Forging new professional connections and building your network from the ground up is hard. Schmooze gives you a platform to grow and foster your professional network, right within your workplace.

1. SCHMOOZE
Aish Nair
Product School
Build and foster your professional network, one lunch at a time

2. THE CURIOUS CASE
OF WHY

3. THE CURIOUS CASE
OF WHY

4. THE CURIOUS CASE
OF WHY

5. PROBLEM
Forging new professional connections and
building your network from the ground up is SO hard
THE CURIOUS CASE
OF WHY

6. PHASE I
The Lunch Experiment
• Grab lunch
• Find a random co-worker
• Initiate a conversation
HYPOTHESIS
VALIDATION

7. HYPOTHESIS
VALIDATION
PHASE II
User Interviews
• In person (2 participants)
• Online research survey (23 participants)

8. 0%
15%
30%
45%
60%
Skip Lunch Solo riders
6%
56%
36%
2%
Q: What is your typical lunch hour like?
HYPOTHESIS
VALIDATION

9. Q. Are you open to the idea of occasionally having lunch with someone you do
not know beforehand?
Yes
84%
No
12%
Other
4%
HYPOTHESIS
VALIDATION

10. With Schmooze, you simply have to put in a request prior to lunch and our algorithm will
match you with a person depending on your preferences.
How does the idea sound to you?
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
Dope! Count
me in
Does not rock
my world
Meh Other
76%
8% 4%
12%
HYPOTHESIS
VALIDATION

11. “The most productive tool for
generating good ideas remains a
circle of humans at a table, talking
shop.
Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From

12. SOLUTION
Schmooze
Schmooze empowers you to build your network organically and
foster your professional connections right at the workplace, one
lunch at a time
• Casual conversations
• Collaboration/Subject Matter expertise
• Mentorship

13. CB Insights

14. Human Resource Buyers
Content communities
Recruitment
Compensation/
Payroll
Employee
Benefits
Talent
Management
and
Employee
relations
Workforce
planning
Legal/Compli
ance
MARKET
OPPORTUNITY
Human Resource vendors

15. Society for Human Resource Management
https://www.shrm.org/
Last week’s fundings: $37M+
MARKET
OPPORTUNITY

16. Gallup*
Deloitte, Ampit- https://ampit.io/mentorship-program-can-companys-competitive-advantage/
MARKET
OPPORTUNITY
U.S businesses
worry about
employee retention
79%
Women mentors say
“No one ever asked us”
67%
Fortune 500 companies
offer mentoring programs
71%
Gen Z rank these as
their top priorities in
terms of benefits
Healthcare &
Mentoring
Amount spent by the
company to replace
an employee
Annual salary

17. HELE
N
Director, Human Resources
BUYER PERSONA
• Create inclusive work environments for better business outcomes
• Align employees to the company’s business goals
• Invest in processes that enable employees to make a difference
GOA
LS
CHALLE
NGES• Job churn
• Workplace silos
• Incentivize employees to build and perpetuate professional
networks
“Culture is the single biggest competitive advantage to
building sustainable companies”

18. “This is my first time at a large company, there’s so much to learn!
I feel excited and overwhelmed at the same time”
SYD
NEY
USER
PERSONA
New college graduate
• Connectivity and community
• Find the right tools to get started on long term career
goals
GOA
LS
CHALLE
NGES• Needs help finding a mentor
• Needs help understanding how she fits into the company
and how the company fits into her career

19. COLI
N
USER PERSONA
UX Researcher (SME)
• Collaborate and share his UX expertise
• Internal change agent
GOA
LS
CHALLE
NGES• Needs help finding relevant side projects
“Design is intelligence made visible. Collaboration is Innovation made
visible.”

20. • Advocate for young professionals
• Improve gender diversity at the workplace
MentorMEE
RA
GOA
LS
CHALLE
NGES
• Logistics- finding motivated mentees and
managing timelines
“Every beginner possesses a great potential to be an expert in his
or her chosen field.”
USER PERSONA

21. DESIGN

22. DESIGN
➤ Standalone app
➤ 3 step request: When, Where, What
➤ Up to 5 tags for every schmooze
➤ Schmooze feedback

23. COMPETITIVE
LANDSCAPE
• Organic 1:1 networking
• Specific agenda
• Target audience
• Multiple tracks
• Break workplace silos

24. KEY SUCCESS METRICS
User engagement
(Activation + Retention)
Footprint
• Active Users (Daily, Monthly)
• Time spent in App
• Number of Power Schmoozers
• Feedback analysis
• Enterprise adoption
• Product demonstrations

25. GO-TO MARKET PLAN-
MVP
• Product
Standalone mobile application
• Price
Subscription based revenue model
• Placement
-App store
-HR conferences
-University demos
• Promotion
-Press releases/ Blogs
-Conferences/ speaking engagements
-Social media outreach
-Regular Beta events

26. PRODUCT PRICING
Standard Professional Enterprise
Up to 100 users 100-500+ users 500+ users
N/A N/A Slack/Hipchat integration
N/A Scheduling assistant Scheduling assistant
Limited access to multiple
tracks
Restricted access to
mentorship track
Unlimited access
N/A Priority email support Priority email + phone support
N/A Analytics Analytics + API access

27. WHAT LIES AHEAD: PRODUCT
ROADMAP
• First Beta
• Trade shows
• HR Conferences • Second Beta Launch
• Slack App launch
• University partnerships
• White Papers
• Customer
feedback
analysis
• Analyse metrics
• Research Papers
• Speaking
engagements at
conferences

28. So long, until we schmooze next time