quewey-blog

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Queweys - So Far So Good!

It’s hard to believe that we launched Quewey less than two weeks ago and so many people have been able to connect. Our smart little algorithm works through about 200 dates of availability every week to match users with the right professionals and that number keeps growing! Just to give you a little idea of the kinds of Quewey meetings taking place: we’ve set up a venture capital investor, business development pro and a tech expert.  In another group, a hedge fund investor turned MBA student, a start-up CEO, an acoustic engineer and a PR upstart. And in another group, a robotic engineer, an MBA student and a benefits consultant. Of course, the last element to each Quewey meeting is a good bar with a good drink!

On the surface these matches may not seem directly helpful to each professional, but it’s the diversity of backgrounds that Quewey users tell us they enjoy the most. If given the choice, people tend to gravitate towards like others and with good reason. People in your industry best understand its values and the challenges that face it. Quewey only seeks to keep professionals from missing great business opportunities by setting them up with people that they may not otherwise meet. Who knows? Maybe the MBA student is not in need of a PR professional but she knows a venture capitalist who is willing to check out the student’s budding education startup (in fact, this is actually happened).

This is only the beginning! The stronger the Quewey network grows the more choices our smart little algorithm has to choose from to match you with. This is where you come in!

There are FOUR simple things you can do to help us help you:

1)      Sign in! Go to www.quewey.com to enter your availability.

2)      Tell your friends and colleagues about Quewey to multiply the power of the network and enhance your user experience.

3)      Give us feedback; the good, bad and ugly. Seriously, we mean it. Tell us what you like, what you don’t like and why. It will help us make our product better. You can fill out the contact form on the site or email info@quewey.com.

4)      Like Quewey on Facebook and follow us @queweyQs on Twitter!

Remember networking is about building relationships. It is not just about who you connect with, but how you connect. So get out here and Quewey with us!

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Casey (left) the Quewey dog's best friend is in today! Don't be fooled by their poses - they're super chaotic together.

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Qnote - Quick Update from Dave

On the eve of the next running of our algorithm, thought I'd write a quick note about the past week's #Queweys:

I've been lucky enough to attend Queweys so far, and will go to another tonight.  I've met an OB/Gyn, a VC investor, a hedge fund trader turned entrepreneur, a biotech start-up executive and an acoustic engineer.  I've also had 3.5 beers and a lot of fun conversation.  On the docket tonight are a BD professional, another VC investor and a software programmer.  

I'm really excited about tonight's meeting and what we have on the docket for the coming weeks.  I'll probably have to start and tail down my own participation soon, as impact on my exercise schedule and beer calorie intake are starting to take their toll on my body (let alone my work schedule), but I'm glad to note that the first week has been a great success and I hope that more and more folks will try a Quewey out!

[quewey-blog]

Eradicate Networking Jitters

Perhaps now more than ever people realize the power of networking to expand professional networks to aid in current business affairs, and also to secure their next job.  As important as networking is, there are many that cringe at the thought of having to meet new professionals. We came up with this non-exhaustive list of barriers to networking and see if you identify with any of them.

1. I'm shy. I'm a recent grad without much experience in my field and I don’t want to make a fool out of myself.

It would be helpful to define networking. Networking is the creation and maintenance of professional relationships. Both parties should be drawing from the relationship equally so do not put all the pressure on yourself – your contact is responsible as well (note: really the only relationship in which one gives more than takes should be that of mentor-mentee or sponsor-sponsoree). Don’t underestimate the power of your own peer group. Seek out other professionals that are at the same stage in their career and go through this exciting time in your lives together. Yes, it is great to build relationships with the veterans of the field (in fact I prefer to draw insight from my elders than my peers because they’re just wiser), but amassing peers in your network will help you build confidence to help build contacts with the higher-ups.

2. I'm shy. Although I have experience in y field, I’ve never been comfortable meeting new people. I'm better talking in front of large groups than small ones.

