The document describes the development and business model of Programmer Hunter, a platform designed to connect programmers with startups by utilizing a ranking system based on their GitHub activity. It highlights customer segments, potential revenue streams, market challenges, and strategies for acquiring users and establishing partnerships. The project aims to address the saturation in the job recruitment market by offering unique value propositions to both job seekers and hiring companies.

1. Programmer Hunter
Interviews in the last 24h : 10
Total interviews to date : 73
A platform that matches programmers with
startups using a programmer ranking system
Tingting Lin
Shruti Kulkarni
Po-Lin Chen
Xin Huang
Xuedong Wang
MS&E
CS
MS&E
MS&E
MS&E
Jan 15, 2016
Lean Launchpad
Columbia University

2. 2
What We Thought
Step 1: Online survey
Q3: How well is your job search going?
Total # programmers: 102
Step 2: Initial interviews
Total # startups: 6
Q: Are you satisfied with the programmers you hired?
A: It’s extremely hard to find a suitable programmer.
To build a recommendation platform offering the best match between programmers
and startups based on data from website such as Github.
Step 3: Original idea

3. Market Sizing

4. Business Canvas Day 1
Key Partners Key Activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
Programmer Hunter - Day 1
1. Hiring companies
2. Student affairs offices
3. Cloud service providers
4. Student organizations
1. Offering companies
well-qualified relevant
prospective employees
based on their actual work
2.Offering programmers
an easier and smarter way
to be discovered by
companies and to find
companies
3. Save time and effort in
the job hunting and hiring
process
1. Customer acquisition
and retention
2. Data collection and
analysis
3. Customer service
4. Platform development
and maintenance
Get: Invitation, reference,
marketing,
Keep: Good customer
service, online help portal,
loyalty program for hiring
companies, blog, email
newsletter, recommendation
Grow: Word of mouth,
reference, outreach
1. Prospective job hunters
‘ data source from public
profiles
2. User behavior and
preference data
3. Hiring companies’
profiles and targets
Website
Service fees Premium services
Sponsored content Advertising
Platform development and maintenance
Human resources
Marketing
Operations
ce
Hiring Side :
Startups (valuation
less than $10M)
Job Hunter Side :
Graduating students,
unemployed, career
changers and other
prospective job
hunters,

5. Day 1 to 2
Original Thought Learned
Market: Compe--ve market is pre1y
saturated. It will be possible but
difficult to find a niche to fill.
Value Prop: Our differen-a-on is clear.
Customer Segment: We are targe-ng,
and taking money from job seeker and
employer sides, directly or indirectly.
Revenue: People aren’t willing to pay
for a subscrip-on. Need other
avenues for collec-ng revenue.
There are mul-ple small niches to fill.
Pick one that works well.
There are mul-ple small niches to fill.
Pick one that works well.
Targe-ng employers specifically is a
be1er idea. Keep service free for job
seekers. Subscrip-on fees are paid.
Startups are willing to pay for a
subscrip-on fee monthly/annually.
They already do for other non-HR
services.

6. Business Canvas Day 2
Key Partners Key Activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
Programmer Hunter - Day 2
1. Hiring companies
2. Student affairs offices
3. Cloud service providers
4. Student organizations
1. Offering companies
well-qualified relevant
prospective employees
based on their actual work
2.Offering programmers
an easier and smarter way
to be discovered by
companies and to find
companies
3. Save time and effort in
the job hunting and hiring
process
1. Customer acquisition
and retention
2. Data collection and
analysis
3. Customer service
4. Platform development
and maintenance
Get: Invitation, reference,
marketing,
Keep: Good customer
service, online help portal,
loyalty program for hiring
companies, blog, email
newsletter, recommendation
Grow: Word of mouth,
reference, outreach
1. Prospective job
hunters’ data source from
public profiles
2. User behavior and
preference data
3. Hiring companies’
profiles and targets
Website
Service fee Premium services
Sponsored content Advertising
Platform development and maintenance
Human resources
Marketing
Operations
ce
Hiring Side :
Startups (Valuation less
than $10M)
Job Hunter Side :
Graduating students,
unemployed, career
changers and other
prospective job hunters,
Optimizing the resume
selection process and
pre-selecting
prospective and
targeted candidates
Searching potential
employees for startups
Providing concrete
evaluation of the
coders’ competence
based on their actual
work
Subscription fee : $30/month
Hiring Side : Startups
1. With limited budget
to hire HR
2.Trying to expand and
need more eligble
programmers to realize
existing ideas
Job Hunter Side :
1.Fresh graduates and
graduating engineering
students interested in
coding who are actively
looking for a job, and
open to various
opportunities and
challenges
2. Experienced but
aged-discriminated
professionals, who
have been laid off and
hope to power their
technical skills to
recruiters

7. Day 2 to 3
Value Prop: People use websites like
GitHub to evaluate code quality.
Original Thought
End User: We are targe-ng a variety of
unemployed/career switching users.
Learned
People use websites like GitHub to
evaluate ac-veness in programming.
People use audi-on projects to verify
code quality. But these don’t capture
management style or cultural fit.
Focus on the young professional
space. They are most a1rac-ve to,
and most inclined to choose, working
for startups.

