Dear Startup Investor:
I’ve evaluated about 300 startups since the beginning of the year. Many of them had nice technology and pretty good leadership teams. But I didn’t bite. Why?
They didn’t have what the company I’m recommending to you today has in spades.
Many times these new technologies simply didn’t meet a specific need. But even when they did, something else was missing. Something big.
The market they were addressing wasn’t nearly large enough.
Disrupting big markets is becoming a challenge. The fact is, many have already been targeted by startups.
So when I realized this startup had identified a huge market that has remained unchanged for decades and has become incredibly inefficient, I took notice.
When such startups are successful, their upside can be enormous.
The startup that impressed me so much is called Apploi. It serves job seekers… but not ones like me (if I were looking for a job). The industries they cover are retail (like Nike, Uniqlo, Bed Bath & Beyond, Sephora, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret and Walmart) and restaurants (like Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Domino’s, and Denny’s).
This is the critical fact that underpins Apploi’s big ambitions. These industries, Apploi says, employ about half the workforce in the U.S.
And how they go about hiring and firing hasn’t changed since I got my first retail job back in the ’60s (while in high school, if you must know).
The industries hire local people whose one-page resumes hide or bury any unique strengths. And employers give 10- to 20-minute interviews to way too many people, for a job new employees could be saying goodbye to in less than a year.
The statistics say that half of them do just that.
Where LinkedIn Leaves Off, Apploi Begins
Both job seeker and job provider are poorly served by this time-consuming dance.
Listen, I have LinkedIn if I ever wanted to look for a job. But how about people, like my daughter, who went through a series of waitressing jobs as a college student? Most of them weren’t a good fit and she didn’t last.
Surely, there’s a better way to do things.
Apploi has delved into every step of the retail hiring process. The result: It has invented a new and better way for retailers to hire and for job seekers to land jobs.
This is how Apploi does it…
• It uses a best-in-class technology and mobile app that uses multimedia technology.
• It has a core, standardized application form that job seekers fill out only once, like the common application used in colleges.
• It includes an easy way to embed video into the application. Employers can show a scenario and ask the job seeker to respond. Job applicants can show a video highlighting their skills and personalities.
• It’s installing “iPad kiosks” in stores, malls and job centers across the country. Apploi plans on having at least 200 kiosks by the end of 2014.
• It has a built-in GPS that shows job seekers where opportunities are locally. So, for example, you may know that the nearest Walmart isn’t hiring. But you may not know the one five minutes further away is looking for a slew of new salespeople.
• Apploi aims to build a community around its users in much the same way as we’re building a community of early investors around our educational website (EarlyInvesting.com).
Clients and Job Seekers Climbing Aboard
Every day around 25 new companies are joining Apploi. Over one thousand already use it. Momentum is just starting. They’re aiming for 40,000 companies by the end of the year.
Job seekers are also discovering Apploi. Some 24,000 downloaded the mobile app in March alone. In April, 35,000 new job hunters used the Apploi app.
Apploi wants a critical mass of 3 million job seekers. Its partnership with employment agency America Works and EveryoneOn/Connect-to-compete will help it get there. Apploi will be their exclusive provider of employment applications made via mobile devices. The app will be preloaded onto 35 million smartphones that will be deployed to low-income people. Apploi’s founder and CEO Adam Lewis expects at least half will use the app.
Let’s be conservative and assume only 20% will become regular users. Twenty percent of 17 million is 3.4 million. Add that to the half a million new job seekers a year using Apploi’s app for the first time, and critical mass will be reached in no time.
But where Apploi is making outstanding progress right now is on its employer sign-ups. It has captured a slew of retail heavyweights from Walmart to Uniqlo to Cinnabon (all those retailers I mention at the beginning of this recommendation are current Apploi clients).
Its biggest paying client to date is the United Nations. Apploi manages its recruitment efforts on four continents. If you can think of a better way to forge a global reputation, let me know. Apploi is paving the way right now to become the go-to hiring app worldwide.
For now, the greater task at hand, says Founder Adam Lewis, is focusing on its U.S. operations. Speaking of Lewis…
The Team
Adam’s company is based in New York City. I sat down and talked with him in Washington, D.C. On market size, he said that Apploi would not only serve retailers and restaurants, but also hotels, casinos and, yes, even bowling alley franchises.
On providing a solution, he said Apploi will be saving employers a huge amount of time and money. He then showed me this chart, which I’d like to now show you…
On technology, he said his technology is superior with regards to its multimedia, its GPS functions and its scoring algorithms.
Adam was a management consultant at Accenture for seven years. He has the experience and know-how to execute his well-thought-out vision.
His COO, Jonathan Lake, also flashes some impressive credentials. He has 15 years of management experience in HR roles at Starbucks, Yum! Brands and 16 Handles.
The Investment Opportunity
You will be investing in a convertible note through the OurCrowd folks. You can find more information on the terms of the convertible note and overall deal terms on the OurCrowd website (see below for how to sign up).
Here’s What You Need to Do to Invest
First, sign up with OurCrowd here:
https://www.ourcrowd.com/Investor/Create
Then click “Browse Startups,” then Apploi, then, under “Ready to Invest,” click the orange box, “I’m interested,” and enter an amount.
You’ll need to answer a few questions and verify that you’re an accredited investor. If you run into any issues, here is OurCrowd’s contact information:
1.858.546.4316
Investor Relations
americas@ourcrowd.com
OurCrowd’s team will take care of any questions you have.
Sincerely,
Andrew Gordon
Startup Investor Portfolio
