AlphaSights Ltd / strange request.

[P-Jay]

Had a bit of a strange request today.

A guy from the above organisation contacted me via LinkedIn, seemed to know a bit about me and my background, but mostly about my former employer and their industry - they are pretty unique in the way they do things.

Long story short, they've offered me a 'couple of quid' (I know how much) for an as yet unknown 3rd party to talk to me on the phone for an hour about my knowledge of the industry, of which I do have extensive knowledge, abet limited to my roles within it.

But I can't help but thinking it's all a bit odd - leaving aside the story, someone I don't know contacted me offering me money for a simple task. I don't have a non-disclaimer agreement with my former employer and we didn't part on good terms - I have no moral issue with selling my knowledge about the industry as I was owed in a moral sense a pretty decent amount of money when I left, if sadly for me contractually they didn't have to pay it, so they didn't. My current role is completely different so I'm not stepping on my Boss's toes either and I can do it after-hours.

But am I being scammed? Or perhaps my, it has to be said, vindictive former boss trying to trap me into some legal nightmare or is this something that's quite normal and I just haven't heard about it before.

In regards to this 3rd party - I'd have to sign an agreement to not disclose our conversation, or who I spoke to, in return my name wouldn't be mentioned anywhere on any paperwork their end.

[P-Jay]

P.S. if anyone has done something similar, may I ask how much you asked for? I agreed to the first offer, which I know must have been a mistake ha ha.

[Bullett]

P-Jay said:

I'd have to sign an agreement to not disclose our conversation, or who I spoke to, in return my name wouldn't be mentioned anywhere on any paperwork their end.

Um have you not just done that?

[Bullett]

Actually all you have done is mention Alphasights.

They appear to be a knowledge broker, pretty elaborate set up to scam you!

[P-Jay]

Yeah its the 3rd party I can't mention.

[22s]

You're not being scammed - one of my friends used to work for AlphaSights.

Basically a hedge fund/private equity shop/whatever calls AlphaSights up and says "I want to invest in the Hungarian aluminium industry, can you find me someone to talk to who knows about it? I'll pay you £1,000".

AlphaSights trawls LinkedIn and the Internet to find an expert on the Hungarian aluminium industry. They offer the expert £500 to speak to the hedge funder/PE analyst/whatever, and keep the other £500 for themselves.

Probably one of the most easily replicable (and profitable) business models around.

[P-Jay]

22s said:

You're not being scammed - one of my friends used to work for AlphaSights.

Basically a hedge fund/private equity shop/whatever calls AlphaSights up and says "I want to invest in the Hungarian aluminium industry, can you find me someone to talk to who knows about it? I'll pay you £1,000".

AlphaSights trawls LinkedIn and the Internet to find an expert on the Hungarian aluminium industry. They offer the expert £500 to speak to the hedge funder/PE analyst/whatever, and keep the other £500 for themselves.

Probably one of the most easily replicable (and profitable) business models around.

Thanks, they seemed legit when I had more of a chance to look into it tonight.

My only regret is, like so many before me, I've sold myself too cheaply ha ha, still, call me bitter, but I actually look forward to helping a new player enter that industry. I hope Karma really is the bh she claims to be, I really hope I cost my former employer a lot more than the few grand of bonus they conned me out of.

[benmc]

I have completed a couple of interviews for them. All appeared to be above board, as stated above companies wanting to hear more about an industry/sector need to speak to people within that industry.

Do the call, fill in the form online and get paid in 30 day or so.

Ben

[P-Jay]

Thanks all, I took a 40 min call last week and a quick follow up yesterday which took less than 10. I'm not sure how much the first person knew about me, they asked a lot of generic questions I didn't know the answer too, in fact I didn't really understand the question - but I was determined not to make some half-arsed guess and let them base some policy on it so I just said "sorry, no idea".

The second guy knew a lot more about me and wanted to know a lot more stuff about my former employer directly but I was happy to give me opinion and didn't have any hard facts to give them.

All in all I was paid of an hour and a half of my time, and whilst, judging on what I've found online I could have asked for a lot more, I was paid enough for a lovely night out with my wife and some new bits for my Mountain Bike for giving up my lunch break.

[thoughtoftrain]

I was just approached with the same offer. I haven't accepted yet. You mentioned you looked online and could have gotten more. Can you provide links? I'm curious about participating, but would like to negotiate for a higher amount and would like to have some data to back it up.

Thanks in advance!

[P-Jay]

thoughtoftrain said:

I was just approached with the same offer. I haven't accepted yet. You mentioned you looked online and could have gotten more. Can you provide links? I'm curious about participating, but would like to negotiate for a higher amount and would like to have some data to back it up.

Thanks in advance!

I don't recall the sites now, mostly industry forums but the "going rate" seemed to be £500 an hour, but of course forums are full of people who'll exaggerate for Internet points. The chap I spoke to offered less than that and I took it - £300 I think, but I assume he'd left himself wiggle room.

I'm not sure using forum posts as a way of getting more will help much, I guess it's a case of how many people they can find via LinkedIn etc that fit the profile.

Pleasant enough experience I had, I'll be lying if I said I hadn't bumped up my LinkedIn profile since - its the easiest money I've ever made.

[thoughtoftrain]

That helps! I'll reply to their email and see what happens. I'll post back if they do use me.

[PistonSound]

I was also approached and although I eventually trusted them a bit more doing some more research, I declined, as things were too little transparent upfront.
It turned out that the rep became quite rude and displayed unacceptable behavior.
In sum, I would not recommend them - but if you decide doing otherwise, don't forget to negotiate as they will naturally only pay you a minimum fraction of what they will get from their clients.

[mr_spock]

I've done a bunch of calls with them, and GLG too. They basically broker between potential investors (often VC, but not always) and industry experts to arrange confidential briefings. They're very careful to ensure you don't reveal anything confidential, and often the companies want education as well as industry insight.

Frankly, it's easy money. PM me if you want to know more, but I'm very happy with my interactions with them.

[ashleyman]

P-Jay said:

P.S. if anyone has done something similar, may I ask how much you asked for? I agreed to the first offer, which I know must have been a mistake ha ha.

Not done it for them but did it for someone else and earn a bunch of Amazon vouchers for my troubles!

[Jellyman0233]

How did they pay you? I'm expecting a call this afternoon, and don't necessarily want to hand these guys my SSN and the like.

[xyyman]

They will pay you via bank transfer. They will not deduct tax, therefore no NI number will be asked for, you should declare these earnings on your own tax return.

[Sheepshanks]

Jellyman0233 said:

How did they pay you? I'm expecting a call this afternoon, and don't necessarily want to hand these guys my SSN and the like.

SSN - are you in the US?

[Puggit]

Hmmmm - I've just been approached. Doing my due diligence, and this thread turned up. Having found some other, less than complimentary info online I was about to say no. But this thread has put my mind at ease.

[Meeten-5dulx]

I was asked something similar (not sure the same company) and it was only £100.
Admit, it’s more than my hourly rate, but I didn’t get back to them.

Might do if asked again. And see they will up the sum!!