Kane Dabir — Independent growth marketing consultant / agency (SF)

Hey, Kane.

How's it going?

Hey, Mark.

I'm good.

I'm doing well.

Thank you.

The, uh...

Yeah, busy day.

Awesome.

Awesome.

I'm glad to connect with you.

Uh, where, where-- You're in the Bay?

Yeah.

Uh, well, I'm in Arizona, but my company's in the Bay right now.

We have like field people doing stuff in the Bay.

Yeah.

Nice.

Nice.

Yeah.

I'd like to learn more about you guys.

Yeah.

So HiRey is doing something we call agent-mediated networking.

So we're building a social networking platform, uh, with a lot of users in the Bay, and for the most part, um, it's designed towards helping people make connections as opposed to kinda just like making a social media feed that people scroll through and interact with.

Really, we're focused on trying to help tech founders, builders, investors connect with people that fit their profile.

Um-

Okay.

And a lot of that's accentuated by AI, so...

Got it.

Got it.

Could you, um, maybe give me an example of that?

Yeah.

So, um,

one segment that we've done pretty well with is event venues.

So event venues are looking for people that are interested in hosting events or people that are interested in networking or participating in those events.

So-

Yeah

...

we help place photographers and, uh, different event organizers with event venues.

And then we-

Okay

...

helped another AI startup, um, called Monid, uh, raise their first round of funding by connecting them with an investor.

Um-

Oh, that's really cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that's kind of what we're doing over here.

So you guys are like a, um, text-based platform.

SMS or iMessage is essentially how you get started.

How does it necessarily work?

You have a, a lot of entry points.

You can, you can text the AI, uh, through iMessage.

It gets back to you super fast.

Uh-

Okay

...

you can interact with the web app and interact with your profile, uh, chat with the AI on the web app, or you could also connect it via an MCP server to your own-

Okay

...

AI, and then just talk with the HiRey network that way.

Yeah.

Okay.

So like, um, let's say for a founder, for some...

So I'm-- And I'm-- Whether I'm looking for investments or whether I'm looking to connect with other people,

w- how is this different than, like, let's say, I find somebody on LinkedIn that...

So I'm like, "Okay, let me just DM them," or I go to a networking event, and I talk to them.

Like, what's the differentiator from this?

Um, LinkedIn is really focused around-

The algorithm that they're displaying with you, I'd say.

So again, that-- I'd put that in like it's a social media platform.

You can use it obvious-obviously for prospecting.

Um, and HiRey's been...

I've been with the company a long time, like three, four years.

Uh, we used to be a recruitment platform, so we use Link-LinkedIn quite a bit.

Um, but

I'd say for one thing, you, you have an open connection,

uh, ability, so you can connect with anybody on the platform.

You don't have to deal with things like InMail credits or LinkedIn's kinda prospecting, uh, infrastructure.

Uh-

Yeah

...

and then two, there is a feed on HiRey, like of people talking about their,

their products or talking about what they're working on.

But it's-

Yeah

...

not, it's not like LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is very, um...

It's like your resume online and-

Yep

...

a job-hunting platform.

HiRey's not really a job-hunting platform.

It's more of a connection platform.

Does that make sense?

Uh, just the name though.

You know, when you say HiRey without looking at it, you would think, "Oh, okay, like hiring.

Is that play off on that?"

Yeah.

Is-- Or is that what it was initially?

We-- Yeah, three years ago when we were doing-- We-- Three years ago, we were like a ZipRecruiter company, and now we're-

Okay

...

a social networking.

Now we're a social networking company.

So we changed from hirey.com to HiRey AI.

So yeah, that's-

Got it

...

good feedback though to know that, yeah, I know that is probably a little bit...

The name could be a little bit tricky.

I'll have to think about that.

Yeah.

All good.

Uh, I'm sure you guys have like

good SEO for it, so you're like, "Oh, let's just keep all that," kinda thing, uh, for the name.

Okay.

Out-out-outside of that, like, um, I mean, um, essentially, like I would, I'll, I'll play with your platform, uh, use it and see how I could s- get benefit from what I'm trying to do, what I'm trying to accomplish with it as well.

Um, I...

And then I, I guess I can give you feedback.

Uh, so you're a founder?

Or like what's your role in this company?

I'm a co-founder.

We have a-

Co-founder.

