Glassdoor.com is Live!

Hello Everyone, glassdoor.com is alive, we’re getting a lot of press, and we are overwhelmed with site traffic and content.  Check out the press summary below.  While all of that is great, one thing that makes even more press is talk.  We need to get our friends and family talking about Glassdoor – and just as important, we can finally talk about the product w/o having to worry about blowing the big secret.  So I would encourage everyone to take a few minutes to send out a mass email to their friends and family letting them know the BIG day has arrived.

 

If you’re not one for words, we’ve drafted a sample email w/ some of our key messages – but I always find it’s best if it’s personalized by you.  I’d also suggest that if you have a Facebook or LinkedIn profile that you update it w/ news that we’ve launched.  We also have a Facebook fan page to join and I’m sure we’ll have other ideas to get the word out. 

 

- T

 

Tim Besse | Founder, VP, Product & Marketing| Glassdoor.com

3 Harbor Dr, Suite 101 | Sausalito | CA | 94965

P: 415.339.9105 x 602 | F: 415.236.6475 | tim@glassdoor.com

www.glassdoor.com

 

 

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The BIG day has finally arrived - today we launched the Glassdoor.com beta!  And after months of hard work, we are finally able to talk about why we’re so excited about this product. 

 

So what is it?  Glassdoor.com is opening the doors to companies everywhere by allowing anyone to find and anonymously share real-time reviews, ratings and salary details about specific jobs for specific employers — all for free.  What sets us apart is that all our information comes from the people who know these companies best – employees.  Think of it as the Yelp or TripAdvisor for planning your career. 

 

The service is free, but we’ve launched with what we’re calling our “give-to-get” model.  This means to access all the employee reviews and salaries of the community, you must first share an anonymous review or salary of your own.  To give you a preview of the value in this transparency, we’re offering sneak peeks for four technology companies in the SF Bay Area (Cisco Systems, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!) where you can see all reviews and salaries before contributing.

 

Anyway, I hope you’ll check it out, give us your feedback, and tell your friends.  We’re going to have a great time with this product and I hope you’ll be right there with us.

 

 

If you have a few minutes, Here is what the press has to say:

 

1.     BusinessWeek

Tech BeatGlassdoor.com:TripAdvisor for the Workplace

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2008/06/_the_reviews_ar.html?campaign_id=rss_blog_blogspotting

 

2.     CIO UK

CIO News View: Glassdoor.com - a clear view for the terminally nosey

http://www.cio.co.uk/concern/people/news/index.cfm?articleid=2890&pagtype=allchantopdate

 

3.     CondeNast Portfolio.com: Tech Observer

Glassdoor: Like a TripAdvisor About Companies

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/06/11/glassdoor-like-a-tripadvisor-about-companies

 

4.       Leaving the Flock Blog
Glassdoor’s Conundrum : Making Clear the Ad Revenue Model Challenge

http://jeremiahsjamison.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/glassdoors-conundrum-making-clear-the-ad-revenue-model-challenge/

 

5.     Personal Insights on Web 2.0, Blogging, and Business

Glassdoor Launches (and it’s really cool)

http://www.drewmeyersinsights.com/2008/06/11/glassdoor-launches-and-its-really-cool/

 

6.     San Francisco Chronicle

Site lets workers discuss employers, salaries

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/10/BUBL114329.DTL

 

7.     Seattle Post Intelligencer: John Cook's Venture Blog

Glassdoor peeks into salaries at Google, Microsoft, others

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/140874.asp

 

8.     STARTUP CHATTER: StartupAlpha.com Magazine By and For Technology Entrepreneurs

Why Glassdoor.com is Scarier Than Wikipedia

http://startupalpha.com/chatter/2008/06/11/why-glassdoorcom-is-scarier-than-wikipedia/

 

9.     StartupMeme.com
Learn what employees say at Glassdoor.com

http://startupmeme.com/2008/06/11/learn-what-employees-say-at-glassdoorcom/

 

10.   TechCrunch.com

At Glassdoor, Find Out How Much People Really Make At Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, And Everywhere Else

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/10/at-glassdoor-find-out-how-much-people-really-make-at-google-microsoft-yahoo-and-everywhere-else/

 

11.   TheDeal.com

Glassdoor offers window onto salaries, workplaces

http://www.thedeal.com/techconfidential/vc-ratings/vc-ratings/glassdoorcom-offers-transparen.php

 

12.   TheInquistr.com

Stealth Startup Glassdoor.com Launches: Employment Conditions

http://www.inquisitr.com/stealth-startup-glassdoor-launches-employment-conditions

 

