17th  Annual  Edward  L.  Kaplan  New  Venture  Challenge  &  3rd  Annual  Social  New

Venture  Challenge

2013  FEASIBILITY  SUMMARY  COVER  SHEET

COMPANY/TEAM  NAME:

Please  consider  our  application  for  (Check  all  that  apply):

                                                                                 __x_  Traditional  New  Venture  Challenge                                              ___

Social  New  Venture  Challenge

Team  Members  (Please  list  main  contact  for  your  team  first):

Name                  Email  Address      Booth  Class  Year  or  E/W

Affiliation  (if  non-­Booth)

Stella  Fayman sfayman@chi

cagobooth.ed

u

2014

Tim  Jahn tim@matchist.

com

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Please  list  all  the  participants  who  contributed  significantly  to  the  Business  Idea.    Attach  additional  sheets  if

necessary.

Business  Description  (50  words  or  less,  please  note  that  this  info  may  be  made  available  on

the  NVC  website):

Matchist  is  a  curator  of  technical  experts,  connecting  high  end  technical  talent  with  those

looking  to  build  web  and/or  mobile  apps.  By  getting  to  know  both  sides  of  the  market,  matchist

connects  qualified  developers  with  entrepreneurs,  startup,  and  companies  implementing

technical  solutions.

Problem  This  Business  is  Addressing:

Finding  a  developer  who  is  qualified,  skilled  and  communicative  is  increasingly  difficult  with

today’s  technical  talent  crunch.  Surprisingly,  skilled  professional  freelance  developers  find  it

hard  to  locate  interesting  work  with  clients  who  pay  on  time.  Matchist  solves  this  problem  by

connecting  both  parties  through  a  proprietary  matching  system.  In  addition  to  providing

matches,  matchist  facilitates  contracts  and  payment  for  projects  through  an  escrow  based

payment  system  which  mitigates  risk  for  both  parties.

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Social  Impact  of  Business:  (Social  NVC  applicants  only)

Customer  Segment  This  Business  Addresses:

Entrepreneurs,  startups,  companies  implementing  niche  technical  solutions

Potential  Market  Size:  (if  available)

Competing  or  substitutable  products:  (if  available)

Outsourcing  marketplaces  (like  eLance,  oDesk,  Guru),  technical  recruiters,  word  of  mouth

Key  milestones  or  estimated  time  to  market:  (if  available)

Launched  in  Nov  2012.

CERTIFICATIONS  AND  AGREEMENTS

17th Annual Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge & 3rd Annual Social New Venture                          

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Challenge

The  University  of  Chicago  Booth  School  of  Business

Polsky  Center  for  Entrepreneurship  &  Social  Enterprise  Initiative5807  South  Woodlawn  Avenue,  Chicago,  IL  60637

By submitting a Business Idea (“the Idea”) to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business -­ New Venture                                    Challenge or Social New Venture Challenge (“the Competition”), each Contestant listed below agrees to the                            following  conditions:

Originality of Plan. The ideas and concepts set forth in the Idea are the original work of the Contestants and that                                        the Contestant is not under any agreement or restrictions which prohibit or restrict his or her ability to disclose or                                      submit  such  ideas  or  concepts  to  the  Competition.

Compliance with Guidelines of the Competition. Each Contestant has reviewed the Entry Guidelines ("the                          Competition Guidelines") and by his or her signature below certifies that this entry and the team or individual it                                    represents  complies  with  the  Guidelines  and  agrees  to  abide  by  the  Guidelines.

Recognition of Prize Money (New Venture Challenge only). As a condition to receive the Prize Money, each winning                                  team must agree to provide Chicago Booth with equity in the Company (that was the subject of its business plan)                                      in an amount equal to its respective award if the company receives funding or otherwise enters into a business                                    combination transaction wherein the surviving entity receives financing or equity in another entity, within three years                              of  the  agreement  date.

Waivers and Releases. Each Contestant understands that the University of Chicago Booth School of Business,                            each of the co-­sponsors, judges, mentors, co-­organizers (the “Competition Officials”) and its directors, officers,                          partners, employees, consultants and agents (collectively “Organizer Representatives”) are volunteers and are                      under no obligation to render any advice or service to any Contestant. The views expressed by the judges,                                  co-­sponsors, co-­organizers, and the Organizer Representatives are their own and not those of the University of                              Chicago  Booth  School  of  Business  or  any  person  or  entity.

