From $0-$14k/mo with a tech-for-good recruitment platform

40-year-old Carwan Rasoal wanted to have a positive impact on the world, so he quit his corporate job and built a platform that helps engineers connect with tech-for-good companies.

It isn't always easy to find success by following your passions and values, but his recruitment platform, Genvalues, is raking in $14k/mo. And Carwan has bigger plans.

Here's how he did it. 👇

How to leverage uncertainty

I grew up in a war zone. It forced me to become comfortable with uncertainty, and that has been invaluable to my business.

The best way to handle uncertainty is to adopt a growth mindset, viewing challenges as learning opportunities. It makes uncertainty less scary. And it just makes sense — in every one of my failures, I have found super interesting information that I took with me to my next experiments.

It takes resilience too. I’ve built that over time through self-care practices. I lift. I run. I seek support from mentors and like-minded individuals. I don’t drink alcohol.

And I make informed decisions using data and flexible planning — not just emotions.

Feeling constrained by tradition

After high school, I went to university for product development and became passionate about creating products that people love. Societal expectations initially led me to traditional employment, working in both hardware and software, but I soon realized that this path was not for me.

I felt constrained by internal politics and bureaucratic processes. I wanted to move faster and create something meaningful — I wanted to create tech for good.

Breaking out of societal expectations

I remember, I was listening to Brian Chesky, founder of Airbnb. He described his perspective on career development and life with an analogy involving a car’s mirrors.

”I was in the car. I could see the road disappearing into the horizon. I would look in the rear view mirror, and it was the same road… I had this weird feeling of mortality, like, ‘This is my life.’” —Brian Chesky

That’s how I felt. I was looking at my “road” and I realized that life was too short to spend it in an environment where I couldn’t make a significant impact.

So I stopped caring about how society looked at me and starting focusing on how I looked at myself. It made me more confident. I could make it happen. How hard could it be?

So becoming a founder felt like a natural progression for me. It was the only way to remove the limitations.

How to build the right network

At the time, I thought I had a decent network. But I soon realized that it wasn’t made up of people who could help me build a business. They were just nice, normal people who were happy working for corporations. You need an entirely different kind of network when building a company.

Inspired by Paul Graham’s essays, I recognized the importance of finding and surrounding myself with ambitious peers.

So I immersed myself in the startup community, finding ambitious people who inspired and challenged me. I started going to events, applying to accelerators, and speaking with VCs.

It was a game changer for me. It fired me up and brought out the entrepreneur within.

But as a disclaimer, I’ll say that you should take everything with a grain of salt when you’re talking to people without skin in the game. External opinions are valuable, but they often lack the depth of understanding that comes from being directly involved.

Finding an idea by focusing on sustainability

While I was still going from company to company, I noticed gaps in how the new generation of the workforce connected with companies doing tech for good — AKA "impact tech".

“Impact tech” is a term that refers to companies starting to make a meaningful contribution with their innovation, usually with a focus on sustainability.

In today’s fast-paced and economically challenging tech landscape, this alignment between employee values and employer values is crucial. It not only improves retention and job satisfaction, but also drives innovation and efficiency within the company.

With the rise of tech for good, especially in places like Stockholm, where I live, there was a clear need for a platform where these companies could showcase their sustainable values and differentiate themselves from others.

So I started validating the idea. This involved talking to numerous stakeholders, receiving feedback, and continuously iterating the concept until it resonated with the target audience.

A tech-for-good recruitment platform with $14k MRR

Genvalues is a tech recruitment platform that helps sustainable companies — companies using tech for good — find engineers who share their core values and principles, ensuring a perfect match that transcends technical skills.

We operate on a subscription-based model where companies pay an annual fee to list their engineering teams on Genvalues. Additionally, we charge a success fee for every successful hire made through our platform.

Our MRR is currently at $14k and we expect that to grow in 2024.

We’ve also been recognized for our innovative approach. We won the 2023 Innovation Company of The Year, we were a finalist at the Developers Day Gala, and we received a nomination for the King’s Prize.

