Say there’s someone you want to talk to, whom you found on LinkedIn. Sometimes he/she responds; sometimes he/she doesn’t. Treatings is a local professional networking platform where everyone is open to meeting for coffee. Think a totally accessible LinkedIn. On caffeine. Literally.
Here’s how it works: Say you need career advice, or you’re about to interview at a company and you’d like a bit of insight. You sign into the service via your LinkedIn account, choose the topics that interest you, then pick your favorite coffee shops. You post what you’re looking for and the message goes public. Once someone responds, the two of you meet for coffee.
Co-founder Hayden Williams, who has been bootstrapping the company with co-founder/CTO (and bunkmate) Paul Osetinsky since its inception in 2012, just might have hit it right on the bean.
Tell us about the service.
Treatings is a professional networking platform built for the sole purpose of meeting new people, in-person. We facilitate one-on-one meetups over coffee, the way dating sites facilitate dates. We have thousands of members meeting for coffee to share ideas and opportunities.
How is it different?
It’s different than existing professional networking platforms because it’s all about meeting people outside your network, in-person. Instead of offering a way to catalogue your network, we’re focused on helping build your network.
What market are you attacking and how big is it?
Our target market is the 80 million Millennials in the U.S. While professionals of all ages have used Treatings to find collaborators, new business opportunities and even job offers, Millennials are most likely to have an undeveloped professional network and a necessity to reach outside of it.
What is the business model?
We’re going to apply what we’ve learned about connecting professionals to change how employers build their brand and engage with passive candidates.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within 6 months?
Raise a seed round, grow the team, build a mobile app and move out of the bunk bed I share with my co-founder Paul.
If you could be put in touch with one investor in the New York community who would it be and why?
Shana Fisher. Smart people consistently name her as the investor they most respect. It seems like she’s a no BS evaluator of entrepreneurs – who knows whether I’d like what she has to say about me but I’d definitely be interested to hear.
Why are you launching in New York?
New York is perfect because of its population density and breadth of industries represented. It doesn’t hurt that there are amazing coffee shops.
Where’s your favorite spot to meet for coffee in New York?
Given that our company is all about connecting people in coffee shops, I consider myself an aficionado here. My current favorite is Whynot Coffee & Wine because they serve Blue Bottle coffee and on a good day play Michael Jackson records on repeat.