Each  Contestant  also  understands  and  agrees  that  although  the  Competition  Officials  have  taken  and  will  take  thesteps  described  in  the  Guidelines  regarding  confidentiality  of  the  ideas  and  plans  submitted  by  the  Contestants,the  legal  protection  of  the  ideas  and  plans  submitted  by  the  Contestants  to  the  Competition  is  otherwise  the  soleresponsibility  of  the  Contestant.    In  consideration  of  the  time,  expertise  and  other  resources  provided  by  theCompetition  Officials  and  Organizer  Representatives  to  the  Competition,  each  Contestant  hereby  voluntarilyreleases  each  Competition  Official  and  each  Organizing  Team  Member  from  any  further  liabilities,  responsibilities,and  accountabilities  relating  to  or  arising  out  of  such  Competition  Officials  or  Organizer  Representative'sparticipation  in  the  Competition.

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Business  Plan  Name: matchist

Contestants  (Team  Members):  List  principal  contestant  (point-­of-­contact)  first

Name(s): Signature(s)  (Check  Boxto  sign  electronically):

Date(s):

Stella  Fayman X 2/10/13

Tim  Jahn X 2/10/13

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STELLA FAYMAN 21 E. Huron St. #803 | Chicago, IL 60611

(309) 368-5987 | sfayman@ChicagoBooth.edu

EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Chicago, IL Masters of Business Administration; Entrepreneurship, Marketing Sept 2012- June 2014 • Awarded Herman Family Fellowship for Class of 2014 • Active member of Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Group NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Evanston, IL Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Business Institutions Sept 2005-Sept 2009 • Dean’s List • Founder of Sex Week, Director of College Feminists, Director of 85 Broads EXPERIENCE FEEFIGHTERS Chicago, IL Founding Member, Marketing Sept 2009- March 2012 • Planned and executed marketing plan for early stage financial start-up through content, established blog as top B2B

blog with over 50k monthly views over 2.5 years with consistent, varied content, acquired by Groupon • Developed social media strategy and newsletter, with 11k Twitter followers and 20k monthly newsletter recipients,

Developed initial Google AdWords and Facebook marketing campaigns Business Development • Established partnerships with startup focused groups such as Startup Weekend, Founders Card • Represented FeeFighters as community leader; spoke on panels, judged business plan competitions Public Relations • Developed all PR campaigns, landing mentions in TechCrunch, New York Times, BusinessWeek, Mashable, The Wall

Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Inc, VentureBeat, Chicago Tribune, etc. • Created all press releases and outreach materials over three years Customer Service • Handled majority of customer service requests, including payments questions over phone and email • Performed over 500 savings analyses, using knowledge of payments and software to create apples-to-apples

comparisons for users to compare to FeeFighters marketplace ENTREPRENEURS UNPLUGGD Chicago, IL Co-Founder Dec 2012-present Developed brand and concept for intimate event series aimed at inspiring entrepreneurs through storytelling; held 6

events in first year with average of 200 attendees PUBLIC SPEAKER Topics: Entrepreneurship, Women in Startups • Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour Keynote, TechCocktail, Kellogg, Booth School of Business Women in Business Event,

TechWeek, Northwestern University, Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization Annual Conference ADDITIONAL • Volunteer for Future Founders program, Help inner city students write business plans, judge business plan

competition • Active blogger on startup related issues, has written or been quoted in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur,

Forbes, INC Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, TechCrunch • Fluent in Russian and semi-fluent in Spanish, Traveled to over 20 countries in last 4 years

timjahn 6910 W. Farragut Ave.Chicago, IL 60656

847.293.5102timjahn@gmail.com

http://linkedin.com/in/timjahn

objective:experience:

education:

To help companies solve problems using efficient technology solutions.

January 2008 - January 2010Senior Developer - Blueye CreativePioneered creation of custom in-house project management system tostreamline business operations; developed various client projects.

- Blueye Loop I pioneered the creation of an internal project management system to streamline business operations and help teams communicate better. I was the senior developer on the project and consulted with the product team what technology to use for various features.

October 2005 - June 2011Freelance PHP DeveloperDevelop various websites/applications usingHTML/CSS, PHP/MySQL, Wordpress, Drupal, CodeIgniter

August 2003 - May 2007Bradley UniversityBachelor of Science in Multimedia and Electronic Media

skills: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Javascript, jQuery, Drupal, WordPress,CodeIgniter, Photoshop, Illustrator, SVN, Basic Linux

June 2011 - PresentTech Lead - Edelman Digital Consult and educate both internal teams and clients on the best technology solutions and practices to use for various types of projects.

- Disney InsidEARS I was the technical lead responsible for managing the development team as well as tracking bugs and new features. I interacted daily with the client to ensure progress was always made.