You’re not alone. Networking is an interactive activity of actions and words and there are things you can do to help you with the speaking part. In high school, when I was preparing for the essay portion of the SAT (excuse me for showing my age) I always had a few pre-prepared body paragraphs in my head so no matter what horrible essay prompt I was given, I didn’t have to rack my brain for things to write. You can use this same trick when you meet new professionals. Keep abreast of news that affects your industry and come into any new networking situation with three pieces of knowledge. Formulate your opinions on all three and be aware of opposing opinions. That way, when you meet with people you will already have rehearsed what you are going to say. Since you never know when you are going to meet someone, it is a good idea to scan the news at the beginning of each day. Your opinions do not have to be too complex but they can help open conversation and once it starts flowing, you will gain the confidence to keep conversation flowing. Do what’s best for you: if large career networking sessions are your scene, then join them. And with the help of sites like Quewey.com, meeting new professionals in small groups has never been easier. In either case, make sure you come out of the session having made a meaningful connection.

3. I don’t really see the need to network.

Many independent (as in non-reliant, not as in freelance) professionals or those at the end of their careers often say this. I’ve already addressed why networking is essential: Read here.  We all need something now or will need something later. Wouldn’t it be great if, when you need help, assistance flowed out of pre-existent, genuine relationships, rather than awkward and potentially relationship-killing opportunistic forces? I think so.

4. I would love to network, but there is no one around who shares my field interest or has connections to my field of interest.

This is not an uncommon problem for those who want to switch careers or do not see many professional opportunities around them. There many ways to overcome this obstacle

Find a person that you trust – It’s hard to stay motivated in environments where others do not share your professional interests. Having someone – from the old lady down the street to the mail man you chat with every week - who encourages you in whatever you want to – is vital.  For me, these people are my parents. I don’t think they understand what I do at work in a daily basis (whose parents do?) but when I tell them a sound desire that I have, every time I talk to them they will remind me, encourage me and often hound me to get it done.

Hop on the interwebs – Honestly, what would we do without the internet? There are some great websites out there that help people network and may be worth your while to check out.  Quewey and Let’s Lunch are my favorites so far.

Quewey.com is changing the traditional professional networking game by matching people with similar levels of work and education experience that might not have otherwise met. Consider Quewey your mutual friend who facilitates connections. The groups of 4 - 5 are then sent out to an after-work hot spot and the rest is up to you! The small group format is arguably more effective than large networking sessions as deeper and more meaningful connections can be made in small groups. The site is still in beta mode and sets meetings in a few northeastern cities so far, but if they’re in your nearest metropolitan area, consider making the journey – meeting new people is always worth your time.

LetsLunch.com, unlike Quewey, allows you to choose who you invite to lunch, which is great when you have a specific type of person you would like to network with but perhaps not as  great when you are trying to diversify your network. Given the choice, people may not select or agree to meet someone outside their comfort area, which may limit the network expansion to a broad variety of fields from which you could draw resources.

Go (back) to university - Another way to instantly gain a network of hundreds if not thousands of people is to go to school.  This doesn’t necessarily mean physically going back to school – check out your alma mater’s alumni resources. Many alumni provide their information to current students and fellow alumni for the express purpose of providing advice and possibly mentorship for any facet of college and post-college life. Alumni connections are can be used as leverage to introduce yourself to new contacts and from there form a sustainable connection built on more relevant commonalities or interests.

And there you have it, folks. Hopefully this has given you inspiration to get out there and start networking. There is no better asset in your career management toolbox than your network!

by Joy M.

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Quewey's Pivot Featured in Technically Philly!

Quewey: business Q&A startup pivots, now offers professional networking matchmaking

One local startup’s old idea is another’s new venture.

Quewey, the business-focused Q&A site, recently pivoted to offer a professional networking matchmaking service.

If the idea sounds familiar, it’s because a Philly startup has already tried it. Before Pinterest analytics firm Curalate was Curalate, it spent about two weeks testing out a networking matchmaking service called DrinkedIn. [Updated, see below] Co-founder David Luk says that Quewey, which launched last March and raised funding over the past year, had between 1,000 and 2,000 users, but there wasn’t enough activity on the site. Around the end of June, the team tried developing a private Q&A network based on employee benefits but Luk says benefits brokers weren’t willing to adopt the service.

