Last Updated on August 26, 2014 by Tim
A Volley member was looking for advice about breaking into stand up comedy. He posted his request on the startups platform, the result was amazingly shocking: One of his contacts volleyed his request, which resulted in him meeting Darrell Hammond from Saturday Night Live.
That’s just one story about the incredible impact Toronto startup Volley is making in the lives of it’s users. Volley gets you introductions to people with the expertise you’re looking for through short, actionable requests. With the purpose to connect you with people outside of your current network, members can easily meet with people with the unique expertise they’re looking for by asking for introductions, feedback, and advice.
Another interesting story is how their Head of Marketing and our friend Danielle Geva was hired at the rising company. Volley’s Co-founder created a request: “I’m looking to grab a coffee with a social media expert who doesn’t call themselves a social media expert”. The request was immediately Volleyed (passed on) by another member (Kirill Zubovsky – founder of Scoutzie). They met and chatted about how to grow Volley and now she’s been making waves all through a simple request on the platform and another member thinking of the perfect person to fit the role.
The web app starts by allowing you to either view recent requests posted by users or helping you jot down your own. Requests can be anything you may need (advice, help, meet-ups). Your extended network then can review your requests and reply themselves or pass it on to others to build their own reputation and help you at the same time.
But why use Volley when clearly the network on other social medias are larger? We asked co-founder Mike Murchison:
“People are active on more social networks and have a larger number of contacts than ever before. However, the value we derive from these networks has not scaled with their size. It is easier than ever to grow your online network, but Volley helps you get real value out of it. We do this in two important ways: First, by creating a place where asking for help is normal. And second, by helping you reach beyond your existing network into your extended network where so much opportunity lies.
Since everyone on Volley is asking for help, requests to meet people with specific skills or experiences don’t stand out; they’re the norm. Every member is eager to pay it forward and offer their expertise when they can, or volley requests when they know others who are better suited to help.”
Mike had the interest in connecting people for a long time, and developed Volley with co-founder David Hariri whom had a similar desire of meeting people but with a specific skill-set. The idea of matching people based on their skills and needs was born when the two found a way to connect through mutual friends. Which brings up an interesting point, if their extended network connected the two, could Volley have existed even sooner if there needs had a place to live and be shared? Luckily for all of us Volley is here now and we won’t have to wait to have our requests passed on.
Currently Volley is an invite only application focused on growing within the startup community in Toronto. As a diverse city with four major univiersites in close proximity and a quickly-growing tech ecosystem Toronto is a genuine home for the startup to grow. Entrepreneurs and successful companies such as Shopfiy, Wattpad, and Freshbooks are steps away from Volley’s offices opening the door for an impactful community to help grow, share, use and connect networks together to make need requests result in success stories on Volley.
You can apply to join Volley by going to their Get an Invite page.