Unicorn alert! 🦄🦄🦄
Multiverse, a startup that hopes to make apprenticeships commonplace, has joined the ranks of the billion dollar valuation club. And the boys are as excited about it as the Marvel Multiverse 😘... maybe even more. Less so enthusiastic is Ripple Match, who also just raised a bunch of cash to help college kids get jobs (stop us if you think you've heard this one before). Fizzy drink Bubly embraces the LBGTQ community and Buy-or-Sell with Hourly, Teal and Five to Nine is played on this episode as well. And capping off a solid effort, a pet psychic is proving once again that a sucker is born every minute.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION sponsored by:
sfx (0s):
Hey Hosers. We're doing our movie. Don't wreck our show.
INTRO (3s):
Hide your kids! Lock the doors! You're listening to HR’s most dangerous podcast. Chad Sowash and Joel Cheeseman are here to punch the recruiting industry, right where it hurts! Complete with breaking news, brash opinion and loads of snark, buckle up boys and girls, it's time for the Chad and Cheese podcast.
Joel (24s):
Oh yeah. Air Canada cancels nearly 10% of Toronto flights over seven days as staffing crunches continue. Wait a minute why am I getting Canadian news? Oh yeah. I'm in Quebec. Hey boys and girls you're listening to the Chad and Cheese podcast. This is your co-host Joel "Quebecois" Cheeseman.
Chad (44s):
And this is Chad "Nein, Tesla. Nein" Sowash.
Joel (48s):
And on this week's show metaverse, shmetaverse, it's all about the multi-verse now a game of buy or sell and pet psychics. Let's do this. Greetings from Canada, Chad.
sfx (1m 5s):
Cuckcukcuckoo
Chad (1m 6s):
They let you in? Seriously?
Joel (1m 7s):
Well, I'm married to a Canadian, so that's kind of a deal breaker for keeping me out of the country.
Chad (1m 14s):
Yeah. They're very polite up there, so they just kind of probably looked at you a little funny smiled and said, "On your way".
Joel (1m 21s):
Oh my God, just the border patrol people are so nice. You know, but granted, no one's going into Canada much these days. We didn't have much of a problem getting into the country, but.
Chad (1m 30s):
Yeah.
Joel (1m 30s):
So very nice. So I had to come someplace where rude people were, which apparently is Quebec. So we got in last night, pretty late, had dinner with some of my wife's cohorts in education. So I haven't had a chance yet, I prepare for the show and we're doing the show, but after this, I'm going to go out with my Bruce Springsteen t-shirt and see what kind of trouble I can get into in Quebec, Canada.
Chad (1m 56s):
That's just sad. All the way around.
Joel (1m 60s):
That's sad. It's sad. It's so sad. Dude, we're talking before the show, man, you are wound tight. We need to get you back to Portugal ASAP to get you on a beach, drinking a Mai Tai, whatever it is that you have there. But this show could be interesting. You're salty, you're salty.
Chad (2m 16s):
In the land of de-stressing and a bunch of, it's easier when you're kind of like away from the dumb shit. But when you're back here in the US you just get flooded with dumb shit, fucking constantly from people who should know better. So, you know, it's yeah, I do. I need my drink. I need my beach. I need my wife and all of that back in Portugal.
Joel (2m 40s):
Yeah. Lots of dumb shit. It's fun when you come to Canada and all your news is like, you know, location-based and the stories are so much lighter than what you get in this states.
Chad (2m 51s):
Yes.
Joel (2m 51s):
It's like someone got hit by a moose on the 401, you know, that's kinda like heavy hitting news here in Canada.
Chad (2m 58s):
Yeah. That happened in the US it would be not, it would all be focused on how they could bring fear to being hit by moose. You know, this is why we need these guns, these goddammn moose.
Joel (3m 10s):
Yeah. They would've claimed the moose had a gun and that we need more guns to fight the moose. Should we get to shout outs?
Chad (3m 17s):
Fucking assholes. Yes.
Joel (3m 20s):
All right. Let's get to, iHire. Yes. Who job board news. Chad, the job board announced the launch of quote, "find your niche, a career podcast", the job board as launched a podcast. It's not going to be the last, the bi-weekly podcast explores the journeys of job seekers from all walks of life to inspire listeners, to find work that aligns with their passion. Chad are ready to subscribe to iHire's new podcast.
