Jobpushy aims to help IT professionals find their dream jobs. Founder Marc-Oliver Scheele's project is dedicated to matching job seekers with employers. In addition to IT professionals, startups, in particular, are expected to benefit from this.
Hi Marc-Oliver, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background!
I've been on this planet for 45 years. I've been working professionally in software development for half of that time. 17 of those years have been in Munich.
After studying computer science, I took advantage of the "new economy" era and founded a venture-backed startup. After the bubble burst, I briefly moved into a permanent position. And now, for over 15 years, I've found my passion in freelance software development and IT consulting.
A new passion has been added to my portfolio for a good two years now: my startup with the product Jobpushy. A service that aims to find the perfect job for IT professionals. (https://www.jobpushy.de/)
For me, “free time” in the current situation means doing activities with my three boys and my wife.
Jobpushy relies on bootstrapping
As you mentioned, you had already founded a startup before. What was it about, and what did you learn during the founding process that helps you today or has helped you in the past?
In 1999, I founded Searchbroker AG with a founding partner. We developed B2B search engines designed to help companies find information on the (then new) internet. Google wasn't even a term back then.
It was a typical startup, geared for rapid growth. We were funded with 4 million Deutschmarks, had a team of 15 at the peak, and went full throttle. Unfortunately, our product ultimately failed to gain traction. The decline of the New Economy ultimately broke our backs.
My personal lesson: After my experiences with venture capitalists, including the pressure to grow extremely quickly, I'm no longer convinced by this model. It's an all-or-nothing game.
With Jobpushy, I'm approaching the journey completely differently. No external capital, a minimal team size, and maximum automation. This allows me to build the company self-funded and now, through bootstrapping, expand the business and product at a healthy pace.
The motto of job placement: Quality over quantity
So what does Jobpushy do?
We're a somewhat different marketplace for IT job placement. Our focus is on computer scientists who are actively or passively searching for their dream job. While the selection of jobs in this industry is vast, finding the one that truly makes them happy isn't always easy.
The IT professional seeking a position tells us what they're looking for and leaves their email address. We then send them suitable jobs. Our motto: quality over quantity. To continually improve this over time, users can rate their job suggestions, Tinder-style. This information is then incorporated into their future matching process.
How do startups benefit from this?
Startups and small companies with exciting IT jobs can post their job postings with us for free. Simply provide us with the URL of the job description, and our crawler will automatically import the data:
To do so, simply register for the so-called basic package, which can be accessed via the following page: https://www.jobpushy.de/preise/it-stellenangebote-inserieren
What is the business model?
Our service is completely free for candidates looking for a new IT job. We earn our money from corporate clients who want to have their IT vacancies filled quickly, transparently, and in large numbers. For these clients, we offer a (low-cost) premium membership for a flat rate of €139 per month.
The focus is on England and the USA
How do you finance yourselves? What are your plans for the next five years?
Our philosophy of highly automated service allows us to keep costs very low. This is also helped by the fact that I am largely responsible for developing the software for Jobpushy myself. This means we don't require significant financing and can still offer our service on the market very cost-effectively. The remaining capital comes directly from me. Since I currently work 50 percent freelance, I have a regular and necessary income. In summary, we are a self-funded and bootstrapped startup, including a lot of sweat money.
In five years, we want to be established in German-speaking countries as the brand that reliably and accurately places IT experts in jobs, both for permanent positions and freelance projects. We will also have expanded our presence in England and the USA. Jobpushy is already registered as a trademark in the USA.
Something you still want to get rid of?
I'm always happy to exchange ideas with other solopreneurs and bootstrapped startups. I invite anyone interested to contact me via Twitter (https://twitter.com/Jobpushy ).
