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[audio:https://kontrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/LevoLeagueReview.mp3|titles=Solving the Gen Y Woman’s Career Problem]Levo League launched last week by founders Caroline Ghosn and Amanda Pouchot. It’s a professional social network for Gen Y women, and is funded to the tune of $1.25 million by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Ning founder Gina Biancihini, and Gilt Groupe’s Susan Lyne among others.
Oh, and it sucks.
Big connections mean big expectations and I’d say with the exception of some fantastic and probably un-deserved PR (Can you say privilege? Co-founder Caroline Ghosn is the daughter of Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn), the launch has fallen spectacularly flat.
The site is confusing and manages to mash up bad and outdated UI simultaneously, while not making it clear that you need to be “accepted” to use the site. And let’s stop right there and point out that applying to be accepted flies in the face of Generation Y’s most basic principles, the team-building generation that gives everyone a trophy. We like to flatten hierarchy, not build it. While I understand the tactic is more about marketing, creating false scarcity around a demographic that puts inclusion first is lame.
After sign up, you are dumped into an environment with limited content – although what content is there is solid – a teeny tiny job board, a deserted community “lounge” (already?), and a directory of companies with no job openings.
Except, wait, the joke is on you. When you are accepted into Levo League, the content and pages on the site? Exactly the same.
Totally bizarre, to say the least. Let’s not forget, similar, if not identical sites have tried and failed. Damsels in Success, also described as a social network for professional women, launched back when I was a wee beginner of a blogger. Founder Harleen Kahloon also had major connections, lots of press, and good content. And yet, the site no longer exists.
Safe to say, the future of women and careers online is not a directory of companies, job listings, and a social network tacked on. It’s almost as if Levo League should have launched in the late nineties along with Careerbuilder and Monster. But these days, those guys are failing. Monster recently laid off 400 people and just last week, put itself up for sale.
(Sidebar and disclosure: Ryan’s company was also a professional social network for Gen Y at one point. And it too failed. I’ve watched the painful progression and pivots over three years to Brazen’s current, successful iteration that allows recruiters and job candidates to connect in a useful and innovative way.)
The funny thing is, I’m pretty sure Levo League’s founders know this too. The number one thing you can do for career opportunities and advancement (read: dream jobs, meaningful work, more money, better titles) is to network, network, and network. Eighty percent of job openings are filled through networking (you know, actually talking to people), and certainly Ghosn and Pouchot are masters in this regard. These founders are exceptionally smart and likeable, and engaging to watch to boot.
But managing your career and building a start-up are different. At some point the relationships that give you money, press, and maybe even your first few thousand users will do nothing to retain your users, build loyalty and create rabid fans. PR is only an attention-based mechanism. It does nothing for engagement, retention or product strategy. It is one thing for friends to support you to your face, but it is quite another for them to use the product you’ve built and integrate it into their daily or weekly life. Friends aren’t users.
The Levo League site just isn’t set up to support networking and mentorship between ambitious women. There is an interesting opportunity there, however. Why not create a mentorship site that matches mentors like dating sites match mates? Or even simply match like-minded career women? That sort of algorithm would be awesome and totally useful.
I have no doubt Levo League will be successful, eventually. Their smarts, that kind of money, and their high-profile backers mean Ghosn and Pouchot will have the luxury to pivot, iterate and learn from their mistakes. Let’s just hope they fail fast. I’m ready to see what’s next.
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What do you need to succeed in your career? Networking, support, advice? What’s missing on career sites today?
17 replies on “Solving the Gen Y Woman’s Career Problem”
I hope they succeed. First of all, we need more women in tech and startups. And secondly, I’m not personally a huge fan of women-only environments (gyms, for example) but I think this is one area where it would be seriously useful and beneficial. According to the Accenture infographic on Gen Y women (
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/The-Next-Generation-of-the-Working-Woman.pdf ), 66% see visible female role models at work, but we’re still falling behind men in terms of asking for raises and actively discussing our careers with superiors.
Harriet, agreed. I don’t think anyone is disputing there IS a problem to be solved. I just think Levo League isn’t providing the right solution. And it makes me uncomfortable that they’re getting so much attention because of their relationships when the product is so poor. That’s business, though. I actually left out that this is their second or third iteration. Their first try was a media site called “Pretty Young Professional,” a name so outrageous it still makes my blood boil. Anyway, more on raises and such soon. I have a good formula for that! ;)
Oh wow that is bad. It’s awesome that you’ve started a conversation around it though. Hopefully not only will they learn from their results, but also they’ll pay attention to bloggers and the young women they’re trying to help. We generally have a good idea of what we want, even if we’re not always sure how to get it. Looking forward to more posts on work and women, and all your future posts, but of course that goes without saying!
Thanks, Harriet! Appreciate it :)
First, welcome back. Second, excellent point regarding the opportunity for mentorship which is greatly underserved on the interwebs. A solid example of a company successfully doing this is non-profit studentmentor (dot) org where they pair college students with professionals. And more to your point, this active mentoring/networking provides better career results for mentees than a job board. (Full disclosure, I’m an advisor to StudentMentor)
Interesting, thanks for sharing Antonio! I love that idea. Do you know who started the site? How does the site go about doing the matching? And once matched, how do the mentor and student communicate? Is it on the StudentMentor platform or are they given each other’s contact info, or a mixture of both (a la Airbnb)? Would be awesome to see this idea expand into a wider network of professionals. I wonder too if it can be monetized or if nonprofit is the way to go. Do you have any insight on why they chose nonprofit status?
The founder is an awesome young entrepreneur, Ashkon Jafari. Dude is crazy impressive and love his mission to increase college graduation rates. In terms of matching, it’s similar to a dating site with those back end algorithms matching mentors/mentees based on interests, majors, etc. Mentors/Mentees engage directly on the site through a simple interface and of course, convos can be taken to phone, Skype, Google Hangout, etc.
That’s really cool. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for this great article. Choosing between nonprofit or for-profit is a big decision for many social enterprises these days. One of the primary reasons we chose nonprofit is because the thousands of mentors (including Antonio) are all volunteers. We think that our credibility would have diminished if we were profiting off of 100% volunteer hours.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. I think Gen Y is all about doing good, so it makes sense to go the nonprofit route (I’ve worked for several myself!), but I hope we know there is nothing wrong with making money when you are providing a valuable service to both mentors and students! ;) But yeah, totally awesome you have such an amazing group. I’ll certainly keep an eye on Studentmentors and look forward to following your success!
Ha! My first reaction after reading your CNNMoney link and seeing Ghosn’s background was the privilege eye roll. Before I get attacked for having an across the board hesitation to care about rich, white, attractive, privileged women – some of my best friends are rich, white, attractive privileged women! I totally support women who are paving the way for themselves and other women in an area that is seriously lacking in active participation from women. But it does get frustrating to continuously hear that you simply need to work hard and “stay on your grind” in order to break into these industries and be successful, while seeing rather clearly how much easier it is when you’re already born into this family and world that makes things – even if only a little bit – easier for you.
Now, I haven’t checked out Levo League yet (I plan to though), so I can’t speak to its content. But I agree with you completely that career sites are lacking in fostering an environment that provides support, mentorship, and networking opportunities that are inclusive. Most of us have been to a number of various networking events, and it can be hard to not feel left out if you’re not already in the “cool crowd.” Of course that’s kind of what networking is, and you have to get in there and be fine with feeling uncomfortable, and I’m not entirely sure what the answer is to make it a more inclusive experience. I think that your dating site method could be great though, Rebecca.
Haha. Exactly. Like the All Things D article alludes, these aren’t exactly the type of women that have ever needed career help.
The content on Levo League – that is, the actually articles, are solid. They have a partnership with Fortune from what I understand. But putting articles behind a membership acceptance wall and not much else doesn’t really do much to advance the cause of women succeeding in their careers. I tend to agree with you that there is fundamental lack of support and mentorship and networking. And women at the top often don’t want to acknowledge there is a problem for fear of tarnishing their success. As Alexia Tsotsis argues on Tech Crunch, ”
Of the many women I know with careers in tech, I would say almost 100% have felt their XX chromosomes limiting them from professional accomplishment at one point or another. Yet they don’t complain, because complaining somehow implies that you’re not successful enough to be above it all.”
I joined the website as well but was disappointed by the scanty look and confusing layout. There is so much value when you make a website simple and easy to navigate. I also remember them getting my email before it launched but I never got a follow-up email that it launched and I basically had to re-add my email to sign-up. I am not sure if they are really up to the hype or task, I guess time will tell. Really good article and welcome back!
I had the same experience! I signed up to be notified of the launch, and then heard about it through the press. So odd! Maybe their email program wasn’t working correctly or something? Thanks for the kind words. Indeed, time will tell and I intend to keep following their business as I do think it’s such an important problem to solve.
I just think everyone flocks to similar career sites… Indeed, Craigslist, Monster… and when it comes to job hunting those are good enough. I don’t think Gen Y women need a space to connect, I just think they need direction. All these blogs on career advice, etc, is enough. I hope to see them succeed, but I just don’t think it’s what Gen Y women need right now.
In many ways, I agree with you. Women that are motivated enough will be connecting and networking on their own. On the other hand, I do think it would be nice to have a community of like-minded career women online. I’m especially thinking of young professionals who work in small towns or areas that may not have female role models readily available. Thanks for the comment!
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