Chad (3m 50s):
I'm a big fan of anybody who wants to pull up a mic and do a podcast. Right? I think everybody should try it. Unfortunately, you're only going to get about six deep with most podcast, most podcasts, because they run out of content. They find out how hard it is to get content. But yeah, I think a good, good for them. I, you know, we're seeing podcasts pop up left and right. You know, in our industry, you know, whether they can maintain and weather the storm of all the other podcasts? We'll see.
Joel (4m 24s):
Podcasts or the new blogs. Remember when every company, every employee at every company and every one of their company's employees had to have a blog.
Chad (4m 32s):
Yeah.
Joel (4m 33s):
They had about 10 posts in them and they just faded into oblivion.
Chad (4m 37s):
Exactly.
Joel (4m 38s):
I'm guessing podcast will be the same.
Chad (4m 40s):
Well, that being said, my first shout out, goes to my TikTok debut kids. That's right. I actually did a debut TikTok with HR Manifesto. She was on the show about a month or so ago. You can go into our interviews and, and check her out. She's she has over half a million followers. We actually did a HR coaching sessions. I was the dumb white male employee, which was an easy role for me to get ready for it already has 300,000 views, nearly 600 comments and 37,000 likes.
Chad (5m 20s):
How in the fuck?
Joel (5m 21s):
Is this a duet on her account?
Chad (5m 23s):
It's on her account. It's not a duets. It's actually just something that we recorded together.
Joel (5m 27s):
OK.
Chad (5m 27s):
So, yeah. So, and we're going to be do more of these because obviously it got a really, really good traction and it was fun and yeah, I'm looking forward to it. So now she was like, okay, now you've got to start posting shit on your account. So I actually started that and we'll see how it goes.
Joel (5m 44s):
Yeah. You'll be glad to know that the algorithm saw fit to put you in my feed this morning as I was scrolling through. So I see Chad is now active on TikTok. What could possibly go wrong? Well from TikTok to LinkedIn chat, it's time to talk about another poll that I did last week. I asked ZipRecruiter's future? Bullish or Bearish? About 250 people chimed in! 36 are bullish, but a whopping 64% are bearish on ZipRecruiter. Interestingly, most of the bullish people were in the industry.
Joel (6m 24s):
Most of the bearish folks are actually TA people. So take that for what you will. But I had to talk about my poll. Now you're more interested in how many people saw it, but decided not to say shit.
Chad (6m 35s):
Yeah. Yeah. What's that number up to now? Cause that was a pretty, it was a pretty sizable number.
Joel (6m 42s):
Yeah. Between eight and eight, 9,000 people have seen the posts a 250 votes. So it's roughly 2% of people have, have chimed in. Which I don't know any numbers from LinkedIn that have been released about what percentage is normal for a survey. But if you're, or comparing it to email two, 3%, isn't probably crazy. But yeah, a lot of people saw it and either passed it by, or maybe, you know, pontificated for awhile, but decided not to chime in.
Chad (7m 10s):
Said, who's ZipRecruiter?
Joel (7m 10s):
Yeah, for sure. I did a, actually it was spawned by an interview I did with Aim Group. They're doing a story on ZipRecruiter. So I was curious what the public thought, what my followers thought. So there you go, 64 are bearish on ZipRecruiter. And I think it's fair to say Wall Street is equally bearish on ZipRecruiter at this point.
Chad (7m 31s):
Yeah. Yes. Last or actually this week, you couldn't make the European show because you are off in the great white north. Lieven and I actually talked about the Tesla and how German is smacking down that 40 hour a week comment. Well, shout out this week goes to Atlassian who trolls, Tesla and poaches talents on it. Atlassian's career homepage this message pops up when you get in their quote, "welcome Tesla friends, we're at Atlassian and we work from anywhere" end quote. Obviously targeting Elon's you have to work 40 hours in the office, internal email at Tesla. This is interesting. And I loved the trolling and hell.
Chad (8m 11s):
Why not? If you can poach good talent, do it.
Joel (8m 13s):
Yeah, for sure. I'm all good for a little gorilla campaign. Sticking it to the competition. There needs to be more of that in corporate life. It's a, you know, common thing in politics. I think it needs to be more common in corporate America. Let's stick it to the competition. And speaking of competition, Chad, your favorite bank is back in the news.
Chad (8m 38s):
Wells Fargo?
Joel (8m 39s):
Wells Fargo is going to temporarily suspend a hiring policy that led some managers to conduct sham interviews of nonwhite and female candidates following a report by the New York Times that we highlighted last week and our show. The bank's chief executive Charles Scharf told employees in a letter on Monday, the case that these interviews were being paused, no word on whether or not they're going to fix it. They're just pausing it at this point. Chad, is it too early to do our Christmas naughty or nice list? Because I got a bank that I want to put squarely on my coal in your stocking column.
Chad (9m 18s):
Yes. And again, anybody listening to this podcast, if you have money in Wells Fargo, pull that shit out. Find a different bank. These guys are nothing but pure
Joel (9m 27s):
Dog shit,
Chad (9m 28s):
Dog shit yes.
Joel (9m 28s):
And from dog shit to free shit, Chad, we can't have a show without mentioning the fact that you can get free shit on the Chad and Cheese podcast. Just head out to Chadcheese.com click the free link. We're talking about. T-shirts from Emissary, beer from our friends at Pillar and whiskey from the folks at Textkernel. What are you waiting for? Go to Chadcheese.com for your chance to win free shit today.
Chad (9m 55s):
That's right. Don't forget also! Events are back kids!! Events are fucking back. RecFest is happening July 7th at Knebworth Park. That's right. England!! That's where all the cool kids go to listen to the music and apparently to go to recruiting open air conferences. Cause this is the biggest recruiting/TA open air conference in the world. At least that's how it's, that's how it's marketed. So we're going to be there. We're going to be on the disrupt stage. We're going to be emceeing it all day and we're going to have some surprise guest emcees joining us. But if you don't have your tickets, I don't know what the hell you're waiting for. Go to Chadcheese.com, click on events in the upper right hand corner, register, get your tickets and we will see you there.
Joel (10m 39s):
That's right and if you're going to be there and you're on this, list, I'm about to read off. Make sure you come by and see us. We'll buy you a beer. This is our birthday lists from fans of the show. We're talking birthdays. Yeah. W whatever, the free beer, we'll give you a free beer from the show, which gives free beer. Anyway, Christina <inaudible>, I'm guessing, I'm saying that, right? She has another a year around the sun, our friend Mark Anderson, who keeps promising a trip on his pontoon boat guys, but still hasn't delivered. He celebrates a birthday. Scott Allen from Melbourne. One of our favorite places that we've never been.
Joel (11m 20s):
Liz Wessel, our friend, Jim Stroud, occasionally co-hosts as a guest, Doug Munro.
Chad (11m 26s):
Ooh!
Joel (11m 26s):
And Philly, Nancy, Nancy Beresovoy. Hopefully I'm saying that correctly? Celebrates a birthday. Everyone. We hope you have a good one. It's our list of birthdays for the week.
Chad (11m 51s):
TOPICS!
Joel (11m 51s):
All right, Chad, who needs college when you have apprenticeships? Multi-verse has closed a series D of $222 million with its post money valuation coming in at yet, you guessed it!
sfx (12m 8s):
Pink Fluffy Unicorns music
Joel (12m 9s):
$1.7 billion. Multi-verse charges employers, a small recruitment fee for sourcing apprentices for them, and then charges them for the cost of training, which accounts for the majority of its revenue. Jobs that are covered in the multi-verse range from software engineers through to data analysts, professional services and related roles. The community, which includes apprentices as well as coaches, now numbers 8,000 people. Clients include the likes of Cisco and Verizon, the New York and London based company, which was founded in 2016 has now raised a grand total of $414 million and employs around 650 people according to LinkedIn.
Joel (12m 52s):
Chad, it's not Marvel's multi-verse but it's a multi-verse worth talking about. What are your thoughts?
Chad (12m 58s):
Well, first and foremost, the CEO and co-founder Euan Blair is the son of ex-prime minister, Tony Blair, and high profile barrister, Sherry Booth Blair, so the kid is obviously pulling himself up by his bootstraps. No matter. This is a great idea and last week, we were talking about Guild, hitting quad unicorn. I believe I said, anyone in this space would thrive, especially if you're doing it right, especially in the U S why? Because we suck at creating actual talent pipelines, real and effective talent pipelines, because we don't tap into the talent while they are learning to ensure that there is no skills gap, right?
Chad (13m 39s):
We just wait for the perfect candidate to suddenly appear or align and cry and say that the skills gap sucks, right? While waiting for the US government to hand out corporate welfare, same thing. Blair said, the CEO said, which I love quote, "a Cardinal rule for Multi-verse is that it must be free to the apprentice and they must be paid a salary". He added, "we provide employers with a platform that gives them access to non graduate talent from diverse backgrounds and the ability to re-skill those who need it. Brilliant coaches employed by us to deliver the training supported by our tech as a formal credential for the individual in their chosen field and specialism and a vibrant community experience"
Chad (14m 28s):
end quote. So this kid has it, all the pedigree, the experience, and now the money to thrive in a much needed education and training space. He should move toward the US at light speed because our lame ass hiring companies with their anemic talent pipelines need this desperately.
Joel (14m 46s):
Yeah. You know, I keep doing these stories and we do these stories every week and we also talk about recession and hear about it everyday. But if you look at the money that keeps coming into our industry, you'd think there's no fucking recession whatsoever. I keep thinking that the dollars will dry up, but they don't seem to.
Chad (15m 4s):
Not yet.
Joel (15m 4s):
It's kind of amazing. All right. Back back to multi-verse. So college debt, let's talk about that for a second. The average college debt among student loan borrowers and America is $32,731. That's from last year. That means everyone graduating from a liberal arts college with generally no skills whatsoever has a debt out the gate of 30,000 plus dollars. There are a lot of people that don't want to go to college. There are a lot of people that don't need to go to college, but they don't have a road or an exit to do something else that's been really clear. So along comes Multi-verse, which says, you know what? You don't need to go to college or even community college.
Joel (15m 46s):
You can get skills that will get you hired immediately through our apprenticeship program. So I think that you're seeing a wave of students, of young people saying, I don't really want to go to college. I don't want to pay and have the debt that is going to be wrapped around my neck for 10 plus years after college. What can I do? I think these guys are positioned great for that segment. The second part of that is the companies, right? So we know that companies are struggling to hire tech talent. They would love to like, just have a funnel going into their company.
Chad (16m 17s):
Easy button.
Joel (16m 18s):
People that can work for their company, with the skills that they need. So that enters the mentors in this program. You're probably paying a little bit less because they don't have the experience, real-world style, so you're maybe saving a little bit money. But I think also more importantly as you're probably getting a really loyal employee. So if you get a kid out of high school, you bring them into your company, you teach them the skills, you know, you bred him into the culture he's going to be much less likely than to leave in any fast pace. So in this case, you're getting a huge win-win with Multi-verse, you're getting young people that aren't going to be saddled with debt that shouldn't have gone to college in the first place, but feel like, well, that's what my parents want me to do.
Joel (17m 1s):
And that's what society says I should do. They have an off-ramp an alternative to that. And then you have companies that are getting the talent that they need to perform the jobs that they need done. And you're getting hopefully a more loyal employee, which means retention is less of a factor. So for me, like this is a fantastic business, right place, right time. Ultimately, if you're on the other end of this, the question becomes, what do colleges do about it? If anything? I mean, we know that here locally in Indiana, we have Purdue who has a program of if you graduate with an engineering degree, you're going to give the school a percentage of your profits or your salary for a certain period of time.
Joel (17m 40s):
So I think it'll be interesting to see if this does take off in a big way. Do colleges react accordingly and do do fees come down or do colleges get more creative? But I think the market is pushing change and I think that change is really good. Really good. I'd say big applause from both of us, for Multi-verse.
Chad (17m 57s):
Yeah. I love that the company is paying the freight, right. We talked to Sabio a few weeks ago and I love what they're doing, the only thing I hate is that they're charging the student, right? There has to be some skin in the game. Totally get that, appreciate that. But the company should be paying the freight. They're the ones who long-term are going to be making huge cash, huge profits off of these individuals. So I mean, it just, our system is bass ackwards, and we need to get it fixed. And I think that organizations like this platforms like this who are tweaking how the freight is actually carried there, that's a huge, huge applause in my book.
Joel (18m 39s):
Yeah. And not even making money for the company, but saving money for the company in terms of recruiting costs, in terms of turnover and attrition, I think it's a huge win. So if you haven't checked out, Multi-verse? We both recommend that you do so at your leisure. Well, let's see if another company that got funding this week gets a similar reaction to the Chad and Cheese podcast? RippleMatch. Gen Z era Joyce RippleMatch has just raised $45 million in series B cash, bringing the grand total to $79.2 million dollars. RippleMatch acts as an alternative to the traditional job board process by using matching and automation to bring opportunities directly to candidates at over 1500 schools.
Joel (19m 23s):
They expect to triple the number of candidates who find a job through the platform this year, and plan to use the funding to double the size of its internal team and continue to invest in technology. Watch out handshake the Ripple is in the house. Chad, your thoughts,
Chad (19m 47s):
The ripple, give me some ripple and put some champagne in it
Joel (19m 51s):
Cheap beer yeah.