8. Business Canvas Day 3
Key Partners Key Activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
Programmer Hunter - Day 3
1. Hiring companies
2. Student affairs offices
3. Cloud service providers
4. Student organizations
1. Offering companies
well-qualified relevant
prospective employees
based on their actual work
2.Offering programmers
an easier and smarter way
to be discovered by
companies and to find
companies
3.. Save time and effort in
the job hunting and hiring
process
1. Customer acquisition
and retention
2. Data collection and
analysis
3. Customer service
4. Platform development
and maintenance
Get: Invitation, reference,
marketing, coding challenge
Keep: Good customer
service, online help portal,
loyalty program for hiring
companies, blog, email
newsletter, recommendation
Grow: Word of mouth,
reference, outreach
networking events
1. Prospective job hunters
‘ data source from public
profiles
2. User behavior and
preference data
3. Hiring Companies
profiles and target
4.Personalized audition
projects
Website
Service fee Premium services
Sponsored content Advertising
Platform development and maintenance
Human resources
Marketing
Operations
Hiring side: startups
1. With limited budget
to hire an HR
2. Trying to expand
and needing more
eligible programmers
to bring to life ideas
3. With limited time
Job hunter side:
Fresh graduates,
graduating students &
young professionals
interested in coding
who are actively
looking for a job, and
open to various
opportunities and
challenges of startups
Subscription fee: $30/month
Hiring Side : Startups
1. Networking
events
2. Job fair events
Job Hunter side :
1. Career services at
universities
2. Networking events
3. Social media
5.Personalized auction
projects for startups
4. Offering coders a fair
chance to prove their
advantageous
competence
5.Offering startups a
more comprehensive
evalution of applicants,
especially according to
their specefic needs
and requirements

9. Day 3 to 4
Value Prop: An integrated audi-on
project plaXorm could help to
evaluate code quality and other
factors.
Original Thought
Value Prop: People can look at GitHub
and other websites on their own
separately and use our plaXorm/
service to look for other quali-es in
applicants.
Marke-ng/GET Strategy: There are a
variety of outreach channels/poten-al
channel partners that all work well.
Maybe they could, but many
recruiters (especially at startups) don’t
have -me, and non-technical hirers
can’t use them.
Some do, but many don’t have -me
for that. They’d love a quick way to be
shown the key things they look for
from these websites, such as ac-vity.
Some clearly work be1er than others,
and are favored by those who look
for/use hiring services. Focus on
partnerships with career services,
trusted advisers with Internet
influence, posi-oning ourselves as
experts, and social media.
Learned

10. Business Canvas Day 4
Key Partners Key Activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
Programmer Hunter - Day 4
5. Marketing
1. Hiring companies
2. Student affairs offices
3. Cloud service providers
4. Student organizations
1. Offering companies
well-qualified relevant
prospective employees
based on their actual work
2. Save time and effort in
the job hunting and hiring
process
3. Offering coders a fair
chance to prove their
advantageous
competence
4. Offering startups a more
comprehensive
evaluation of applicants,
especially according to
their specific needs and
requirements
1. Customer acquisition
and retention
2. Data collection and
analysis
3. Customer service
4. Platform development
and maintenance
Get: Invitation, reference,
marketing, coding challenge
Keep: Good customer
service, online help portal,
loyalty program for hiring
companies, blog, email
newsletter, recommendation
Grow: Word of mouth,
reference, outreach
networking events
1. Prospective job hunters
‘ data source from public
profiles
2. User behavior and
preference data
3. Hiring companies’
profiles and targets
4.Personalized audition
projects
Website
5. Shortlisting
candidates with
numeric ranking
based on their
previous work
Service fee Premium Services
Sponsored content Advertising
Platform development and maintenance
Human resources
Marketing
Operations
Hiring side: startups
1. With limited budget
to hire an HR
2. Trying to expand
and needing more
eligible programmers
to realize ideas
3. With limited time
Job hunter side:
Fresh graduates,
graduating students &
young professionals
interested in coding
who are actively
looking for a job, and
open to various
opportunities and
challenges of startups
Subscription fee: $30/month
Hiring Side : Startups
1. Networking/job
fair events
2. Trusted sources
Job Hunter side :
1. Career services at
universities
2. Networking events
3. Social media
4. Trusted sources

11. Day 4 to 5
Original Thought Learned
Market: Compe-tors are problema-c.
Marke-ng: Networking services are
great for outreach.
Marke-ng/Revenue: Lower price
point will always be more a1rac-ve.
Compe-tors are poten-al partners.
Some might be willing to work with
us.
Networking events aren’t so effec-ve,
but university and community career
services might work well. Some may
be willing to work with us directly and
that can help to promote our service.
People are willing to pay more for a
service if shown why/how it’s
beneficial and if they feel it’s higher
quality. Marke-ng well is important.

