This week, the Startup Spotlight shines on Pick.co.
Should your startup be profiled? Send me a message.
What is your background?
Ryan Mindigo – CEO – 20th employee at Yammer. Was #1 Sales Rep before being promoted to US Sales Director. He reported to David Sacks for a period of time.
Michael Selepec – COO (Product Head) – 17th employee at Yammer. Opened London office and built corporate sales team in Europe.
Steve Au – CTO – 3-Time founder with full-stack skills and UX experience. Most recently co-founded Motiv8, which is an activity/calorie tracking mobile app.
Sam Peniak – Head Designer – Employee #12 at Blend Labs.
Tell us about the team you have built so far.
Pick eliminates the back & forth of scheduling. We do this by syncing with calendars and surfacing availabilities. Pick is available via iOS app, mobile web, and desktop web. There are three ways Pick makes scheduling easier.
- View combined availability between you and your contacts in real-time so you can book a meeting in one step.
- Share your availability with non-users of Pick via a personalized URL (ex: pick.co/ryanm) so they can find time on your calendar without having to chase you down.
- Easily send calendar invites to anyone from your phone versus waiting until you are back at your desktop.
What financial support did you have to launch the business?
Pick has been fully bootstrapped up until this point.
What problem are you trying to solve?
We are starting with a laser focus on making scheduling easier. Pick will evolve into a platform that also helps manage scheduling and relationships. We will not only make scheduling a snap, but will help our users find optimal times for meetings and keep in touch with their contacts.
Describe the business, core products, and services.
Pick is currently a simple scheduling app. We will be adding a premium functionality down the road.
Who do you expect your customers and users to be at launch?
Everyone schedules meetings, so everyone can benefit from Pick. The group where we see the most scheduling pain is recruiters because they often have to broker meetings on behalf of two sides.
Where do you stand right now with regard to funding?
We are currently raising a seed round.
What is the business AND revenue model? What is your strategy for profitability?
We will offer Pick Premium at the end of this year. Pick Premium will include:
- Customization – control over who, when, how people can schedule with you
- Integrations – Recruiting tools, SalesForce, GoToMeeting, ActiveDirectory, Conference Rooms, Evernote
- Analytics – You company’s social graph. Who is your company engaged with and does that fit with priorities? How compare to industry averages? Should executives get to know the external entities that employees are interacting with most? Is the company spending too much time with an entity?
Did anyone tell you this wasn’t going to be successful?
Great question. Not specifically, but we have had people share with us that obtaining virality in a product is very very difficult.
How will you measure success 12 months from now?
In one year we expect to have raised a seed round, launched our Premium Version, and have a large base of engaged users growing with a viral coefficient >1.
For more details, watch this video.