13.   Velochallenge.com

Through the Looking Glass

http://www.velochallenge.com/blog/2008/06/10/looking_glass/

 

14.   Wall Street Journal

What Do You Make? Job Site Promises Peek at Salaries

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121315050927063249.html

 

15.   Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Dangers and Opportunities of the Crowdsourced Company
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/06/11/dangers-and-opportunities-of-the-crowdsourced-company/

 

16.   Wired Blog Network: Epicenter

Glassdoor: A Place for Employees to Review the Employer

http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/06/finally-a-place.html

 

17.   Workhound Job Search Engine Blog

Looking through Glassdoor Darkly

http://blog.workhound.co.uk/2008/06/11/glassdoor/

 

18.   Yahoo! Finance

Ever Wonder What the Guy in the Next Cube Makes?

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/26678/Ever-Wonder-What-the-Guy-in-the-Next-Cube-Makes?tickers=EXPE,YHOO,CSCO,MSFT,GOOG

 

19.   ZDNet

See your potential future salaries

http://blogs.zdnet.com/igeneration/?p=194

 

 

 

Obama '08

For those of you who are not getting Barack Obama emails from his campaign. A message from our next president.


I'm about to take the stage in St. Paul and announce that we have won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.


It's been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.


I want to make sure you understand what's ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that's very different from ours -- a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.


But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.


It's going to take hard work, but thanks to you and millions of other donors and volunteers, no one has ever been more prepared for such a challenge.


Thank you for everything you've done to get us here. Let's keep making history.


Barack

We live to eat

Another busy month for us. Tim went to San Diego for his man trip, I went to D.C. for work, and Tim's friend Dave, a.k.a the giant, stayed with us for the weekend before taking off on a long road trip. He really is a giant for me - he's like 10 feet tall!!!!!! And the sweetest guy ever. Good luck on your adventure Dave!

Gluttony: noun the practice of eating too much.

I will call this weekend the weekend of gluttony. We started off with dinner with our friends Daisy and Andres at a Colombian restaurant in the Mission district. But before dinner we all had a cupcake from the best cupcake place EVER - Blissful Bites. Dinner was awesome and what made it even better - our drink. It was Colombian beer and "champagne". I think there was pop in there but it made the beer the best tasting beer I ever had. I'm a sucker for anything sweet.

After dinner we went back to our house and played Wii for...a long time. We looked at our Wii counter where it tells us how many hours we played for that day and it was something like 10 hours. Thanks a lot Lara - it's Mario Kart that we're wasting all of our time on. Tim is a bit hooked on it. I think that's all he did every night when I was in D.C. for the five days. He's like a Mario Kart pro now.

In addition to the cupcakes and Colombian dinner, Daisy and I got a crepe. I can feel the weight creeping up on me. But that was just the start.

Sunday night we had an amazing dinner at our favorite vegan restaurant, yes I said vegan, Millennium. I think the fact that it's vegan and it all tastes so good makes it even better.

But today was the worst. After saying our goodbyes to Dave, we headed out to see Indiana Jones, very enjoyable movie and then we were off to Polk street for some food. We got some tacos, then went next door and got some New York style pizza, and then crossed the street and got Tim a cookie. It seems so wrong. Tacos and then pizza. I don't feel as bad since I didn't get a cookie and I'm going to exercise now.

Great weekend, great friends and oh so yummy food. This is an amazing city.

Picture of Zeia (pronounced Zay - a)

I realized I posted the news about my new niece and the only picture I had in the post was a dish of Eritrean food. She does not look like that. Here is my new little niece.

Baby two for the year

More great news - my older brother Scott and my sister in-law Donna had a beautiful baby girl, Zeia. No pictures yet. All is well and my sister in-law and Zeia left the hospital on Saturday happy, healthy, and of course, tired.

Other news - Francis got a job at UCSF!!! That means more BFF time and going to UCSF events together - woo-hoo!

BFF: Acronym - Best Friends Forever

Tim and I have been busy as usual. Meeting friends, eating and eating even more. There is nothing better than spending time with friends and trying new restaurants. Last week we went to a cool tea house with Tim's friend Suguru. Cool place in the Castro and they had sets of food paired with tea. I was in heaven. So many choices and of course I ordered the English Tea set. Loved it! Then Korean with Tim's co-worker Ryan, aka Rye Bread or The Bread, I prefer Rye Bread, and finally we had Eritrean food with our new friends who just moved from Hawaii, Daisy and Andres. Eritrean is like Ethiopian (picture to the right) and just down the road, well about 2 miles, from our house.

This week more Korean with Tim's friend Aaron, but this time I cooked the meat and then just bought all the side dish vegetables from a nearby Korean market and Burmese with my BFF Francis and his friend visiting from Hawaii Dottie.