Yeah.

Primary founder is, um, started another company called Hirect in India that was a recruitment platform, and then we opened up a branch of that in the States.

But yeah, I've been, yeah, co-founder.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Okay.

That, I mean, that's pretty good.

You guys have, uh, close to about a thousand people on your platform.

And like what, what is like

the factor that's limiting your growth right now?

I mean, like this is great that I'm talking to you, and I'm way more interested on your product, but this is the first time I'm also hearing about you guys as well.

Yeah.

W- I mean, we, we get about

20 to 40 users a day.

Uh-

Okay

...

we have a team of about three people in the Bay doing, going to different events, talking about it, uh,

asking people who they're looking to connect with and, and that type of thing.

And then-

Yeah

...

we have some users that come in organically on the website as well.

Um, the biggest factor that's limiting our growth, I don't know.

That's a really good question.

Um,

more people on the ground in SF,

um, finding a way to increase our online funnel efficiency.

Um, we tried a little bit of paid social.

We tested it a few months back.

I don't think...

We tested it across Reddit, X.

I, I don't think

paid is work- works for us.

Um-

Yeah

...

yeah.

Yeah.

I'm, I'm, I mean, just like, uh, you heard about Canva, right?

Uh-

Yeah, of course

...

this week.

Yeah.

Oh, this week though.

So-

No, this week though.

Okay.

Yeah.

So they just laid off 22% of their employees.

Shit.

Yeah.

So that's 1,300 people that are now looking for jobs.

They were given six months of severance.

They were given 12 months of health insurance, but they were also given an option of, "Here's $10,000 if you wanna start your own business." So everybody gets this like stipend.

So to me, my understanding would be like I don't-- like your marketing team should have been like talking about that and talking to those people, "Hey, guys, you guys just let go, et cetera, et cetera.

This is, um, this is a platform where you can net- connect with other people, possibly land your next role, but you can connect with other like-minded people if you wanna build something."

That's a really good, uh, case study.

Wow.

You're ...

That was a good connection.

I, I, I didn't hear anything about that news.

That's, that's really interesting.

Yeah.

Marketing team should have been doing that.

It was on Tuesday.

It just came on Tuesday.

So are you involved in marketing, by the way?

Uh, I meet with the girl that's handling that, yeah.

But I don't, I don't handle a lot of it directly, no.

I see.

I see.

I, I, um, that's my background.

I'm in growth marketing, so like-

Uh-huh

...

my focus is all about, like how do you get

users?

How do you get essentially revenue in?

Rev- whatever I'm spending, I look at the, the spend that comes back to it.

Um, I'm here in SF.

Uh, uh, I work for a company that's an agency, but on top of that, I do consulting for other brands as well.

And, um, I, I would love to play around with your product and give you some feedback of like, "Hey, this is where I think you guys could benefit from there." Um, my goal right now is not...

Is like I want to, um, I have my own product that I'm working with, but is it like, like an international business?

It's like I'm working on that in terms of like AI.

Like we forget, like we're in SF, so you guys are like we're ahead of everything, but like the rest of the world is still behind on a lot of things.

So whatever, like you're the-- If you can be-- Do you know what Prometheus is?

Do you know who Prometheus is?

The guy from Greek mythology, but-

That's exactly it.

That's exactly it.

Yeah.

So the Greek mythology guy who went and brought fire to the people, and God punished him.

But like, I think- The analogy that I wanna use there is like sometimes we don't have to create fire, we have to bring fire to people.

So if we can just see like, okay, we're so a-- Like if you're in the SF bubble, you think you're always behind, but the rest of the country and the rest of the world is so be- like s- too far, super behind on like just simple stuff, like even getting online.

So if you're able to, uh, solve those problems, that's kind of the stuff that I'm working on on, on my side.

But, um, on top of that, I am a growth marketer, so like I would love to continuously in touch with you, try out your product.

Uh, if I feel there's some gap in your marketing that could be potentially help you with your growth, if you're open to feedback, I can definitely send that your way.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'd love that.

Yeah, that'd be really helpful.

Yeah.

If you have, uh, some thoughts on it.

I don't know.

With our product, I haven't, I haven't spoken with any marketers that

grow products like ours, um, or that have grown products like ours.

I did-- we did hire, I did do some looking for other marketing like specialists or assistants there, but social networking platform is a pretty...