Chad (19m 52s):
Champipple. So it's interesting that, you know, with $205 million valuation, wasn't higher? We've seen so many bloated valuations. I wonder if that has anything to do with them, not disclosing revenues. It feels like their revenues really aren't that big. The Tams there, the opportunity is there, but it doesn't seem like they're getting traction on the revenue side. We both sold this company in a segment of buy or sell back in April of last year, right? And let's quickly set the table. Handshake $434 million in funding, and WayUp was acquired by Yello. So why are college systems getting so much damn cash or acquired?
Chad (20m 35s):
Well, first it's a large and diverse population entering the workforce and it's a hell of a lot easier to match someone with little to no experience than trying to build an algorithm, to identify guys like you and I with 20 years of experience in a specific industry at numerous companies with several roles, right? So from a tech standpoint, it's going to be a hell of a lot easier. And with boomers leaving the workforce, holes need to be filled. Why X-ers and Ys move up the ladder. That is why they're getting the cash. The story is easy, but the execution is another story, which is why I found this quote in Forbes, somewhat interesting.
Chad (21m 18s):
"The new funding will allow RippleMatch to hire more engineers, data scientists, and project managers to boost its job matching technology". And then this, "we started to realize we could actually replace job boards with technology that could bring the right opportunities directly to candidates, kind of the way that TikTok brings the right content". So I really want to like this company, but I don't, because it seems as if they just don't understand the market and how competitors like Handshake are already embedded into colleges and universities. Better matching tech matching should be easy. How about better marketing to drive brand awareness? So from the outside, looking in, I really want to like this organization, but man, this is a huge sell for me.
Chad (22m 4s):
It's hard to articulate just how wrong this startup is right now.
Joel (22m 7s):
You are salty. I warned you kids at the beginning of the show that Chad is pretty salty. Look, if you listen to this show, you know, I hate college recruitment businesses. Appealing to fickle kids that come and go, and the never-ending rotation of kids you service and different opinions and different brands that come and go, you're not cool anymore, or whatever? Growth prospects are. Limited competition is tough. You mentioned WayUp, you mentioned Handshake. You and I have seen so many solutions come and go that are targeting the college market. More money invested means more stupid shit like, we're taking on LinkedIn. You know, when Handshake came out and said, oh, we're going to, we're going to justify our new funding round by saying, we're gonna take on LinkedIn.
Chad (22m 51s):
That's a cry for help is what that is.
Joel (22m 55s):
This is going to be something we see throughout our entire careers in this industry. People that come and go targeting in a new cool way to basically have give college kids access to jobs. I don't get it. I won't buy it. Can't recommend it. For me if this was buy or sell, I'd sell it again. I'd sell it over again and again and again. RippleMatch. No, no, not having it.
Chad (23m 19s):
And you're calling me salty?
Joel (23m 20s):
Yeah. Yeah. I need to calm down. You're getting me excited, man. We need to take a break. Let's take a quick break, take a breath and we'll talk about PepsiCo and more buy or sell, which definitely will not get us more fired up.
Chad (23m 35s):
Yes!
Joel (23m 35s):
All right. Chad, feel better?
Chad (23m 38s):
I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Yeah. It's starting to de-tense a little bit.
Joel (23m 45s):
The cognac shot I did while we were taking a break there. All right. Let's talk Pepsi and Bubly, one of your favorite favorite drinks.
Chad (23m 52s):
Bubly or Bublé ? Michael Buble likes it to Bublé .
Joel (23m 54s):
Pretty marketing campaign by that. Who Michael Bublé is a Canadian, by the way. Did you know that?
Chad (23m 58s):
Very nice guy. Yes.
Joel (23m 60s):
He is a nice guy. He and Bieber hangout, by the way, I'm on our way here. My wife kept pointing out like, oh, Avril Levine's from this town. Oh, this is where Celine Dion is from. So I don't know why all Canadians know where every famous Canadians from anyway?
Chad (24m 17s):
Because there aren't that many of them.
Joel (24m 19s):
There aren't that many. Yeah. There's one for every 10 Americans. So PepsiCo's Bubly is calling attention to the importance of LGBTQ safe spaces and the chosen families fund they're in with a pride month campaign. A video short stars, musician, Naomi McPherson, one of your favorites as Jack a non-binary individual who initially expresses trepidation when entering a LGBTQ bar, but is quickly, welcomed. Bubly, also partnered with the Stonewall Inn gives back initiative to provide 100,000 relief to LGBTQ safe spaces that have struggled in the wake of the pandemic.
