-in-its-first-year.html

Podcast questions

1.    A massive welcome to the show, can you tell my listeners about yourself and your role at BeBee?

I am an entrepreneur and an expert in building big data and online advertising platforms. Juan Imaz -my partner and friend - and I cofounded beBee after selling our last company, Canalmail. It was one of Spain’s most successful exits when it comes to tech companies.

I am the CEO of beBee and my main focus now is Product , Marketing and Communications. I think beBee is disrupting social media as it is today because there is a lot of noise and poor relevance, and not a lot of innovation. As you know, for example Twitter is losing users in the US. In my humble opinion beBee comes to change a lot of things and to be the big next thing in social media.

2.    beBee has grown to 10 million users since your launch last year, and you are targeting beBee goal is to exceed 40 million users by 2017. For anyone who has not heard of beBee can you explain to the listeners.

beBee is about professional networking through personal interests and hobbies. Take golfers, for example. It is the same concept but applied to all professions and personal interests or hobbies. Personal interests generate much more professional engagement and better business opportunities.

What sets beBee apart from other professional networking sites is that it builds business relationships, rather than just contacts, by connecting people based on the interests or hobbies they have in common.

This platform allows users to display their personal brand in addition to their professional profile. Thus potential employers have an opportunity to see the whole person -- not just a digitized representation of their resume. It also connects users not only on a profession and skill level, but also based on mutual interests.

This sharing of common personal and professional experiences with others (i.e. engineers who are into running, or marketing directors who are into photography) is what we call “affinity-based networking”. This connects people in a way in which their relationship can develop on a whole different level, versus a concept of connection that consists only of adding layers of contacts.

The idea behind beBee as a professional networking site is that your personal interests lead to business opportunities.

beBee is the first social network to embrace this concept and turn it into an online format. beBee is about establishing deeper connections with others. By joining beBee, you can learn things about your business connections that you haven’t known after years of following them on many other social networks. As a result, your business relationships become stronger.

On beBee you can showcase your ENTIRE personal brand, which is attractive to employers, clients, and other influencers in your industry.

3.    I was featured as the number 2 tech writer on Linkedin’s publishing platform last year, but I noticed that posts from everyday users were now falling off the radar. I hang out online with other writers. John White, who is a man I really respect, was not only enjoying great success on BeBee but so were many many others. What I love about the platform is it seems to have a friendly feel about it and the engagement between users makes it feel incredibly special. Was that always your plan?

People hate arbitrary algorithms and favoritism. Many professionals are feeling fooled because after several years of hard work building their network, their content is being filtered.  beBee is much more democratic because it assures you will always reach 100% of your followers and it is also much more friendly. Connections are more natural thanks to the personal side, because we have to remember that though we are professionals, we also have hobbies.

4.    Concentrating on business relationships, as opposed to merely business contacts that are developed through shared interests seems to have captured people’s attention and feels like a personalized experience. I have noticed a growing number of prolific writers on LinkedIn heading over to BeBee, and this seems to be growing all the time. Are you noticing an influx of users from the UK and the USA heading over the platform?

Yes. English speaking people take professional networking much more seriously, and they are just loving beBee. beBee is attracting a lot of people from the UK, the US, Canada and Australia. They are telling us that beBee is going to be huge. That is amazing !

5.    On LinkedIn, I have built a following of 10,000 followers through my content, but this seems meaningless because very few of those followers that I have built a relationship with are notified when I publish. The current system seems to favor Influencers and content from traditional outlets such as Mashable. Whereas BeBee seems to be all about the users and building real relationships.

I read a great stat yesterday that in Madrid, Bebee has 4.5 million users – or Bees as they call them – in Spain, compared to 13-year-old LinkedIn’s 8 million. Do you think LinkedIn is cautiously watching your growth?

beBee is also one of the only social networks that still believes in 100% organic reach. beBee does not use annoying algorithms. So, no matter how many followers you have, you can be sure that your content will reach all of them. Thus, you control your own destiny with your branding. If your content is good it will be viewed and shared. If you are influential within hives, you will gain followers.