I don't know.

I haven't found anybody that

grew one.

I found people that help manage communities, uh, did a lot of adjacent stuff, but yeah, I haven't really spoken with anybody that had some ideas on that.

Yeah.

I, I, uh, if I can give you my pitch for who I am.

Sure.

Uh, I worked in the film industry.

I worked in the music industry, so super competitive, and I would be meeting with labels and ar- uh, and agents, and they're like, "Hey, our artist is from zero.

Get them to twenty-five to fifty thousand." Or, "Our artist is already gonna be on the top billboards and everything.

We're pouring millions of dollars onto them, but we need a social media presence, and we need an identity for them to latch onto." So I've worked across the board on the music side and on the film side, I've worked with like, um, I've worked with one movie that's actually on Amazon Prime, but it was a film brought to me and they said, "Hey, we need this movie to go viral enough so we can pitch it to Amazon Prime in our digital campaign." And I made that digital campaign go viral, um, to the point that we got a conversation with Lionsgate, we had a conversation with, uh, Netflix, and then ultimately they landed on Amazon.

And people told the director, the owner of the movie is like, "Hey, this movie sucks.

It's not a good movie, and I need you to make sure that I get a decent ROI out of it." And we did that just by online advertisement and PR strategy and getting what we needed to get out of there.

So I think like

maybe what you're building is super unique in that regard, but if somebody knows how to build and someone can target your ICP, someone can really understand your product to the fullest, can find out what differentiates you and why people would want to stick, and that stickiness is what they would harp on.

And like, I've worked across different-- I worked in finance, I worked in commercial real estate, I worked in education, which is a big part of what I'm doing right now, and Department of State regulator programs that are h-heavily on top of compliance or like unregulated stuff like film and music.

And, uh, it's been the same thing, just growth marketing.

Like how do you get more people?

So I think what your focus is, like how do you get more people to use your platform?

I-- my question to you is just kind of like, why would anybody want to come on your platform?

Like, like you talked about that case study, which is like, oh, this person came in and got X amount of funding, which is cool, but I would like to know h- how-- a deeper case study.

Like, okay, this person came into the platform and then in thirty days made X amount of connections, and then in sixty days was able to met with, meet with his founder, and on day ninety or day one hundred and eighty, they were able to land this.

Like, if you like harp on this one case study a lot and that becomes part of your marketing message, all of a sudden I'm more interested in your product if I'm a founder, which is everybody in the Bay.

So then I would say, okay, let me at least go for that factor.

The social aspect would be, can I communicate with other people on business stuff and non-business stuff?

And that would be the stickiness.

And then it's like, how do I-- 'Cause like right now, LinkedIn is so business.

Like everybody's using AI to make these weird posts, and nobody believes in what they're talking about.

And Reddit is wild, wild west.

But if you could find a place where you're not being super crazy like X, but you're not being like a robot like LinkedIn, and that's your platform, then that's attractive because people are like, "I can talk like a normal person while talking about business and talking to these people.

I don't have to like act a certain way." Now, there's an attractiveness to that, and then the marketing is the storytelling behind that.

I, I don't know your product in depth, just based on this conversation and me just pulling up your website.

This is kind of like what I'm telling you.

So all this stuff could be wrong, but like this is kind of what I would like to see if you were pitching me like, "Hey, sign on to my product." Like these are the questions that me or like a layman would have.

Yeah.

No, I think that's a really, uh, that's a really astute take.

Yeah.

It's, uh, it's kind of, uh, you, you got your, uh, your thumb on the pulse pretty quickly.

Yeah.

Yeah, 'cause LinkedIn is, um, I don't know, it's not popular.

I don't wanna like trash talk it too much, but I don't, I, I don't like using it personally, so.

I, I use it 'cause I have to.

I'm like, this is the only platform that exists for something like this.

But if I don't have to and there's an alternative, and then you'd be like, "This is what we believe in, this is the community that we believe in." And like right now everything is founder-focused.

So like if I go to your platform, there's no identity yet, and I need that ident-- Like today we, we need that identity.

So like I need to know who's the person behind it that's talking about all this stuff, because now it just seems like, like another person could just, you know, vibe code your website and then be your, your competitor tomorrow.

But like what makes you different is the person behind it.

People are doing mascot marketing, that's coming back.