Joel (25m 1s):
The effort shows the PepsiCo owned, sparkling water brand, making a firm show of support to LGBTQ consumers who may be experiencing increased adversity. Chad, put down your Pepsi Clear and tell me what you think about this move.
Chad (25m 15s):
Yeah. So you have to back away and really think about what they're trying to do here. Right? So question to you, have you ever walked into a place and felt judged automatically?
Joel (25m 28s):
No.
Chad (25m 28s):
Yeah. Yeah. As middle-aged white dudes, we really don't. Right. But imagine being a gay young man getting dressed up, walking into a bar here in Indiana in high heels and nails freshly done, right? In most cases, they're going to feel judged. And then anybody from their community is going to feel judged as soon as they walk into the door. Wouldn't be nice to have a place to feel accepted and only judged because of the nail color that you chose that day? You know, it's pride month and one thing that I am so sick of is the rainbow logos. It's pandering at its best.
Chad (26m 9s):
And some companies, you know, who are embracing the LGBTQ plus community, they have employee resource groups, including community in diverse outreach and hiring strategies. And in this case with Pepsi, they truly understand the community in what they need, the need to be themselves. Maybe they aren't out of the closet yet and they just want to be themselves. They want to go to a place where they can be themselves. Maybe they are, and they don't enjoy the experience of an Irish pub. Right. Maybe, maybe they are out and they just, you know, they don't feel comfortable in an Irish pub.
Joel (26m 37s):
Sure.
Chad (26m 37s):
So this to me is a great way for a company like Pepsi to say, we get it, we understand, and we want to do something about it. So this goes all the way back to 1969 and Stonewall Inn New York, that was a safe place that literally attacked. And for a company like Pepsi to say, we want to be able to provide funds to fund more safe places to me is an act that the community will embrace. And it means something more than just a rainbow colored logo.
Joel (27m 13s):
Yeah. The video is about two minutes long. It's really well done. I found the humor sort of disarming, you know, like I think anyone who watches that with sort of arms crossed and like, oh, like you said, another rainbow colored video I think is quickly disarmed and just laughing. And, I even thought at the beginning, this could be a bar I could be in, you know, and then of course, then it gets a little bit, a little bit less out of my worldview from there. But I think that.
Chad (27m 38s):
The drag Queens?
Joel (27m 40s):
They did a great job of yeah, they did a great, yeah. It, I think it was really disarming really well done. And I think it, it appealed to people like me as much as it probably would its target audience. By the way, this campaign, I don't know if it was targeting me probably was not, maybe a little bit, but I will say that in the years that we've done this podcast, one of the things I think that has given me is a greater appreciation that life is different for people who aren't white, heterosexual middle-aged men. And in turn, I think I've grown a greater appreciation for companies who produce content and embrace this community because it's something that's fairly alien to me. And like you said, it's, if you don't notice it, you don't notice it.
Joel (28m 24s):
And being able to notice it and see it, I think is very educational enlightening for a lot of people like me. So I feel like the podcast has been great. It's opened me up to things like this and actually seeing that it's an issue. And then appreciating that there are companies like Pepsi who are willing to create content and provide cash and donations to organizations that are helping this group of people that I wouldn't necessarily normally recognize through my 50 plus years of life as a, you know, middle-aged white guy in middle America. So for me, that's a huge applause. I would like to see the money be more than a hundred thousand.
Joel (29m 3s):
That feels a little bit like a couch cushion, you know, extra, extra change to someone like Pepsi. I'd like to see that number, get, you know, five X or 10 Xed to do, to do something more, make an impact. And if you look at the press release, they're not very big on the number. They're just very big on the donation. So I'd like to get a little bit more checks written to organizations like this from companies like Pepsi, who let's be honest can afford it.
Chad (29m 36s):
Agreed, agreed. And in a recent survey taken by Jobs Sage 53% of people who were surveyed felt like their company's effort to address social issues were inauthentic or performative, like a rainbow logo.
Joel (29m 48s):
Great. All right, you ready to play some buy or sell?
Chad (29m 52s):
Let's do it.
Joel (29m 54s):
All right, kids, you know the deal, we'll read three companies that got funding this week and it's either going to be a sell rating or Chad and I will buy that company. Let's start with Teal. One, a Chad's favorite colors!
Chad (30m 11s):
Teal baby.
