Harrison Barnes' Success Story - Hound

Over the years, I have watched with avid interest the progress of a number of companies. There have been phenomenal success stories as well as dismal failures.

One thing that I am convinced of is that the rise or fall of any organization has a lot to do with its central controlling force-be it the CEO, the chairman, the mentor, the founder, or just the brains behind the company. While market forces, the inherent strengths of the particular industry, the operational model, and, to some extent, luck all play their individual roles in directing the course of a company, it is this one singular force which has the final say in where the company is headed. And in the case of successful companies, this central force has always had the ability to alter the winds of fate, to defy all trends, to change the rules of the game, and to emerge victorious.

Of the many success stories that I have kept a close watch on, one of them, that of Harrison Barnes, the founder of Hound, is particularly worth mentioning. Harrison's vision was very clear. He wanted absolute global domination for Hound, the most unique job search engine. For him, Hound was to be synonymous with Google; nothing less interested him. He had his competitors, people who were there in the industry before him, but did that deter him? No, it did not deter Harrison Barnes one bit.

He did what no job search engine had ever contemplated or would ever have the courage to even dream of doing. He revolutionized the revenue model of Hound. He made Hound a paid job search engine. One could browse through millions of jobs using this unique search engine, but there was a subscription fee attached. Competitors scoffed. This would certainly be the undoing of Harrison Barnes, they thought gleefully. Would anyone pay Google to use its search facilities? People in his own company (as I have learned from reliable sources) were not too convinced of the revenue model of this new and innovative venture. They were apprehensive that this might very well halt their ambitious plans for growth.

But Harrison Barnes was convinced. He was different and would play this game by his own rules. He knew he had an excellent product in Hound. He had invested millions in research and technology. He had poured his soul into this product and knew it had to work. Nothing in the world could make him change his approach.
He focused on his email campaigns. I understand that he personally monitored and even wrote most of the emails that were sent out to thousands of potential job seekers. Within a month of being launched as a paid service, Hound had become a force to be reckoned with. Competitors copied these strategies, but to date have not had the courage to use the same operational or revenue model. The membership is increasing by the day, notwithstanding the meltdown in market conditions.

A very important factor which Harrison believes drives him is his passion for work. For Harrison Barnes, work is worship, and Harrison sincerely believes that the purpose of his work is to make jobs accessible to everyone in the world who needs them.