View
1.383
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
When one of our co-founders, Pete Kistler, was being mistaken on Google for an ex-convict with the same name, we decided to make it simple for anyone to control their own Google results. This is how we went from a dorm-room-room, to a full fledge business with 160k users.
Citation preview
The first do-it-yourself platform that makes it easy for anyone to take control of their own Google results.
To start, you should probably know a little bit about the company…
I’m Patrick, CEO and Cofounder
BrandYourself started as a problem, that turned into an idea, that turned into a mission.
The Problem: Pete Kistler, my co-founder, was a model student, but couldn‘t get an internship
3.9 GPA
Successful entrepreneur
Leader on campus
Founder of multiple clubs
Several relevant internships
He was being mistaken by employers online for an ex-con with the same name
This Guy This Guy
or
He couldn’t change it, because he wasn’t:
A tech genius who could do it himself
A high net worth individual who could pay thousands
for a reputation firm to do it
We realized this was a big problem (for a lot of people)
1 Billion
75%names are Googled every day
of HR departments are requiredto research candidates online
But most people are not well represented…
People either fall into the negative category
Even if you’re not this guy, in today’s world, bad results can happen to good people, and just one poorly judged photo or blog post can damage your entire reputation
The irrelevant category
Instead of finding your latest accomplishments and recommendations, they find out you ran a 5k three years ago. That’s a missed opportunity
Or the “hey that’s not me” category
Being mistaken for someone else can be just as bad as being caught drunk in a bath tube (just ask Pete)
And none of them can pay a “reputation expert” thousands of dollars to improve their results for
them
We wanted to create a free product that makes the process dead simple
for anybody to do themselves.
(fight the power)
But we were college kids from upstate NY. We didn’t have a clue how raise
money or build a business
So we just started building…
…we had something awesome to launch!
Ok…But how does it work?
Good question.
Users simply submit the links they want showing up at the top of Google for their name…
Our software immediately analyzes that link and tells you everything you can do to make it show up higher
For example, here are all the steps to make this Linkedin profile show up higher
Once you submit links, you can track them as they improve
And get alerts when things change on your first page
Users can also build a profile that’s automatically optimized to show up on the first page of Google
Once you have a profile, we can tell you who is Googling you
Sounds great…but how do you make money?
Glad you asked : )
A simple freemium business model where some users pay for premium features
Free users can submit up to three links, but you need to upgrade if you want to submit unlimited links
Our Model:
1. We attract traffic to the site
2. A certain percentage sign up for the free product (8% is considered good)
3. A certain percentage of users upgrade to premium (2% is considered good)
4. World domination?
That makes sense! How is it going so far?
Thanks for asking!
Over 10,000,000 pageviews
Over 160,000 total users (25% of our traffic signs up, triple projections)
Over 2,000 paid users (up to 5% will pay in first 8 weeks—double projections)
We’re exceeding our projections
…and growing faster than we expected : )
We’re building an amazing team
We’ve hired the best people in the industry (our engineering team’s last startup was acquired by Match.com) and continuing to hire. I’d also like to think we’re the most
fun, talented, and possibly best looking team in the world. (read more about our team here).
And well-funded by top investors
Including angels like the former Head Search Strategist at Microsoft and firms like Zelkova VC (learn more).
But more important than anything else…
We’re making a real difference for our customers
(We get several of these a week)
Like Andrew
An Ivy League Professor falsely accused of shop lifting who used BrandYourself to push more relevant info above all the irrelevant things that were overshadowing his work and research
And TJ
Who knew employers would be Googling him after a lay off. He used BrandYourself to push an Olympic swimmer out of his results so employers could actually find his great work!
Oh and what about our friend Pete (the guy who was being mistaken for a drug dealer)?
He now owns his first 65 results.
And no longer spends his day denying being a drug dealer. Seriously, go ahead and Google him! bit.ly/Spw4YN
Thanks and feel free to reach out!
Email: [email protected]: 845-625-8737Twitter: @patrickambron
Site: Brandyourself.com