Joel (30m 12s):
The Miami Florida based company has raised 6.3 million in seed funding. Teal offers a free platform of web based career tools, including a job tracker, resume builder and Chrome extension that help people accelerate their job search. The company says it has been used by over 65,000 people to get their jobs at companies like Google, Apple, TikTok, Spotify, and Bumble. Chad, are you a buyer sell on Teal?
Chad (30m 39s):
Well, first and foremost, TEALS, I guess that whoever designed the Teal website totally use the exact same template as Pinpoint HQ. That's what happens when you use a designer from Upwork kids? Anyway, I only needed to hear one thing from the CEO, Dave Fannow, and this is from a TechCrunch article from July of 2020, where he said, quote, "Teal has no interest in becoming a B to B tool that sells into the HR department, but rather wants to focus on the end customer" end quote. That was enough for me. I'm out sell, sell, sell. This is not an organization that I would ever get affiliated with.
Joel (31m 21s):
Okay. That was quick. Historically. I hate, just like you. I hate companies that make money off the back of job seekers, especially from stuff they can do themselves pretty easily. Job tracker? Sign up for a few email alerts. You need a resume builder? Do a Google search. You need to optimize your LinkedIn profile? Go watch some Craig Fisher videos. However, I do realize people want an easy button and Teal hopes to offer that. And it is free for their users basically. They're making one forty nine, a $149 for their four week bootcamp program of getting a job. But obviously that's not going to be enough to pay the bills and the investors.
Joel (32m 4s):
So they're going to have to eventually resell data. They're going to have to affiliate marketing the hell out of their users with resume writing writers. They're going to have to like make money off of job postings or maybe feed in some programmatic stuff. Maybe all of it, they're going to have to pivot and they're going to have to rape the job seekers like everyone else that has come before that for them. So although the basic concept of an easy button is fun for job seekers. There's a darker side to this business. And it's one that bends over job seekers and stick some right in the, you know what?
Joel (32m 43s):
So for me, this one is a huge stinky smelly sell rating. Let's go to Hourly. Maybe they'll feel fair, better. Hourly a workers' comp and payroll startup has raised $27 million in series A financing. This follows a $7.2 million raise back in 2019, the funding will help Hourly expand beyond the state of California, where it was founded. Specifically, Hourly has built an app that tracks working hours generates payroll and then calculates and assigns workers' compensation insurance to individuals based on that information. They have some 1000 customers in areas like construction and retail, all in the state of California, but are eyeing, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada by 2023.
Joel (33m 28s):
Chad are you a buy or sell on Hourly?
Chad (33m 30s):
There are plenty of different platforms in this space. Fountain, ShiftSmart, Wage Stream. When I work all in this space, I'm not sure that they all cover, you know, time and attendance, payroll and workers' comp, but currently Hourly's customers are in construction, home services, accounting and retail spaces. So plenty of business to be had there, right? I mean, that's a pretty good Tam for a startup. Here's my problem. They currently, as you'd said, only service California and hourly will be using the funds to continue enhancing its product, to target more verticals. So what they're going to do is even though they're only focused on one state right now, and they have a large enough Tam and a thousand customers, they want to expand verticals as opposed to focus on just regions, right?
Chad (34m 28s):
So more verticals, their plate is already full and to expand to more markets like you talked about by 2023, man, that's slow as fuck. So I mean, I really like this vertical, these types of platforms, but the problem is they have no focus. And when it comes to expansion, their expansion is going to happen way too slow. So this unfortunately is a sell for me.
Joel (34m 56s):
Yeah. Chad, you know, the General commercials of car insurance, that's what these guys sound like to me. Okay. Really competitive established players with lots of money. You mentioned some of them, but I'll throw in like an ADP or an Ameritrust or Allstate in a business that scales for shit. Like really California and then three more states next year. No scale. A lot of competition, probably really, really slim profit margins. Oh God, this thing looks like a nightmare to me. Sell, sell Hourly. All right. Two salty guys. We'll talk about Five to Nine next.
Joel (35m 37s):
No, not the movie starring Dolly Parton, Chad, Five to Nine has closed a $4.25 million seed round launched in 2018, the company software lets enterprises plan programs for their employee resource groups also known as ERGs, which enable employees who share characteristics or experiences to come together, share resources and connect. They also provide attendance and feedback analytics for ERG events so companies can measure the effectiveness of their ERG programs. The company founded by two black women already counts Yahoo, Upwork and Expedia as clients. Chad, I think this is the first time ERG has come up on our show.
