Need Expert Advice? Turn to HighTable

Monika Jansen Apr 28, 2012 Tweet

If you’re looking for expert advice, where do you turn?  Probably friends, colleagues, your network, and/or LinkedIn Answers.  But how do you know if the advice you are getting is really good, or if it’s everything you should know about a certain topic?

HighTable, which just launched in beta on April 2, was built to help professionals find and share firsthand expertise that goes beyond hoping someone will give you good advice.  Their focus is on knowledge pairing, which means they match questions with the people who can best answer them.

General Manager Jess Hunt explained the big difference between HighTable and LinkedIn:

“Connections on LinkedIn track where we’ve been but not where we’re going. HighTable connects you to people outside your network and industry to help you get where you want to go…. People are happy to answer questions around things they know about or care about. ”

According to Hunt, lots of entrepreneurs are using the platform, along with lots of VCs, private equity groups, and growing companies. “The entrepreneurs really get it and are asking lots of market-facing questions – like who are my target markets and what do I need to know about them –  and there are questions around how-to, operations, funding, etc.”  Here’s an interesting conversation around monetization.

Hunt also shared that HighTable is helping with business development: “One guy had a question about a new model he is developing for selling sports tickets online, and he heard from Major League Baseball, people who work at stadiums, SiriusXM, the Globetrotters – and one conversation turned into a potential deal.”  You can read through that conversation here.

HighTable is currently in invite-only beta, but Tech Cocktail readers can bypass the invite, sign up immediately here, and start posting and answering your startup questions.