BUSINESS IDEA | STARTUP

Job Interview Simulator 👔  

Mock it like it’s hot

Available Domain: Intervues.ai

1. Problem/Opportunity❓

The Problem/Opportunity: The job market is tough out there right now. Mainly because it doesn’t really work the way it’s supposed to…

But one of the toughest parts of getting a job is nailing the interview. Most of us end up bombing a few interviews until we finally get some practice in and start getting better at them. So why not build a product to help job hunters to practice as much as they want and get valuable feedback while they do? Here’s what we have in mind.

Market Size: The global career development market is worth around $45bn annually

2. Solution ✅

The Idea: An AI-powered coaching platform to help user practice and get feedback on mock job interviews

How it Works:

• A user signs up to the platform and links up their LinkedIn profile to the platform

• They give details on what roles they are interviewing for, including specific companies

• They can then role play with AI avatars based on the role they are going for and questions are asked based on real interview questions asked by that specific company

• The user is then given feedback on how they did and what they can improve on to help them get the job they want

Go-to-market: Embed into job search platforms or recruiting software with a view to helping more users secure jobs

Business Model: Users pay a monthly fee to use the platform and platforms pay per practice interview conducted on their platform

Startup Costs: You’ll probably need to do a small raise here to get this off the ground since it will be technically challenging to build

Competitors: Big Interview has a similar function here but by specializing and embedding into other platforms

3. How You’ll Get Rich 💰

Exit Strategy: Acquisition by a job search platform like Indeed or recruiting software like Lever

Exit Multiple: You could likely exit here for 6x - 10x revenue

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DRUNK BUSINESS IDEA

Bitcoin Candles

No explanation needed.

We all know a crypto bro who would want this…

JUST THE TIP

Trend 📈: Bone Conduction Headphones

Bone conduction headphones have surged in popularity of late. They are headphones that transmit sound through your skull bones rather than through your ear canal in an engineering process known as witchcraft. They’re popular with athletes since they don't plug your ears, meaning you can remain aware of your surroundings while listening to music or podcasts. They are also gentler on your ears since they don't send sound waves directly into your ear canal. Shokz is the leading brand of bone conduction headphones right now.

Business Ideas

• Bone Conduction for Tinnitus: Develop headphones with built-in tinnitus frequency matching with a companion app for personalized sound therapy

• Bone Conduction Earphones for Kids: Use in schools for children with temporary conductive hearing loss, such as glue ear, to listen to hear their teacher better

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THE MONEYSHOT

Turning $5 into a $1bn Business

You don’t need much money to start a business. You just need an idea.

Take these founders, who managed to turn $5 into $1bn…but not in the way you might think.

This is their story.

You might say that Micha Kaufman (right) and Shai Wininger are kindred spirits.

They both grew up in Israel, came from hard working households and disliked traditional education. Micah studied law at Haifa University in Israel, graduating in 1997 while Shai studied design at The Neri Bloomfield Academy of Design and Education from 1989 to 1991. But both of these guys were born to be founders, and boy have they founded a lot of companies.

Between 2003 and 2010 Micha started three companies. He launched both Keynesis (security software and encryption for tablets) and Invisia ltd in 2003. In 2005 he then started Spotback.com in 2005, a personalized news site.

Shai was similarly busy. In 1999 he founded Trimus, which built the world's first VR web browser. From 2003 to 2005, he was the Founder & CEO of Handsmart Software, creating the world's first mobile licensing platform for mobile apps and between 2005 and 2010, he co-founded Mobideo Aerospace, developing an industrial-grade analytics and control platform.

The pair met through their country’s burgeoning tech scene and decided to start a business together when they had their “aha” moment.

They wanted to make ordering services online as easy as ordering products. So they decided to build a marketplace for freelancers with a twist, where freelancers all offered their services for $5.

It was 2010 and they had just founded Fiverr.

In the early days the founder didn’t have money to spend on marketing so they mainly relied on friends and family to spread the word. They also took a pretty unconventional approach to finding users…they used dating sites.

They would go on dating sites, match with people, ask them about their jobs then tell them to list their services on Fiverr. Try explaining that to your wife or girlfriend.

But the strategy worked and Fiverr managed to reach 60,000 transactions per month in its first year. They picked up $1m in angel investment in June 2010 too. They were starting to gain some serious traction.

From there the platform kept growing and Fiverr raised money over a few rounds, raising $5m in 2011, $15m in 2012, $30m in 2014 and $60m in 2015. And in case you’re wondering it was early 2013 when Fiverr decided to introduce variable pricing that allowed sellers to charge more than $5 for their services by offering different package tiers and additional services.

By 2016 the platform was generating around $50m in revenue per year. On June 13, 2019 Fiverr went public, raising $110.52 million in its initial public offering. At the time the company was doing around $100m in revenue per year.

Today Fiverr is valued at $1.2bn and in 2023 did c.$350m in revenue. It’s a gigantic business that Micha still runs to this day. But Shai? He actually started another business which is worth more than $3bn today. But that’s a tale for another day…

In the end the Micha and Shai’s story shows that in entrepreneurship it’s all about getting the reps in. They had started six companies between them before they got their big break.

That’s the level of dedication you need if you want to make it.

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