Tim and I also went tried a new Szechuan restaurant and loved it! We went with Francis to a very neon and young Szechuan restaurant and this was by far better. They had a big 'ol fish tank in the entryway. That is a sign that it is a "real" Chinese restaurant. It gets even more real if the fish is what you can eat, but this fish tank was for decoration only. I think.

Tim leaves for his man bonding weekend in San Diego on Thursday with his college buddies and I will have my BFF weekend with Francis. I see more eating and then eating more in the upcoming week. It doesn't get any better.

And thanks to my girlfriend Lara we are getting...........Mario Kart!!!!!! Eating and Wii - life is good.

Guest Blog - Jill's Visit

Things have been busy as usual, so busy that we have a guest blogger! Yes, you not only get to play Wii when you come to visit but you also will get to write a blog post. Jenne, you are lucky, you got away with it. So everyone, here is Jill's blog post...

This is Jill, guest blogging from Seattle. I visited Wendy and Tim last weekend, and had an amazing time. Everything was memorable, and highlights follow.

On Thursday, Wendy picked me up from the airport and we got take-out from Burma Superstar. Their tea leaf salad is perfect.

On Friday, I explored the Ferry Terminal shops, in particular Recchuiti Confections – their rose caramel is sublime and New Kapadokia and somehow convinced Tim to drive to Redwood City for Turkish food. It was worth the 30 minute drive – everything was unique, flavorful, well-balanced and intriguing. The most interesting part of the evening was seeing the hordes of teenagers gathered on the equivalent of a city square, hanging out and listening to loud rap/hip-hop, with video games set up on a projection screen. It seemed to be controlled chaos, and was fascinating.

On Saturday, Wendy and I braved the (very friendly) line at Tartine. Suffice it to say, we loved it so much that we went back in line to buy things for the afternoon, and made a detour back to Inner Richmond to refrigerate the banana cream tart, the coconut cream tart, and the Croque Monsieur. We also tried the pain au chocolate (still warm from the oven!), the bread pudding, the arugula quiche, and a scone. It was all phenomenal. (Note: the cake is from a North Beach shop, not Tartine.)

We walked around the North Beach area in the afternoon, and in the evening went to a fabulous party in Sausilito. After that, we met up with Aaron and Aparna for dinner at New Dehli, then drinks at the Top of the Mark. The theme of San Francisco continues: wonderful, warm people and absolutely delicious food.

Sunday, Wendy and I trekked out of the city again – this time to Berkeley. We’re glad to have seen it, but are not compelled to return. San Francisco is infinitely more beautiful. The Cal campus, though, was stunning, and we enjoyed our walking tour immensely. It was a perfect day to visit the Campinile.

We also took a tasting tour of the Scharffen Berger tour, which was fascinating. They were very informative, and the chocolate was tasty. It was great to see a glimpse of chocolate being made, and equally interesting to peek into the offices.

Thank you, Wendy and Tim for the perfect weekend!

Monthly Update

Well a lot has happened since the last posting. First the most recent and exciting news - Tim's sister Chris and brother in-law T-Roy had a healthy baby boy, Carter, April 2. Tim flew down to Beaverton see his new nephew and with his luck, then got food poisoning or something. He thinks it was chicken wings but who knows with Tim.

More news of babies - my brother Spencer and my sister in-law Michele are expecting a girl in September. And the last of baby news, my older brother Scott and my sister in-law Donna are expecting their baby (don't know if it's a boy or girl yet) within the month.


Other news. I just got back from Boston for work. We had a seminar so I got to staff a conference again. That meant long hours and lots of crazy things happening but I love it. I came back exhausted and all wound up. Went to a massage the other day and the poor girl had her work cut out for her.

Boston is an amazing city. I loved it. It was a bit windy and cold but such a walkable city with cute neighborhoods. I got to walk around the city a bit, caught the T (subway) to Cambridge to have dinner and catch a glimpse of Harvard and also got to see the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. What an amazing building. I wish I had more time and can't wait to go there with Tim for a vacation.


And last we had more visitors before I left for Boston. My girlfriend Jenne from Washington came down with her daughter Sophia and husband Tom. They stayed with us for a long weekend and I believe I have converted more people to the joys of Wii. Tim and I had not played for a while, probably the last time we did was when his family was here visiting last Thanksgiving, so it was fun to get reacquainted with it. I can happily say that I am no longer addicted to Wii, but I can't say the same for Tom and Sophia. They were really getting in to it.


I'm glad to be back home and still recuperating from the trip. It's fun to be working again.