Nubel: July newsletter

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all doing well. Things have been moving at a good pace here. So here we go!

By the way, if you missed the last newsletter we sent on June 19th and are interested in reading it, let me know and I can forward it to you.

Quick updates:

• We completed an initial version of the website: https://nubel.ca. I know it isn't fancy, but I believe in prioritizing efforts as much as possible, and I think at this point we don't need such a good website (please, let me know if you think otherwise).

• We finished our first working version of the product and we're finalizing the last details to ensure a smooth onboarding process for the first users.

  • A quick (and not so quick) note on this point. As Nubel has pivoted quite a bit from its inception as an all-in-one ERP for staffing agencies, the base code was pretty large and not very aligned to what we're doing now. This has meant an extra effort for our dev team not to break things backward. That's why we decided to start a new repo, new infrastructure, new domain, new everything. "Nubel ERP", as we call it now, is still fully operational at https://nubel.app and we'll continue to support it. The new code base is much lighter, allowing us to make progress faster; although at the same time we have a "repository" for chunks of functionality or components.

• We came up with an overall plan for our launching strategy (more details below).

Potential partnership with IECBC:

We're very happy to tell you guys that we've been having amazing conversations with the IECBC's team. Their mission aligns perfectly with Nubel's, making this potential partnership a great opportunity for both of us, and for Canada as well.

I've been mentoring job seekers through the IECBC's MentorConnect program for a few months now. As a mentor, I've been invited to several events, including their last Vancouver National Employer Feedback Forum. I thought that what was discussed in that event was exactly what we've been hearing in our research: people can't find jobs even though there are many openings, recruiters spend 4-6 seconds on each resume, international experience is often dismissed, the hiring process is broken, and so on. The conversation at this event was extremely valuable in many different ways.

After this event, I had another meeting with their team and we're in an active conversation on how IECBC and Nubel can collaborate more closely to really make an impact in BC. This conversation is in progress but potential looks very promising (check out 1, 2, and 3).

Launch Strategy:

As for our launch strategy, we're aiming to target job seekers first, especifically Tech Newcomer Immigrants in BC, then recruiters and employers. This is because the more data we have, the easier the value of Nubel will be to understand.

Once we're able to join the two parties on the platform, we'll guide them both to find the first matches. We'll then do two things: 1) ensure that those matches happen naturally and 2) use those matches as success stories for a stronger broadcast of Nubel. I guess at this point we should be ready to raise our pre-seed funding and aim for more significant traction.

• Soft launch: Onboard talent.

  • Target: Tech Newcomer Immigrants in BC.

  • When: From the first days of August.

  • How:

    • We'll host a series of events in BC (Gabriela Arno, a seasoned community builder is helping us with this) to attract our target. We'll offer them some value (ex, free profile feedback), and then we'll invite them to join Nubel.

    • We'll do a lot of PR: join existing podcasts, talks, panels, events, etc. We'll get the word out.

    • We'll ask for help from some organizations to support us with their networks and reach.

  • Goal: Get between 100 and 500 talents on our platform.

• Launch: Aim to recruiters and employers.

  • Target: To be refined.

  • When: Ideally we should get 100-500 talents in 1-3 months from launch. Keep in mind that this phase will also help us refine aspects of the UX, fix bugs, and more.

  • How: To be refined.

  • Goal: Find recruiters and employers really interested in hiring Tech Newcomer Immigrants in BC. The number shouldn't be huge, just enough to get initial traction, feedback, and success stories.

Next steps for Nubel:

• As you can see by yourself, the platform is already online (may break everywhere and it looks clunky). The very first step is to complete a first functional MVP, which should take about 1-2 more weeks.

• Gabi and I will work on organizing our first events. Stay tuned and feel free to join us!

• / Launch, measure, fix/change / (music aficionados will understand).

What can I do for Nubel?

You guys are always so nice! Thanks for asking 🫶 

• Help us get heard: If you have (or know someone who does) any communication platform (such as a podcast, a strong social media network, event, etc) we'll really appreciate you inviting us there.

• Reach: We want to start small and incrementally increase our reach. If you want to help us get more reach, please let me know.

We're getting there, I can feel it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. I've adjusted my calendar so you can self-schedule an in-person time in any of the beautiful places of Vancouver.

If you think someone else should receive this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to them and let me know so I can include them in the next releases.

Thanks again for your support. If you're receiving this email, it's because we really value you being there.

Thanks and speak soon,