March 2010 - March 2011Web Developer - HS2 Solutions Developed many Drupal websites for healthcare clients, as wellas custom PHP web applications for internal and external use.

Value  Proposition

Matchist  is  a  curated  technical  skills  matching  platform,  focused  on  high  end  technical  skills.  We

match  those  looking  for  developers  with  specific  experience  or  technical  skills  with  a  curated

selection  of  individuals  who  fit  their  criteria.  These  projects  include  building  mobile  and  web

applications,  API  integrations,  and  advanced  technical  work.  For  developers,  we  connect  vetted

professional  freelance  web  and  mobile  developers  with  projects  that  match  their  unique  abilities

and  preferences.  Initially,  we  are  focusing  on  web  and  mobile  development,  but  see  great

opportunity  expanding  into  design,  user  experience  (UX),  user  interface  (UI),  and  other  technical

fields.

Product  Overview

When  referred  to  matchist,  clients  fill  out  a  simple  three  question  form  (compared  to  pages  of

questions  on  other  sites).  We  review  answers  and  schedule  a  short  follow  up  call  to  get  a  better

sense  for  their  requirements,  personality,  and  intent.  Using  information  clients  share,  we  input

that  data  into  our  proprietary  matching  algorithm  to  see  which  developers  fit  the  skillset,  are

interested  in  the  industry,  and/or  have  availability.  From  there,  “pitch  emails”  are  sent  out  to  those

qualified  to  gauge  interest.  Developers  self  select  into  being  considered  as  one  of  the  top  three

matches.  From  those  who  opt  in,  we  select  the  three  best  matches.  Developers  and  client  are

notified  of  the  match  taking  place,  and  developers  reach  out  via  the  matchist  messaging  system

to  start  the  sales  process.  When  the  client  has  made  a  decision,  the  developer  sends  a  contract

which  is  electronically  signed  via  matchist.  Clients  prepay  milestones  for  projects,  and  matchist

holds  funds  in  escrow  until  both  parties  agree  that  part  of  the  project  is  complete.  A  dispute

resolution  process  is  in  place  should  the  need  arise.  Payment  is  automatically  released  to

developers  via  their  preferred  payment  method  and  reviews  are  written  by  both  sides.

For  developers,  the  signup  process  is  more  rigorous  as  there  are  screening  elements

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involved.  All  developers  are  required  to  have  a  professional  portfolio  which  matchist  appraises  for

experience.  Developers  are  also  judged  and  coached  on  communication  skill  and  style  to

encourage  better  client  interactions.  For  freelance  developers,  matchist  represents  the  only

current  solution  to  generate  high  quality,  targeted  leads  for  projects.

Customer  Segments

Matchist  primarily  serves  five  specific  use  cases  on  the  client  side:

•  Entrepreneurs  building  prototypes  and  minimum  viable  products  (MVPs)-­  With  over

150,000  new  URLs  registered  each  day ,  the  ability  to  find  someone  with  both  the  technical  skills1

and  communication  skills  (as  well  as  experience)  can  prove  to  be  almost  impossible.

•  Customers  of  technical  products  that  need  API  Integrations-­  Currently  there  are  over

8,500  APIs    (application  programming  interface)  available  online.  Developers  can  use  APIs  to2

create  powerful  interplay  between  software,  yet  there  is  currently  no  platform  (outside  of

matchist)  for  finding  developers  with  experience  and  skills  working  with  these  APIs.

•  CTOs  with  growing  technical  needs-­  CTOs  at  startups  and  small  companies  have  more

projects  than  developers.  Hiring  full  time  developers  is  both  incredibly  difficult  and  expensive  right

now  due  to  a  “talent  crunch”  for  developers  (the  unemployment  rate  for  technical  hires  is  lower

than  4% ).    With  matchist,  CTOs  can  hire  developers  who  prefer  working  with  startups  without3

having  to  hire  them  full  time.

•  Small  business  owners  looking  to  upgrade  or  create  websites-­  Small  business  owners

tend  to  be  the  least  technically  savvy  cohort,  but  there  is  a  strong  segment  of  developers  who

1  Mashable  “How  Big  is  the  Web?  And  How  Fast  is  it  Growing?”http://mashable.com/2011/06/19/how-­many-­websites/2  Programmable  Web  http://www.programmableweb.com/apis3  NextGov  “IT  Jobless  Rates  are  Half  the  National  Average”http://www.nextgov.com/cio-­briefing/wired-­workplace/2012/07/it-­jobless-­rates-­are-­half-­national-­average/56656/

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enjoy  collaborating  and  helping  them  grow  their  online  presence.