A few weeks ago, the three-person team decided to change focuses again, this time taking inspiration from Curalate‘s former identity.

Luk, who’s friends with Curalate CEO Apu Gupta, has Gupta’s blessing for taking another swing at the model, Luk says. As we previously reported, DrinkedIn was hot during its brief existence with several hundred sign ups and national press. The real problem was that Gupta’s team didn’t have the technology to match people up so the process was grueling. Luk says he’s got an algorithm to support the idea.

Here’s how Quewey works now: You sign up with your LinkedIn account. Quewey matches you up with three professionals who have roughly the same seniority and work in similar fields. You go out with them.

The company is calling the networking set-ups “queweys.”

Luk says he’s just trying to gauge interest for the service now. In fact, when we chatted with him, he was out doing the whole street-team thing in Center City. His office is still based in Rittenhouse Square.

Updated 8/20/12 to correct the amount of time Curalate spent trying out DrinkedIn. The team spent about two weeks as DrinkedIn, not a few months.

A big thank you to Julianna Reyes at Technically Philly for the writeup!

http://technicallyphilly.com/2012/08/17/quewey-business-qa-startup-pivots-now-offers-professional-networking-matchmaking

[quewey-blog]

Professional Networking – For Every Stage of Your Career

Our esteemed Marketing and Business Development professional, Joy McKenzie (@joyembe) wrote a short post about the value of professional networking:

I believe that professional networking is the number one tool any working person can use to manage their careers today. Whether you are a graphic designer always on the lookout for new clients or a marketer whose maintenance of contacts outside of her organization is essential, a professional can't exist on her own today and expect to have a long and successful career.

A study published in 2001 by Monica L. Forret (St. Ambrose University) and Thomas W. Dougherty (University of Missouri) suggests that professionals early in their careers (like me) without many contacts in the industry actively seek opportunities for professional networking.  This is because younger professionals perceive networking as a way to advance their careers and gain visibility outside of their organizations, whereas those who have already achieved more in their careers may feel they have plateaued and are less likely to benefit from networking.  

I would beg to disagree with those veterans. Networking for many people simply involves flipping through their rolodex to find out who can can do something for you, but relationship and networking gurus agree that establishing, and maintaining meaningful contacts – no, friendships – will get you much farther in your professional and personal life, no matter your career status. Too many folks seem to focus on a specific 'transaction' or 'need' with their approach towards networking.  

It seems to me, and to the gurus out there, that it would behoove any professional to broaden and maintain connections all along their career journey.  It seems the worst that can happen is a few new friendships and a few extra dollars in business T&E costs, right?

“At every stage of my career, I sought out the most influential people around me and asked for their help and guidance.” –Keith Ferrazzi, Never Eat Alone (@keithferrazzi)

Whatever stage of your career you are in, Quewey.com is here to help you connect. Quewey’s smart little algorithm matches you with a small group of people with similar levels of work and education experience to provide intimate and meaningful professional networking in your city. We hope you'll check it out, no matter where you are in your career journey. Reference: Forret and Dougherty. (2001). Correlates of networking behavior for managerial and professional employees. Group Organization and Management. 26(3). 283-311

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A New Day at Quewey

Well, there are pivots and then there are PIVOTS.  Ours is of the capital letter variety.  

Today marks a very, very exciting day in the development of our little start-up.  

The DNA of Quewey has always been about connecting business professionals who wouldn't otherwise connect - in these past 4 months, we've learned a lot about what business professionals are missing and what they will do to make new connections (and just as importantly, we've learned a lot about what business people won't do).

We still believe in the power of broadening one's personal network through the power of the internet.  But we have shifted our focus: Our new, singular goal is to make professional networking fun.

We launched our first tool today, and we hope you'll try it:  We use our algorithmic matching tool to set up small group meetings for professionals with complementary backgrounds, at local restaurants and bars.

It's super easy - go to www.QUEWEY.com:

Sign up with your LinkedIn profile (so we can do a better job matching you with new people).

Tell us when and where you're available.

Then we'll email you and tell you when, where, and the three other professionals whom you're meeting.

