very poor messaging here. this is like 99designs or toptal or any marketplace for providers. not like linkedin. ad-free is a lie as the entire platform is adve

very poor messaging here. this is like 99designs or toptal or any marketplace for providers. not like linkedin. ad-free is a lie as the entire platform is advertising. (syndicated ad-free more like it.) because the platform depends on the TRU score, this form the social network between providers, and customers I suppose. This in and of itself is a privacy violation. The major problem with linkedin (from privacy perspective) is the information they have on you, which they monetise. They are the privacy problem, not syndicated ads, and you are not fixing that. outside of the bubble, no one cares about the privacy angle, not in a real way. (they complain, a lot, but have no problem continuing to use privacy invasive services.) your pronouncement of being privacy focused, while not actually being so, is pretty bad. i think you may have something here, you just need to pivot your messaging. FWIW I think the TRU score is a) not innovative, and b) should be abandoned in favor of familiar 5 star scale. (like amazon or ebay: #stars plus #ratings) If you really want to be "trustworthy", you will publish statistical data on ratings. Of course, everyone will have >4 star rating, so you can't do that. I don't think that's a hindrance to marketing "trustworthiness" though, even if it's baloney.