Scavado: A search engine that allows recruiters to find, interact and hire the appropriate talented and skilled candidates for the job.

Scavado.com

Scavado is a next generation talent search engine connecting recruiters with the best talent from all over the Web.

    

Start-Ups.Co had the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. ‘Lori Fenstermaker‘; Founder and CEO of the US (Denver, Colorado)-based start-up “Scavado”.

“Scavado” is the simple talent search engine for recruiters.

Below is the full interview that we have conducted with Mrs. ‘Fenstermaker’ regarding her start-up company ”Scavado”;

1. What is it exactly that you do and what “Scavado” is all about?

Scavado is a next generation talent search engine connecting recruiters with the best talent from all over the Web. The platform scours the Internet for the best talent, looking deep into hidden talent pools to provide recruiters with the best options to reach those top candidates. Scavado does all the complicated search algorithms so recruiters can focus their energy on connecting with top talent, not learning complex search strings.

2. When has “Scavado” been founded? And what stage is “Scavado” currently at?

The first version of the app that is now Scavado was built in November of 2008 and used by our Founder and the internal recruiting team. In 2009 our clients started asking to buy it for themselves. In 2012 we rebranded to the name Scavado, enhanced the search capabilities , moved to an incubator in Denver and started scaling. We want every recruiter that still believes the best candidates are found to know about Scavado.

3. What is “Scavado”‘s business model and how does it work?

Scavado has a premium model. We offer a full access free trial for 24 hours. Following the trial prospects have the option to purchase a subscription on a monthly or annual basis. Sometimes prospects like Scavado but don’t have time and ask us to generate candidates for them. We have a team called Scavado Hire that does that. We generate revenue by selling seats of Scavado and by generating candidates for clients that don’t have the bandwidth to do their own candidate sourcing. We’ve also been approached by a number of HR Tech vendors to integrate with their tools. We haven’t inked any deals yet but are exploring those additional revenue streams.

4. How did your team meet? And who in your team does what?

Lori and Tom met through a mutual friend.

Lori and Amy met while Lori was walking home from dropping her kids off at school. Turns out Amy used to recruit for Goldman Sachs in Chicago and Lori is a recruiter originally from Michigan. Their Midwest and Recruiting ties brought them together.

Lori is considered the recruiting domain expert and is known as the Chief Talent Sourcer. She supports customers if they need some sourcing inspiration, is responsible for product direction and also works on recruiting assignments occasionally. If Scavado doesn’t work for Lori, why would it work for anyone else?

Thomas came to Scavado with a history of helping growing companies address the challenges with operations and finance as they scale. Thomas spends his time at Scavado crunching numbers and making sure we can continue to grow while constantly working to increase the value Scavado delivers.

Amy Miller came to lead the services team at Scavado Hire. Amy and the Scavado Hire team offer a unique alternative to traditional recruitment firms that come with a high price tag. At Scavado Hire, we help companies find the best talent on a project basis providing a little or alot of help when needed.

5. What, exactly, makes you different from existing options, what will make your product and/or service stand out in the marketplace? In other words what’s unique about you and what’s new about what you make?

Scavado is unique because we know the platform is not for everyone. Scavado will work best for active recruiters who want to stop spending all their time devising search strings and refocus on reaching out to the top talent. The platform is built to find hidden talent all over the web for proactive recruiters. It’s unique because it was built by recruiters, for recruiters to find the best people.

6. What is your growth like? And what milestones has “Scavado” achieved so far?

Scavado has been continuing to grow with new users finding and loving the program. Since the program gives users the ability to find great people everywhere and anywhere, we’re continually being discovered by more hiring managers and recruiters. A recent milestone achieved was winning Human Resource Executive Magazine’s Top HR Product of 2012 award.

7. Who are your competitors? And what is “Scavado”‘s competitive advantage over them?

Boolean Bar, Broadlook, TalentBin, SourcePoint, Search String Practitioners, Consultants and Boolean Training Courses.

What makes Scavado different is that the Scavado platform allows recruiters to stop wasting time learning complicated algorithms in order to find talent. Instead, Scavado does the search string work so recruiters can focus on connecting with talent from great sources all over the web. Scavado is a platform for the active recruiter willing to pick up the phone and get to work.

8. What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome them?

We faced plenty of obstacles, from building the system to getting it out there. Our biggest obstacle is that we’re still running under the radar in the recruitment space. We’re still the underdog. Because our service isn’t for everyone, but instead recruiters looking to actively find the best people, it can sometimes be hard to get our message out there.

9. What are the key things about your field that outsiders don’t understand?

People don’t understand that you can’t just post and pray that the right people will apply for your positions. There’s a skill shortage at the moment, meaning that despite more people applying for jobs there are actually less people with relevant skills to hire. To find the best people, recruiters need to active seek them out. That’s where Scavado comes in.

10. Why are you going to succeed?

We’re going to succeed because we have a great product that recruiters can really use to do their jobs better. We know our target audience and understand what these people need to succeed in their search for the best people. We know we can’t target every recruiter, because Scavado isn’t for everyone. But for the recruiters looking to get out from behind a computer and start connecting to talent, Scavado is the perfect solution.

11. If “Scavado” succeeds, what additional areas might you be able to expand into?

We already have subscribers using Scavado to find sales leads and other data. These are clearly areas where Scavado can also help users find top quality information due to the nature of the platform and how it scours the Internet for the best leads. However, we haven’t focused on that because there is so much to be done in the talent marketplace. Our number one concern at the moment is in helping recruiters.