12. Business Canvas Day 5
Key Partners Key Activities
Key Resources
Value Propositions Customer Relationships Customer Segments
Channels
Cost Structure Revenue Streams
Programmer Hunter - Day 5
1. Hiring companies
2. Student affairs office
3. Cloud service providers
4. Student organizations
1. Offering companies
well-qualified relevant
prospective employees
based on their actual work
2. Save time and effort in
the job hunting and hiring
process
3. Offering coders a fair
chance to prove their
advantageous
competence
4. Offering startups a more
comprehensive
evaluation of applicants,
especially according to
their specific needs and
requirements
1. Customer acquisition
and retention
2. Data collection and
analysis
3. Customer service
4. Platform development
and maintenance
Get: Invitation, reference,
marketing, coding challenge
Keep: Good customer
service, online help portal,
loyalty program for hiring
companies, blog, email
newsletter, recommendation
Grow: Word of mouth,
reference, outreach
networking events
1. Prospective job hunters
‘ data source from public
profiles
2. User behavior and
preference data
3. Hiring companies’
profiles and targets
4.Personalized audition
projects
Website
5. Shortlisting
candidates with
numeric ranking
based on their
previous performance
Service fee Premium services
Sponsored content Advertising
Platform development and maintenance
Human resources
Marketing
Operations
Hiring side: startups
1. With limited budget
to hire an HR
2. Trying to expand
and needing more
eligible programmers
to realize ideas
3. With limited time
4. Preferably to use
less obscure/less
hard to learn
technologies
Job hunter side:
Fresh graduates,
graduating students &
young professionals
interested in coding
who are actively
looking for a job, and
open to various
opportunities and
challenges of startups
Subscription fee: $30/month
Hiring Side : Startups
1. Networking/job
fair events
2. Trusted sources
Job Hunter side :
1. Career services
2. Networking events
3. Social media
4. Trusted sources
5. Career services
at universities and
job help centers
5.Marketing
First month free trial

13. What We Learned: Summary
What we thought What we learned Results
Market
Compe--ve market is pre1y
saturated. It will be possible but
difficult to find a niche to fill.
There are mul-ple small niches to
fill. Pick one that works well.
Core service: providing a
programmer rank to help find the
best programmers. Algorithm
based on public data from websites
such as GitHub using factors that
people actually look for (such as
ac-vity). Focused, saves -me.
Value Prop Our differen-a-on is clear.
Need to clearly ar-culate, focus,
and highlight what unique feature
customers are looking for.
amul-ple small niches to fill. Pick
one that works well.
Customer Segment
We are targe-ng, and taking
money from job seeker and
employer sides, directly or
indirectly.
Targe-ng employers specifically is a
be1er idea. Keep service free for
job seekers. Subscrip-on fees are
paid.
Revenue
People aren’t willing to pay for a
subscrip-on. Need other avenues
for collec-ng revenue.
Startups are willing to pay for a
subscrip-on fee monthly/annually.
They already do for other non-HR
services.
13

14. 5%
31%
64%
No
Yes
Maybe
14
Subscription fee: $30/month
Total # startups interviewed: 39
Get Strategy: Willingness to pay
Willingness to pay: startups
1. First year:
- Estimated conversion rate: 64%
- Subscription fee: $30/month
- First month free
2. In 5 years:
- Estimated conversion rate: 75%
- Estimated churn rate: 5%
- Subscription fee: $30/month
(further tests are required)
Back of the envelope calculation:

15. 4%
18%
77%
No
Yes
Maybe
15
# interviewed: 34
# surveyed: 102
Total # programmers: 136
Get Strategy: Willingness to use
Willingness to use: programmers
1. First year:
- Estimated conversion rate: 77%
2. In 5 years:
- Estimated conversion rate: 90%
- Estimated churn rate: 3%
(further tests are required)
Back of the envelope calculation:

16. Get Strategy:
Programmers
Startups
16
Channel partners
#startups #coders churn rate revenue cost
1 year 640 30,000 5% $200,640 $150,000
5 years 30,000 1,000,000 5% $10,260,000 $2,000,000

17. Channels and Revenue Model
17
Algorithms
Numeric rankings of
programmers
Keyword
Search
Subscription fee
$30/month
Programmers
Startups
Data from
professional websites
Profiles

18. Programmer Hunter Competitor Analysis
18
Recruiters
Technology
Big data
Career services
Social media

19. What We’re Going To Do Next
Step 1. Price points and matching
Step 2. Further testing of unexplored areas
Step 3. Strengthen key partners relationships
Step 4. Refine and launch final products
19

20. Appendix

21. We bring the best developers to you
The best ranking system for pro grammars
Subscribe for only $30/month
21

22. We bring the best developers to you
The best ranking system for pro grammars
Subscribe for only $15/month
22

23. We bring the best developers to you
The best ranking system for pro grammars
Subscribe for only $10/month
23

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