We are true believers in the power of the network --- it's about meeting people you know and don't know (yet), sharing your interests (professional and personal), and helping each other out.  We hope Quewey can help encourage people to continue building, and more importantly, developing their own networks.

For now, we're only in the greater Philadelphia area, but there's a lot more to come, including new cities and fun new apps!

Thanks for all of your support and we hope you enjoy the new product(s)!

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Here's our new passion:

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Qintern Qnote 2.0: Brief Update

What's up, Quewey-verse? I'm Zach, one of Quewey's esteemed Qinterns. What have we at Quewey been doing since the last post, you ask? Well, it's your lucky day, folks. Here it goes:

Queweys


As most of you know, Quewey started as a knowledge-sharing platform for business professionals and experts. Recently we have chosen to focus our efforts on taking Quewey in a slightly different direction. We’ve developed a product that provides private networks (AKA “Queweys”) for businesses and organizations of all kinds, including benefits consultants (BC’s), to communicate more efficiently with each other, or in the case of BC’s, with their customer base.

Why the change?

In conversation with several organizations, alumni groups, and various businesses, we started getting a lot of demand for private versions of Quewey.  The team saw this as a great opportunity to leverage the product that we've already built.

Just in the last week, Quewey has started working with a half-dozen groups, including alumni and student organizations and professional networks and launched an efficient product that will help in their respective workflows.

It’s exciting to see a clear direction for Quewey’s future take shape!

More to come in the near future…

- Zach 

[quewey-blog]

Check Out Quewey's New Infographic for Benefits Consultants!

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Introducing: Quewey Qinterns!!

I told you I would be back and I brought some friends with me! Introducing the summer 2012 Quewey Qinterns!

When they're not plugging away at their computers on intern island with keystrokes as loud as baby elephant footsteps, planning ways to crash LARP games, babysitting Casey the Quewey Dog and suffering persecution for spreading Quewey love on business forums that shall remain nameless, Qinterns embark on journeys to Shake Shack. Yes, Qinterns are like no other becuase one of them has a concave chest... 

Joy McKenzie Hometown: Tallahassee, FL

School: University of Pennsylvania (graduated a month ago)

Major: Communications

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): PC

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Lee's Hoagie House. That South Street stuff is a gimmick.

Favorite Quote: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Theme song to your life: On my way to Quewey: What Makes You Beautiful- One Direction; On my home from Quewey: All of the Lights- Kanye West; Drifting off to sleep; I Need You More- Jesus Culture

Guilty Pleasure: I still watch Gossip Girl without shame.

Random fact: I want to be a guest conductor of and orchestra one day. 

Alex Piasecki Hometown: Wayne, PA

School: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Major (Undecided is an option): Business Administration and International Relations

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): MAC

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Dellasandro's or Jim's

Favorite Quote: "A man isn't poor if he can still laugh" (Raymond Hitchcock) 

Theme song to your life: Better Things by The Bouncing Souls

Guilty pleasure: Singing on Rock Band, the video game

Random fact: Speak Spanish and Catalan and travel to Europe almost every year. Have played saxophone for over 10 years

Christine Alix Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI

School: University of Pennsylvania

Major: Double major in Fine Arts (Photography) and Communication

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): Mac

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Pats, obviously.

Favorite Quote: "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure."- Chris McCandless

Theme song to your life: Theme song? I have a soundtrack...

Guilty pleasure: Making soundtracks to my life (actually)

Random fact: I have a sushi roll named after me!

Jeff Morris Hometown: Berwyn,  PA

School: Virginia Tech

Major: Computer Science

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): PC (Linux count?)

