NetPay Calc
Executive Summary
Vision Statement
Empower every job seeker to never accept a pay cut disguised as a raise, making career decisions data-driven and financially sound.
Problem Summary
Job seekers frequently overlook 'Cost of Working' factors like commuting, parking, tolls, and time lost, leading to salary increases that result in zero or negative net financial gain.
The Reddit post (529 upvotes, 83% upvote ratio) reveals widespread frustration: users report $10k raises completely eroded by $530+/month in new expenses, with top comments emphasizing failure to calculate 'revenue vs profitability' and calling it a 'horrendous move' to leave remote work.
Proposed Solution
NetPay Calc is a calculator that inputs old/new job salaries, locations, and lifestyle factors to output net disposable income comparison, break-even salary thresholds, and time-cost equivalents (e.g., 'Your $10k raise = 2hrs/day commute').
Integrates real-time data for gas prices, toll calculators, parking rates, and tax estimates for instant 'true raise' calculations.
Market Analysis
Target Audience
Primary Persona: 'Career Climber Chris'
- Age: 25-40
- Occupation: Mid-level professional (tech, finance, marketing)
- Income: $80k-$150k
- Situation: Frequently job hunting for 10-30% salary bumps
- Pain Points: Remote-to-office transitions, urban moves, excited by gross salary but crushed by reality
- Behaviors: Active on LinkedIn/Reddit career subs, uses salary calculators like Levels.fyi, but misses expense integration
- Goals: Maximize take-home pay + career progression without lifestyle regression
Secondary: HR Recruiters validating competitive offers.
Niche Validation
Strong validation from source post: 529 upvotes, 222 comments, top comments (438/371 upvotes) confirm users routinely fail to calculate full job change costs. Broader web research shows rising commute costs due to inflation/gas prices[1][7] and employer transport benefits as retention strategy[2], indicating acute, underserved need.
Not AI-generated: Real user stories of parking/insurance surprises align with common oversights.
Google Trends Keywords
Market Size Estimation
$500M: US job seekers (50M/year) using digital tools for career decisions. Focus: tech/finance professionals.
$50M: Early adopters from Reddit/LinkedIn career communities (10M active users) converting at 1%.
$5B+: Global personal finance software market (salary/expense tools). 100M+ annual job changes worldwide x $50 LTV/user.
Competitive Landscape
Direct Competitors: None found with integrated 'Cost of Working' model.
- Salary.com/Glassdoor calculators: Gross-to-net only, ignore location/commute[existing knowledge].
- Commute calculators (Google Maps, Waze): Time/distance only, no salary integration.
- Budget apps (Mint/YNAB): Post-job tracking, not pre-decision analysis.
Opportunity: First-mover in job-offer net pay simulation.[2]
Product Requirements
User Stories
As a job seeker, I want to input two job offers with locations so I can see net disposable income difference.
As a user, I want auto-filled costs (gas, tolls, parking) based on addresses so I don't manually research.
As a professional, I want to factor time cost ('2hrs commute = $50/hr lost') so I see full picture.
As a recruiter, I want to run bulk scenarios for candidates so offers are competitive.
MVP Feature Set
- Dual-job calculator: Salary, location, tax bracket → net pay comparison
- Auto-cost detection: Gas, parking, tolls via maps API
- Time value slider: $X/hour for commute time
- PDF export: Shareable 'offer analysis report'
- 5 free calculations, then upgrade
Non-Functional Requirements
- <2s calculation time for instant feedback
- Mobile-responsive (80% job search on mobile)
- Data privacy: No job details stored without consent
- 99.9% uptime during job market peaks (Q1/Q3)
Key Performance Indicators
Activation: 70% users complete first calculation
Conversion: 8% free→paid within 7 days
Viral: 15% share PDF report
Retention: 40% monthly active (multiple job apps)
Revenue: $4+ ARPU
Data Visualizations
Visual Analysis Summary
Visualizing the post's exact cost breakdown reveals how a $10k gross raise = -$1.3k net after true costs. Market chart shows job search volume peaks correlating with tool opportunity.
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Go-to-Market Strategy
Core Marketing Message
'Your $20k raise might actually be a $2k pay cut.' Calculate your true net pay before you sign.
Initial Launch Channels
- Targeted Reddit posts in r/careerguidance, r/personalfinance, r/findapath (source community)
- Product Hunt launch as 'Job Offer Reality Check'
- LinkedIn content targeting recruiters/HR with 'Stop losing candidates to hidden costs'
Strategic Metrics
Problem Urgency
High
Solution Complexity
Low
Defensibility Moat
Data moat: Aggregate anonymized user calculations create benchmark database ('Average parking cost in SF: $285/mo').
Network effects: User-shared scenarios become community wisdom. High stickiness: Job seekers return per offer (3-5x/year).
Source Post Metrics
Business Strategy
Monetization Strategy
Freemium: Free basic calculator → $4.99/mo Pro for unlimited scenarios, tax optimization, job tracking, API access for career coaches.
B2B: $99/mo per recruiter for bulk offer analysis. Affiliate partnerships with remote job boards.
Financial Projections
Year 1 Conservative: 1,000 Pro users ($5k MRR) + 10 enterprise ($1k MRR) = $6k MRR.
Growth: Viral Reddit/LinkedIn sharing + job market cycles → 10k users Year 2 ($50k MRR). Post validated by 529+ engagement.
Tech Stack
Node.js + Express - Lightweight API for calculations, integrates mapping/tax services.
Supabase/PostgreSQL - For user scenarios, benchmarks, and auth.
Next.js 14 - For SEO-optimized landing pages and interactive calculator with instant re-renders.
Google Maps API (distance/ETA), IRS tax brackets, GasBuddy API (fuel prices), Stripe (payments)
Risk Assessment
Identified Risks
Risk 1: API costs explode with usage (Maps/GasBuddy). Risk 2: Users distrust calculations ('feels like black box').
Mitigation Strategy
Mitigation 1: Rate limiting + caching, negotiate enterprise API deals at 5k users. Mitigation 2: Transparent formula display + 'show your work' button with assumptions.