But like- If you do founder-led, like here's who I am, and this is what I believe in, and talk about what you don't believe in, which is like the robotic stuff that's going on here and the wild, wild west going on the other side, I really think you have something here.

Like, a lot of people would jump on this because everybody wants something like this.

Yeah.

Kind of a, a middle ground to actually make a connection.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's the other difficult thing is that we have a couple different...

It's not just that we're helping people meet investors, it's very broad, right?

So then that's good and bad, I think, 'cause we also have to narrow down into what your, your specialty's gonna be.

Yeah.

That's true.

That's true.

And you guys are...

I'm assuming you guys have been around, you said for three years, right?

So you guys are...

Is there like one sector that you're finding that people really like our product because of this?

This is kind of like majority of the people that are here for.

Have you narrowed that down?

Speed.

Yeah, three years ago we were a totally different company.

We pivoted like four months ago.

Uh, the...

So yeah, um, previously, historically, speed.

We were able to get people hired really, really fast within target niches.

So we did sales and we did, uh, medical recruitment, and then recruiters would be like, "Oh, this is great.

I found the person I needed in 30 minutes." You know?

Um, so yeah.

Okay.

Currently, um,

currently people like to like, like that they can connect with investors, I think.

Connect with investors, connect with clients, connect with, uh, marketers like that they can connect with people looking for marketing.

Developers like that they can connect with people looking for developers, you know?

Okay.

Yeah.

So if I just met you right now, like, like on the street and we talked, had this conversation, I would say, "Hey, what's your LinkedIn?

Let me add your LinkedIn." And then that's how I would like keep a track of you, this connection I made.

Yeah.

With your platform, how would that work?

Like, if I just meet someone, how do I get them to...

How do I c-connect with them and like kind of have like a black book of people I can go back to?

We trialed a feature of that, where you could send somebody like your card or like-

Okay

...

your, like, Hire- your HiRey card, and then you could connect-

Yes

...

to them that way.

Okay.

So we did have something like that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But that's true.

But then it goes into my contacts, like my device's contacts?

Uh, you text it to them, and then they have it, and they can click that, and then it'll route you to their HiRey profile.

Got it.

Got it.

Okay.

Then maybe I need to use your platform a little bit more to find out how everything is kinda working, and then, like, if I have some feedback for you, and if you're open to listening and stuff like that, I'm, I'm super down to like send those your way, Mark.

I think, uh, you seem like a chill guy, so you have a, a cool product.

Um, and like, again, like as somebody who uses LinkedIn and hates it, and I pay for LinkedIn, so

I would like to find an alternative where I can meet people that are like normal-ish.

So it's like if your platform can be that, I think you got something super solid.

Yeah.

No, yeah, I love your take on it.

Yeah.

Something more normal-ish.

Yeah.

LinkedIn feels very not normal.

Cool, man.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

Yeah, please send the feedback over.

I'd love to talk with you.

And then if you get on there, um, I don't know if you're looking, Hire looking to grow your business or if you're looking for collaborators or clients or anything like that, but please try it out and see if it can-

Sure

...

connect you with people in the Bay that you're looking for.

You're in the Bay?

Uh-

Yeah, I'm in Bay.

Yeah.

I'm in SF right now.

Cool.

Uh-

Cool

...

I'm in, uh, Financial District, like SF Towers right, uh, in front of me.

Cool.

We have, um, we have dinners and stuff like that too, so we'll like pull together investors, different founders or something like that.

So if you wanna do like a networking event, um, Cheryl is one of the people there that organizes that.

So you're more than welcome to come to that and talk with some of the people on the team or talk with some people.

I mean, uh, you know,

talk with some other potential, uh, founders in the area too.

We'd love to have you.

Cool.

How do I connect with Cheryl?

I'll send you something after, after this.

I'll send you a link, uh, and you can claim your HiRey profile.

It makes it easy.

And then, uh, just tell the

after you claim your profile, you can ask the AI on the web app or text it and say, "Connect me with Cheryl at HiRey." And, uh-

Okay

...

and you'll, you'll be able to do that, yeah.

Awesome.

Well, great talking to you, Mark.

Cool.

All right, Kane.

I appreciate you, man.

I'll talk to you soon.

Cheers.

Okay, bye.

See you, man.

Take it easy.

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