12. Why did you choose this idea and concept to build “Scavado” based on?

It felt like you needed a Ph.D in sourcing to find any good candidates. There were too many search algorithms and Boolean search strings and not enough finding actually prospects to connect with. As a recruiter myself, I was tired of wasting hours doing what Scavado does quickly and easily. So Scavado was born. It allowed me to cut out the search strings and just get down to the business of finding the best people. Soon, others wanted to use the platform for themselves.

13. What have you learned so far from launching your idea?

A lot of people have the same headaches with online candidate sourcing that we had. It’s no surprise, since many recruiters spend more time sourcing candidates online than they actually do speaking with candidates about open positions. This is why people are responding to Scavado and finding it so helpful in their sourcing needs. Scavado finds talent everywhere across the Internet but, more importantly, it does so quickly.

14. Six months from now, what’s going to be your biggest problem?

In six months our biggest problem will probably be how to alert new customers to the value of platform. We’ve always been a bit under the radar but we’re hoping to be able to help more recruiters with Scavado. We want to make the lives of recruiters easier, which is why we need more recruiters to know about the platform. We’re hoping our new competitive pricing plan will help get more recruiters in the door and will give us better word of mouth.

15. What’s the benefit for the customer/user?

The biggest one is time saved. Boolean strings and search algorithms take so much time and effort. After all that work and searching, which can sometimes take hours, you haven’t even spoken to an actual human being yet! Scavado takes out that headache so recruiters can focus on what’s important:people. Scavado lets active recruiters get out from behind string searches and pick up the phone to connect with the best talent.

16. How did customers / users find out about you?

We started out as a platform I was intending to use to make my own recruiting easier. I was struggling with the fact that it felt like I spent more time coming up with search strings than I did connecting with actual human beings. But once people saw how fast I could find candidates, word of mouth spread fast about Scavado. Now we have a dedicated online presence, attend trade shows, and were just named a Top HR Product of 2012.

17. Who are your current customers / users? Who are your target customers / users?

Our current customers and users are corporate recruiters, sourcers, 3rd party recruiters, RPO recruiters, independent recruiters and even hiring managers of small companies. Basically anyone who could get value out of an easy-to-use system like Scavado. Our target customers are active recruiters who want to stop searching and start connecting with the top talent in their field. Scavado isn’t for everyone, but the right kind of recruiter can find the platform is perfect for their needs.

18. Where do new customers / users come from and what makes new customers/users try you?

Our new customers come from everywhere online. Blogs, recruiting organizations, group discussions, Google searches, associations, social media. People usually try us when they have a super tough requisition they can’t fill the easy ways. Because Scavado scours the Internet to find the best people, it can easily find hard to fill positions and tough to come by talent. Our users are savvy and want to get moving to find the best people for the job.

19. What do your customers / users say about your product and/or service?

Our customers love how easy our product makes it to get out from behind a search string and connect with actual talent. Now instead of spending endless hours learning complicated search algorithms they can connect with the top talent they need and find talent everywhere on the Internet. Customers often thank us for the platform and tell us stories about how they’ve managed to find the right talent for a difficult position thanks to our platform.

20. How are you going to scale?

Our new pricing model will allow us to scale. Most HR Tech companies target only the enterprise users. Anyone that recruits whether they are an in house recruiter at a Fortune 500 company or an independent recruiter just starting out; they can afford Scavado. With our new $99 a month plan we’ve opened up the door to a wide variety of different recruiters and different recruiting needs. Instead of having to run Scavado up the chain, this pricing allows companies to try the service without a huge loss if they don’t find enough value from the platform. We think it will bring in a wider variety of recruiters looking for a better solution for finding talent.

21. What’s the biggest missing feature? The one thing customers/users keep asking for?

This is a tough question because what makes Scavado so well liked is it’s simplicity. Users like that Scavado works like a next generation talent search engine, like Google but for the top talent you need for your open positions. I would say the most requested feature is searching the users looking to search their own desktop or database to see if they already have the name Scavado turned up.

22. Are you going to internationalize? And if yes how are you planning to expand your start-up’s operations accordingly?

We have no immediate plans at the moment to internationalize. While that might be a great goal for the future, we’re happy with where we are at the moment with the company. If in the future the company grows to the point that the international market seems viable we would love to open Scavado up to international markets. No matter where they’re located, recruiters would be able to find value in Scavado’s talent finding platform. However, at the moment we’re happy with our stage of development.

23. How big do you think you can get? Why? And how you are planning to achieve your goals?

There are a ton of recruiters out there, which means our potential customer pool could be quite large. However, Scavado isn’t for everyone. Scavado is for recruiters who are truly looking to go beyond search engines to find talent everywhere and, more importantly, actually pick up the phone and connect with that talent. I would love it if 2,000 recruiters were using Scavado.

24. Are you looking to hire a new workforce? And if yes, what job vacancies do you currently offer and where can potential applicants contact you at?

We are looking to expand our online reach and connect with both current and future customers. Social media is the wave of the future and as such we’d like to dip our toes more into online marketing in order to connect with new customers and spread our message. As such, we will be looking for a Social Media Manager soon. Contact us at info@scavado.com

25. Are you looking for partnership opportunities or funding from Venture Capitals (VC) or other funding sources? Or your business is self-sustainable? And if the first option applies where can potential partners / investors contact you at?

We aren’t actively looking for investor opportunities at the moment. We are bootstrapped and proud of that fact. We’ve worked hard to put together a platform and user experience that we’re proud of. However we are always open to conversations. We can be reached for conversations about investments and partnership ideas at: thomas@scavado.com

26. What advice do you have for fresh entrepreneurs?

Have thick skin, if you have a good idea people will try to squash it. Especially online. My mentor once told me that you haven’t made it until people are bashing you or your product. If you don’t believe in your product no one else will either.

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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