And I'm proud to say that 47% of engineers interacting with Genvalues are women in tech, promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Tap your network for your MVP

Building the MVP was a learning journey. Time and resources were limited, but the passion for creating something valuable, sustainable, and good kept me going.

We built our backend with Python and the frontend is developed using Java. The initial design was really rough. And despite being an advocate for beautiful design, I was not afraid of going to events and showing off my ugly MVP.

Networking and leveraging community support were crucial in this phase. Sometimes, I’d even randomly asked founders I admired to let me send them a DM on X.

People love to share their advice. It makes them feel good. And this feedback and advice is how I turned Genvalues into a usable product.

I wish I had known the value of seeking out and talking to experts in the field before diving into product development. Getting critical feedback early on can save a lot of time and resources.

The 3 keys to good products

Before founding Genvalues, I gained a lot of experience across sectors, and this has given me unique insights into what makes a product and a team truly great.

First, user perception plays a vital role. If a product makes users feel awkward or socially uncomfortable, it is likely to fail, regardless of its technical merits. The Segway’s failure highlights this; users felt they looked awkward using it, significantly hindering its acceptance. You must consider how it makes users feel and how they are perceived by others.

Second, engaging with real users early and often allows for continuous refinement based on actual needs and preferences. Genvalues had features I thought people would like because I like them. I was wrong. When I spoke with users, I learned what they wanted and had to fundamentally change Genvalues.

And third, beauty matters. For thousands of years, religions have used beauty to attract followers and strengthen belief systems. People are naturally drawn to beauty, which fosters trust and a sense of magic. This principle applies to products as well; beautifully designed products captivate users, create emotional connections, and inspire loyalty.

When a product is aesthetically pleasing, it stands out in the market, attracts attention, creates a positive first impression, and builds trust. This initial attraction can lead to greater user engagement and satisfaction.

It is crucial to move fast and iterate rapidly, but beauty in post-MVP product design is becoming increasingly important.

Sustainable growth through experimentation

Growing the business required a lot of experimentation and iteration, so it became clear how important it is to prioritize action over perfection.

We identified growth opportunities where we could test ideas quickly and pivot based on results. This meant sometimes taking risks and asking for forgiveness rather than permission.

Here are some experiments we've run so far.

LinkedIn

We focused on LinkedIn as a primary growth channel because our target audience — engineers and tech-for-good companies — is very active there.

It proved to be a valuable source of growth, helping us connect with both engineers and companies looking to expand their teams. But cold emailing the leads was not very effective.

Through iterating, we found that seeking introductions through LinkedIn connections was way more valuable. I highly recommend this, by the way — don’t be afraid to ask for an intro.

Substack

Another experiment we tried was content marketing via Substack. We launched The Impact Engineer. Initially, we iterated on the types of content that we sent out to find what resonated most with our audience.

The newsletter resulted in a 25% rise in monthly visitors. It currently has 3k subscribers and it has helped establish Genvalues as a thought leader in our niche.

SEO

We recently started using SEO Bot, an AI-driven SEO platform that we hope it will significantly boost our traffic. We also produce a large volume of articles to enhance our online presence.

Other experiments

We are currently planning a launch on Product Hunt soon to further increase our visibility.

We're also experimenting with marketing on X to see its effectiveness. The jury is still out.

Every founder needs to tailor their growth strategy to their specific product and target audience, experimenting to ensure that they engage with their audience where they are most active.

The future of a tech-for-good recruitment platform

The future belongs to tech for good companies that live by their core values and mission. Engineers will seek workplaces that not only resonate with their principles and values but also offer the opportunity to contribute to a greater purpose. These organizations will attract and retain top talent, driving innovation and competitive advantage, as employees find deeper fulfillment and motivation in their work.

I aim to expand Genvalues to become the go-to recruitment platform for these companies.

I plan to do that by harnessing the power of AI to handle routine and technical assessments, allowing us to focus on what truly differentiates top talent: their soft skills, cultural fit, and how they enhance team dynamics.

Other than that, it’ll be a lot of action. Only through action can you truly determine if something will work. That, and an iron will.

I’m prepared for a long journey to success. You can follow along on X, my newsletter, or check out Genvalues.