But, to answer your question, I don’t think Linkedin should worry about beBee’s growth. beBee is filling a different niche market. I think both models are compatible.

6.    I’m not just saying this, I really love the platform and everything it stands for, and it really feels like there is a movement at the moment of people heading over there. I can see this from my daily timeline, and it feels to me at least that I have discovered the next big rock band just before they hit the big time.

Now I recently read that you were offering start-up offers equity to UK super-fans that could be worth ‘£100,000 or more’ one day. So how do you get involved? And what is expected of you?

The period to participate is limited and will benefit 'early adopters'. The economic value of the equity will depend on the value of the company. You can execute the equity when the company is sold or goes public, which are the company’s medium-term goals. Truth is, we really believe that beBee is going to be bigger than Twitter or LinkedIn, just to set two examples.

We expect this big effort from the founders will influence further and quicker growth. We would be very happy to be the first big social network sharing the success with its users.

7.    Anyone listening that is on their way to setup an account over at Bebee right now, they will be greeted with phrases such as Hives, Bees, Create Honey and Producers can you give a brief overview of what these mean? And how users would create a blog post for example?

On beBee,

1. We are bees.

2. The affinity groups are hives.

3. Content is shared as buzzes.

4. Writers are producers (long content is honey).

5. And we use stings to bookmark content. ... coming soon ;)

After registering on beBee, you will see the “Produce honey / write a story” option, just click on it, and you will be able to write your stories on your on-site blog on beBee. This is very a powerful tool because you have all in one. You write and share the post and you also choose the hive in which this content is going to be shared.

8.    One of the things I love is it cuts through the BS that we often see on LinkedIn where you are bombarded with requests from shady recruiters. It seems to be around genuine connections, interact with people you don't know but have the same interests and hobbies. This is the age of Niching down, simplifying and personalizing everything and BeBee ticks ALL of these boxes. Has the reaction, the quick growth and success surprised you at all?

NO.  We realized that big social networks have a huge problem with relevance and affinity.

New affinity-based network beBee actually SOLVES the eternal struggle of social media. Are you faced with the dilemma of choosing between having a social profile or a professional one? beBee aims at professional users who also enjoy a healthy spectrum of hobbies. Its homepage displays feeds from your chosen interest areas (Hives) and suggests new ‘hives’ to follow.

beBee is more affinity, more relevance. This is its main differential aspect. As content is shared in the proper hives you won’t get notifications that are not related to your interests. You will join hives that provide added value and content based on your interests. Those are the hives you will be social in, avoiding a wall full of content that you don’t care about.

9.    So what is next for BeBee? Do you have any big plans, milestones, improvements on the horizon?

beBee is now closing a SERIES A investment round of 10 to 15 M USD , we have 50% pre-committed. Our main goal is to focus on English speaking markets and reach 40 MM users in two years. Improvements and new great features will be launched during the next months. I can tell you that beBee will be a sensation.

10.    For anyone that wants to sign up to BeBee, what is the best way to get involved, find more information or contact someone for help?

beBee is very easy to use! You just have to go  to www.bebee.com from your desktop, or dowload the app. It is available on Android and Apple Store.

I can honestly say in 50+ episodes and speak to CEO’s of startups worth hundreds of millions of dollars and some even a billion dollars that BeBee is the one that excites me the most and have a feeling will go onto become something much bigger than we probably both realize.

My best advice for you Javier is when someone comes knocking asking you to sell remember that the SnapChat CEO turned down a 3 billion offer from Facebook, and my recent guest from DATO turned down 100 million when Microsoft came knocking. So hold your nerve, my friend, because I think you have something huge on your hands with BeBee.

I’m incredibly grateful you took the time to come onto the show and wish you the best for the future.

Thanks a lot. It has been a pleasure.

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What is beBee?