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ALL WORK03 / MARKETPLACE

Karya

A jobs marketplace where employers and seekers actually meet.

YEAR
2023
ROLE
Build partner
SCOPE
Two-sided marketplace + mobile
TEAM
5 people · 22 weeks
STACK
Next.js · React Native · Postgres · Redis · OpenSearch
01  /  THE BRIEF
━━━━

Most job platforms optimise for one side of the market and let the other rot. Karya wanted both sides to feel like they were getting somewhere within five minutes. We had to build search, messaging, and verification at the same time — without any of them feeling half-finished.

02  /  THE APPROACH

Three decisions that shaped the build.

01

First five minutes, not first install.

We measured 'did a useful thing happen by minute five' for both sides and built backwards from there.

02

Verification before matching.

Both sides go through a light-touch ID check before they can message. Reduced spam and ghosting in equal measure.

03

Search that admits what it doesn't know.

If you ask for something we don't have, the app says so and offers the nearest match. Better than zero-result blank screens.

03  /  THE OUTCOME

What went live, and what it did.

5.2 min
Time-to-first-message
Median, sign-up to first verified DM.
38%
Seekers replying same day
Industry-typical is closer to 12%.
22 wk
MVP to live
Two surfaces in parallel — web + native.

Both sides get somewhere in the first session — that was the whole bet, and the numbers held from launch week.

FOUNDER, KARYA
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