Excelerate is a professional digital career platform that makes the journey, from when you set your career goal to you reach that goal: shorter, transparent and not least achievable. We ask the users 'what is your career goal?'. By utilising machine learning and neuroscience, we can give a platform experience tailored to the individual. Users will only see content (Events, Courses, Video) and features (Thesis Matching, Mentor hub, Network Community etc) relevant to their career goal.

Current status

Excelerate is in the very early days of the startup journey. We have just launched the site in a version where it's merely just an info page. During January we will launch the prototype (MVP). The MVP focuses strictly on the matchmaking feature. We ask the final-year bachelor, master and candidate students 'what is your career goal?' and matches the answer with dissertation topics created by companies. Companies are paying for the collaboration as it holds great value to them as the students are solving an actual problem + its a very cheap way for the companies to get first-hand experience with a potential future employee. The students and the companies have a shared page on the platform where they agree on milestones/deadlines etc.

Next features are far from set in stone, but the idea is we build on the experience and the feedback and provide a 'version 2' in autumn + more features. When the time is right we could expand the platform's capabilities and include more 'verticals' to get closer to the grand vision of the becoming 'the overview of my career path' platform.

A bit about me

To take the startup further at a faster pace, I need help. And I need help with the things which drains my energy. I truly enjoy the product building/team building / forward-thinking. I am a dreamer but a 'doer' at the same time. I've been working as a project manager for the past 8 years and a lead digital producer leading a team of 5 digital producers for the past 2 years in a digital agency in London. I started my career as a web designer and flash developer (when that was cool), so I've been almost through it all when it comes to building digital products.

Co-founder 1 (me - product owner/team builder / visionary)

• Responsible for the product (Currently that is design, spec, manage and manage developers)

• Build the team (scout and hire)

• Financial (budget / and business financials)

• Strategy

I'm looking for..

.. A few people actually, but most importantly a co-founder who is hungry/eager to join Excelerate, who thinks the mission sounds amazing (upgrade our fellow earth citizens, by giving them a platform to do so themselves, get an overview of their future career and excelerate it).

Co-founder (you - technical person - CTO or Tech Lead)

• Responsible for the technical side of what we are building. Meaning: picking the right tech stack for the product, leading a team of developers (to begin with this will most likely be just you, or a few freelancers).

• Principles we should be aligned on:

  • Vigorous about testing (unit / automated tests / etc)

  • Continuous deployment / Or very frequent deployment at least

  • We adhere to the agile manifesto (this will be mandatory)

• In the early days, you will be very code-focused, but as time goes and we grow, I would expect you to be more of an evangelist and manager than a developer. If we find out that this is not what you thrive in, then we will, of course, find a solution that works for all.

• Currently, the site is being build by two freelancers. The site and the code are good enough for an MVP, however, you will get to decide whether we, when going forward, will build on the current platform, or start over.

English language is a requirement but I couldn't care less about nationality/gender/age. It's all about personality and the fit between us. Both very experienced CTO and Tech-leads and experienced developers are encouraged to reach out, even if you don't have CTO or Tech Lead experience.

How 'valuable' you are to the company will determine the 'package' I can offer. But in general, my view of the company is, I would rather own a small part of something big, than a large part of something small. You have to have the same mindset.

If this has piqued your interest I suggest we take an informal cup of coffee where you can hear more about my thoughts and company. If we don't know each other already, then I would appreciate if you could do a 30-second video where you present yourself and why this is interesting to you.

I'm looking for you right now, however, I would be willing to wait for the right person. As we are targeting students the university semester dates are important, so either it will be an immediate start (right into it as the semester starts early Feb), or we could wait to next semester and therefore you joining in April-May-June.

The future team

Me, you and a 3rd co-founder:

Co-founder 3 (someone else - the salesperson)

Currently, this role is facilitated by me, however, time is scarce and the platform is soon ready for the big sales push. The plan is that he/she will either become part of the founder team.

Best guess right now is that this co-founder would be looking to join around as soon as possible (Jan-Feb-March).

On top of that, I am actively looking for:

A user champion / marketing owner

Responsible of the user side of the platform, meaning collecting feedback from the user, creating features that cater to user needs and wishes. This person will be the user's voice in the company.

Responsible for the marketing strategy towards the users.

This role will be split into two once the team / company grows.

To start April-May-June.

Design intern

To assist with design tasks (web, posters, flyers, social media etc)

To start immediately

Social media intern

To handle the daily social media tasks (posting, analytics, SoMe strategy etc)

To start immediately

The current team

Kaspar Hansen (Founder)

Victor (Fulltime Developer / Freelance)

Kate (Fulltime Developer / Freelance)

Other info

Website : www.excelerate.dk

My Linkedin profile : https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasparhansen/