Finding general business advice on the internet is easy. All you have to do is hit up a Q and A site like Quora or type your query into Google to get blanket answers that could apply in many different situations. But where do you go if you are looking for advice that is specific to your business and your issue? Enter HighTable, a new Q and A site currently in beta for business professionals.
HighTable helps professionals gather and share expertise that is relevant to them. Users create a profile and search for questions to answer, or ask a question. The site – which is part of Gershan Lehrman Group – has been in beta since April 2nd and currently has 80,000 users. It was developed to solve a particular problem for business professionals.
HighTable is different than other Q and A sites, like Quora – which relies on credentials and social capital – because it matches you with people who are most likely to have the best answers for your questions. It has developed knowledge matching algorithms based on data about what people know and what they’ve done. By using this data, combined with machine learning, the HighTable team will be able to improve the matching over time. People are more willing to answer questions about subjects that they are passionate about, and that they have a deep knowledge of.
The best thing about the service is the high quality of the answers. You won’t find one-sentence answers or trolls on this Q and A site. Additionally, all answers are indexed by Google.
Jessica Hunt, General Manager of HighTable, notes that there are three types of people that are using the service heavily: entrepreneurs, small to medium growth companies, and investors. Hunt believes that entrepreneurs are turning to HighTable for business answers rather than their existing social networks because current connections don’t always have the best advice:
If you are starting a company, you typically do not have that many resources. When you are trying to grow, your current electronic connections track where you’ve been and not where you are going.”
Hunt cites several examples of successful connections that have already been made via HighTable.
Some of the industry experts that answered this question include Brent S Gambill, Executive Producer, Major, SiriusXM Radio, and Bob Oettinger, President of the International Baseball Association.
The answer posted on this question is from Timothy Sullivan, formerly of PepsiCo and a current angel investor.
According to Hunt, HighTable is focused on user growth and product refinement rather than monetization.
We want to make decision making for professionals a lot easier. We want to be a part of a decision makers workflow.”
You can sign up now to get instant access to HighTable’s beta.
