November 2017
On matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of
substance, stand like a rock.
—Author
unknown
Jared Adams (COO, Canvas)
showed us how to profit from using the lean startup method to add
substance to style.
The founders of Canvas started
with two things: a background in information technology and the observation
that many young adults prefer to interact with others indirectly. Knowing that this lifestyle
increases the efficiency of some kinds of communication, the founders wondered
if employers and young job applicants would rather text than talk.
To find out, they developed a text-based
intelligent interviewing software program and raised $2 million in seed
capital. Because the founders needed
help to know what to build and how people would use their product, they asked
trusted senior human resources (HR) people across the country to find flaws in
the original program.
The HR people found several embarrassing flaws but,
surprisingly, also asked to invest in Canvas.
This encouraged the founders to revise the original program to meet the
customers where they actually were, not where the founders imagined the
customers were. The result was the first
text-based interviewing platform.
The marketed product creates a win-win-win situation.
Job applicants avoid human contact
in the early stages of the interview process.
(Canvas recommends that its product be used only to select candidates
for subsequent in-person interviews.) They
can think about what they communicate before blurting out something, focus on
the dialog itself (rather than worrying about speech impediments, attire, or
shyness), and add documentary materials not typically submitted with a resume.
HR folks can interview 10 times
the number of applicants because the inherent time delay in texting lets them
interview several candidates simultaneously and avoids the need to schedule
interviews for particular times. The
program’s subtle use of artificial intelligence suggests questions to the
interviewer during an interview and reveals information available online about
each candidate. The indirect interaction
provided by the software program helps prevent unconscious and unwanted bias by
the interviewer. An interviewer can also
get some idea of an applicant’s interest in the job by observing whether the
applicant clicks on links to recommended resources.
Feedback from companies and job
applicants helps Canvas adapt its software program to the general hiring
process and to processes specific to different industries.
Canvas’ story offers two lessons for those who want to
market their inventions:
If your first try at inventing a
marketable product is not embarrassing, you are doing something wrong. You need to take your product to where your
customers are. Only interaction between
your invention and your intended customers can tell you what to market. Find out what’s wrong with your original
invention (and revisions) and fix it before you go live.
A product’s public image is
important. The image (created by widely
viewed media such as Forbes, Wall Street Journal, and CNBC) of the Canvas
software program successfully marketed the program. Rather than portray the invention as one
of a million new software products, the media painted a picture of a
pioneering product that joins the business world to the preferred lifestyle of
many young adults.
Thank you, Mr. Adams, for sharing your company’s interesting
story with us!