•  Agencies  –  Agencies  have  technical  needs  that  ebb  and  flow  due  to  their  client  needs.  They

can  hire  freelance  developers  to  fulfill  project  specifications  when  necessary  on  matchist.

Competition

There  are  currently  three  categories  of  competitors:  outsourcing  sites,  recruiters,  and

traditional  word  of  mouth  referral  networks.  Matchist  fits  a  niche  that  sits  uncovered  by  current

options.

Outsourcing  sites  have  exploded  in  popularity  in  the  last  five  years.  The  top  three  online

freelance  marketplaces  (eLance,  oDesk,  and  Guru  in  that  order)  collected  more  than  $500

million  in  billings  in  2010.  While  many  tasks  are  suited  to  outsourcing,  the  collaborative  nature  of4

development  does  not  suit  the  restraints  of  outsourcing.  In  fact,  30-­50%  of  all  outsourced

software  development  projects  fail.  Workers  on  outsourcing  sites  compete  on  cost,  treating5

development  skills  as  a  commodity.  While  ratings  and  reviews  mitigate  some  risk,  the  all  around

experience  of  sifting  through  hundreds  of  bids  is  daunting.  In  addition,  the  majority  of  professional

US  freelance  developers  do  not  seek  work  on  these  sites .  For  them,  it  is  not  worth  their  time  to6

compete  for  pennies  in  a  race  to  the  bottom  that  insults  their  craft.  They  seek  work  either  through

recruiters  or  by  word  of  mouth.

Technical  recruiters  find  long  term  employment  for  developers  through  their  networks.

Developers  typically  dislike  working  with  recruiters  because  they  don’t  learn  about  different

technical  skillsets,  are  very  aggressive,  and  try  to  find  work  that  doesn’t  fit  their  skills.  Recruiters

generally  focus  on  large  companies  seeking  developers,  and  are  not  interested  in  short  term

4  WhichLance  “Freelance  Marketplace  Review”http://www.scribd.com/doc/33230574/Freelance-­Market-­Review5  ZDNet  Stop  OutsourcingYour  Software  Developmenthttp://www.zdnet.com/outsourcing-­exec-­urges-­stop-­outsourcing-­your-­software-­development-­7000004315/6  As  told  to  Stella  in  over  50  customer  development  interviews

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contract  work  (because  the  commission  is  lower).  Their  job  prospects  are  limited  to  the  size  of

their  networks.  They  are  also  known  to  treat  their  developers’  skills  as  a  commodity,  devaluing

the  perception  of  the  craft.

Traditional  word  of  mouth  is  the  largest  competitor.  Developers  (especially  good  ones)

are  typically  very  difficult  to  find  in  today’s  technical  labor  crunch.  Experienced  professional

freelance  developers  get  most  of  their  work  through  word  of  mouth  and  have  strong  referral

networks  with  professionals  that  have  complementary  skillsets  such  as  designers  and  agencies.

Since  trust  and  communication  are  critical  components  of  a  successful  project,  word  of  mouth

facilitates  easier  access  to  previous  client  referrals,  and  mitigates  the  issue  of  trust.

Matchist  has  many  sustainable  competitive  advantages  over  its  competitors.  For  one,  the

go  to  market  strategy  (described  in  detail  below)  is  to  establish  partnerships  with  companies  that

have  technical  products.  This  will  enable  matchist  to  be  the  key  referral  service  for  companies

whose  customers  seek  technical  help.  In  addition,  developers  on  matchist  have  a  long  term

relationship  with  the  service.

For  those  seeking  developers,  matchist  offers  an  opportunity  to  hire  the  best  and  most

specific  skillsets.  We  greatly  reduce  their  search  costs  and  offer  a  high  end,  personalized

service.  Outsourcing  sites  generally  present  customers  with  hundreds  of  options  presenting  a

paradox  of  choice.  Since  customers  are  generally  not  technical,  they  rely  on  profiles,  reviews,

and  scores  on  tests  they  don’t  know  to  evaluate  talent.  Workers  on  outsourcing  sites  can

manipulate  these  profiles  by  placing  a  best  developer’s  work  to  represent  that  of  multiple  people.

Many  rate  themselves  as  10/10  on  dozens  of  different  programming  languages  and  frameworks.

They  also  try  to  underbid  each  other  in  pricing  wars  that  do  not  reflect  the  actual  cost  of  the

finished  product.