Joel (36m 20s):
Are you a buyer sell on Five to Nine? What a way to make living.
Chad (36m 27s):
So I've worked with ERGs about my entire professional career. Actually have built ERGs for organizations as well. Julie does the same thing. It sounds so good until they actually said this platform is for ERGs. And here's why, because they are one of the most under resourced groups in any company. They shouldn't be because they actually amplify or could amplify, diverse voices within the organization and also drive great retention and hiring programs, but ERG are under resource and taken for granted, which means there's really no money here. I love this idea, but dammit, man, it's a sell.
Chad (37m 9s):
There's no money to be had.
Joel (37m 13s):
Well, as workplace diversity and inclusion programs are becoming more prevalent ERGs are gaining in popularity. News to me, ERGs have been around since the 1960s when black workers at Xerox organized to discuss race-based tension in the workplace. They are increasingly relevant today as gender issues, questions of personal identity and politics affect everyone. I love tech being billed for this niche. You mentioned there's not much money in it, but there might not be many players in it that can take advantage of the money that let's agree that diversity budgets are rising for a lot of organizations, which means there may be, you know, cash in the kitty for a company like Five to Nine. So for me, I love the growth of diversity budgets.
Joel (37m 58s):
I love organizations embracing inclusion, and I love the founder story. So for me, we will diverse on this one. I'm going to give it a buy.
Chad (38m 8s):
The diversity dollars are going into TA not ERGs so the funding streams that you're talking about do not exist.
Joel (38m 14s):
Let's agree that some of these startups, you know, more about than I do, but for the sake of our listeners, I have to give an opinion and there is mine. God damn it. In five years, when these guys go public, I'll have my last laugh.
Chad (38m 27s):
God I hope they do. I really hope they do.
Joel (38m 30s):
Speaking of laughs. Let's take a quick break and we'll talk a little pet psychics.
sfx (38m 36s):
Doesn't anyone notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
Joel (38m 41s):
All right, Chad, who needs a lucrative career as a lawyer when you can be a pet psychic? Well, if you're Nikki Vasconez, a 33 year old from Philly, you do it because you love it and apparently it pays a lot better. That's right. Nikki was making $75K a year as a property lawyer to become a full fledged pet whisperer for big cash. How much cash you ask? Nikki charges, $350 for a one hour session and has a total of 4,000 people on her waiting list, which would be $1.4 million if she sees all of those in the wedding list.
Joel (39m 22s):
Her training? She's self-taught of course, Chad there's no college degree in pet psychic. A typical reading involves get this, her sitting in a quiet room in her home where she studies a photo of the animal. She telepathically asks the animal a series of questions and records them as well as the animals, in quotes "responses". So owners can listen to the exchange. Chad, you have three dogs. Are you ready to put them on Nikki's waiting list?
Chad (39m 56s):
I think multi-verse just added a certification by the way. Yeah. Yeah, no, this is funny. I see Caesar on TV and how everybody like, you know, they love Caesar and they watch the TV thing and he makes so much money. And when I read this, I thought this is the stupidest fucking thing in the world. And then I sat down and thought about it. I'm like, this is the smartest fucking thing in the world. People will pay stupid money for this kind of shit. I mean good for her. I mean, again, this feels like the elixir sales person at the carnival, but you know that guy probably made more money than, you know, the bearded lady.
Joel (40m 34s):
That's right, kids, there are benefits to living amongst a lot of stupid Americans. You can make a lot of money and the good news is there are alternatives to OnlyFans, everybody.
sfx (40m 46s):
Doesn't anyone notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
Joel (40m 47s):
This is a total crazy pills moment. This chick has like 200,000 followers on TikTok and makes a good living doing this shit. It makes me question my own life choices. And frankly, it makes me want to drink.
Chad and Cheese (41m 5s):
We out.
OUTRO (41m 46s):
Thank you for listening to, what's it called? The podcast with Chad, the Cheese. Brilliant. They talk about recruiting. They talk about technology, but most of all, they talk about nothing. Just a lot of Shout Outs of people, you don't even know and yet you're listening. It's incredible. And not one word about cheese, not one cheddar, blue, nacho, pepper jack, Swiss. So many cheeses and not one word. So weird. Any hoo be sure to subscribe today on iTunes, Spotify, Google play, or wherever you listen to your podcasts, that way you won't miss an episode. And while you're at it, visit www.chadcheese.com just don't expect to find any recipes for grilled cheese. Is so weird. We out.