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Tony Lukes

Favorite Quote: "So how do I know you?" -David Luk 

Theme song to your life: I remember (deadmau5)

Guilty pleasure: Might be addicted to Sun Chips

Random fact:  I have a concave chest

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Zach Greene

Hometown: Elkins Park, PA

School: Vanderbilt University

Major: Economics and History

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): Mac

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Geno's

Favorite Quote: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."--Yogi Berra

Theme song to your life: "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"- The Rolling Stones

Guilty pleasure: Sports Talk Radio

Random fact: I struggle with surveys like these

Kendall Baker

Hometown: Summit, NJ

School: UPenn

Major (Undecided is an option): Communications

Mac or PC (fully recognizing a Mac is a PC): Mac

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Pat's

Favorite Quote: If you think you have it tough, read history books - Bill Maher

Theme song to your life: Safe and Sound by Capital Cities

Guilty pleasure: Movie binges

Random fact: There are currently two movies being made about members of my family and I am a casted character in both 

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Dan Ryan

Hometown: Clearfield, PA

School: Bucknell University

Major: Biology

Mac or PC: PC

Favorite Philly Cheesesteak Place: Dalessandro's

Favorite Quote: "They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure." -Ernest Hemingway

Theme song to your life: I don't have one, so instead you get to learn that Utahraptor is my favorite dinosaur.

Guilty pleasure: Milkshakes

Random fact: There's an expressway in Chicago named after me.

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The first staff meeting of the summer!

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How to use Quewey infographic!

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Check out this infographic to learn more about how to use Quewey, the market we are entering, and our Private Beta!

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Check out Launch.it!

Take a look at Launch.it, a new self-publishing platform for community-sourced content. Quewey just gave it a whirl here.

[quewey-blog]

The Systemic Risk of Free APIs

All major and semi-major online and app companies offer some sort of API layer. This offering is usually free and, at some point, these companies will want to charge for this service. For instance, Facebook could theoretically charge per-download of anybody’s' profile via FacebookConnect. Now, for the most part, API access is free. However, Google Maps started charging a while ago, and Bing Search now charges $20 a month for 20k downloads max per month on the Azure Marketplace. 

Fast forward 3-5 years from now: the web of access to critical customer information and database data across companies will be staggering in size and complexity. I envision that this web will have no transparency, similar to the Credit Default Swap market that nearly took down the global economy in 2007.  I am not comparing CDS to API usage risk in terms of scale but to its systemic risk within its ecosystem.

With Credit Default Swaps, companies are essentially trading risk.  The problem with CDS trading was that nobody knew who was holding what risk. A large default (bankruptcy or inability to pay a loan) event could trigger a domino effect, and since nobody knew who was holding the bag(s), investors threw up their hands and didn't want to take the chance, sucking liquidity from the markets.

If nobody knows which companies are using mission critical data from other companies via an API, then the risk is undefined. If FacebookConnect, which is used by millions of companies, started charging $1 per download, how many user businesses would freeze?  Some of the companies dependent on Facebook would in turn have to start charging other businesses for access to their data.  This could spark a domino effect, change the industry norm, and put a lot of organizations out to pasture.  Simply looking around the Silicon Valley landscape, most companies DO NOT produce cash flows and would have to begin to charge to cover the cost of API access.  

I am painting a dreary picture. I am sure things will not be so binary, but will happen gradually. Then again, the CDS scare, which nearly collapsed the world economy, happened overnight. Certainly this is something to think about, especially when starting a company and executing on a plan.

Who is your company dependent on?

-StuffSafSaid (stuffsafsaid.com)

[quewey-blog]

A startup has launched a limited- access beta version of a website that allows people to get their business problems solved by connecting them with experts live online. The Philadelphia company is called Quewey Inc. and it was founded by Matthew Safaii, a managing director with Wayne-based ICG Inc. who has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Although ICG invests in technology companies, it has not invested in Quewey, and has no ties to the company other than Safaii (pronounced suh-FIE). In fact, Safaii recently hired a Wharton classmate of his, David Luk, as Quewey’s CEO, so he can continue devoting his work hours to ICG and his spare time to Quewey. “The game plan for me was never to become a CEO,” Safaii said. “I’m simply not a manager.” Quewey’s name is both a play on the word, “query,” and Spanish for, “What’s up, dude?” Safaii said. The company raised $250,000 in a private equity sale last October, according to a filing it made with the Securities and Exchange Commission that was reported by FormDs.com. Safaii said the investors were angels... (click link to read more) 

-Peter Key, Philadelphia Business Journal