Without  developing  partnerships,  matchist  is  vulnerable  to  low  barriers  of  entry  in  the

industry.  A  deep  pocketed  competitor  could  come  in,  offer  a  superior  product,  and  develop  the

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relationships  with  freelancers  needed  to  become  successful.  This  is  why  our  go  to  market

strategy  is  designed  to  instill  much  higher  barriers  to  entry.

Intellectual  Property

Our  matching  process  is  proprietary.  Through  hundreds  of  interviews  with  potential  customers

as  well  as  real  customers,  we  have  perfected  how  we  screen  developers,  clients,  and  match

them  together.  We  are  currently  improving  the  initial  matching  platform  by  developing  a  matching

algorithm  that  would  determine  “matchist  rank”  or  how  well  suited  developers  are  for  certain

projects  by  an  objective  score.  We  also  have  an  algorithm  in  the  works  that  would  develop  better

matching  for  projects  based  on  feedback  from  project  pitches  that  developers  receive.

Revenue  Model

We  currently  charge  both  sides  of  the  market:  clients  are  charged  a  10%  premium  above

developer  fees,  and  developers  10%  deducted  from  project  payments.  Our  escrow  based

payment  system  mitigates  payment  risk  for  both  sides  until  agreement  is  reached  about  project

completion.  Developers  break  up  a  project  into  “milestones”  then  have  clients  prepay  each

milestone.  The  system  is  designed  to  be  flexible  in  case  changes  need  to  be  made.  A  three

tiered  dispute  resolution  process  exists  should  there  be  a  conflict.  In  the  future,  we  may  also

charge  a  subscription  fee  for  developers.

Go  to  Market

Our  go  to  market  strategy  centers  on  being  the  go  to  service  for  companies  with  technical

products  who  don’t  provide  integration  support  for  customers.  For  example,  Twilio  has  APIs  that

integrate  voice,  SMS,  or  texting  through  software.  While  developers  can  access  and  manipulate

the  APIs,  non  technical  customers  frequently  ask  Twilio  for  developer  recommendations.  Twilio

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has  partnered  with  matchist  to  be  the  go  to  resource  for  helping  non  technical  customers  find

developers.  It’s  a  real  pain  point  for  these  companies,  and  they  don’t  care  to  make  revenue

sharing  agreements  since  they  generate  revenue  through  API  calls  (each  time  the  API  is

accessed).  In  one  month,  matchist  has  formed  six  partnerships  with  companies  like  Twilio.

Developers  on  the  matchist  platform  indicate  their  experience  and  preference  to  work  on  certain

APIs  and  we  match  the  projects  using  our  proprietary  matching  system.  However,  API  based

products  only  represent  the  beginning  of  opportunities  to  be  the  go  to  resource  for  high  end

technical  talent:  ecommerce  platforms  face  similar  challenges  and  will  be  the  second  tier  for

partnership.

A  third  tier  will  be  entrepreneurship  and  small  business  organizations  such  as  1871  (a

current  partner)  who  provide  matchist  as  a  resource  for  their  communities  building  tech  startups.

As  matchist  scales,  it  will  become  the  #1  resource  for  high  end,  trusted,  US  based

technical  talent  through  these  partnership  channels.

Customer  Acquisition

Our  primary  means  of  customer  acquisition  will  be  through  three  channels:

•  Partners  with  technology  companies-­  See  go  to  market  strategy  above.

•  Partners  with  development  firms-­  Many  firms  send  clients  they  can’t  serve  due  to

scheduling  or  scope.

•  PR/Social  Media-­  Our  CEO,  Stella,  is  a  well  known  personality  in  the  tech  startup

world.  She  blogs  on  entrepreneurship  channels  and  will  have  a  weekly  column  in  Forbes  starting

in  March.

•  Content  marketing-­  Blog  posts,  ebooks,  and  other  informational  materials  will  draw

high  intent  traffic  to  the  site.  The  blog’s  concentration  will  center  on  best  practices  for  non

technical  entrepreneurs  to  work  with  developers.  In  addition,  a  separate  blog  will  be  catered  to

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best  practices  for  freelance  developers.

•  Partnerships  with  entrepreneurial  resource  centers-­  In  addition  to  partnering  with

startup  coworking  hubs  like  1871,  matchist  sees  an  opportunity  to  partner  with  accelerators,

incubators,  and  entrepreneurial  mentorship  organizations.

Team

The  current  founding  team  is  Stella  Fayman,  CEO,  and  Tim  Jahn,  CTO.  Stella  was  a  founding

member  of  venture  backed  payments  startup  FeeFighters,  which  was  acquired  by  Groupon  in

the  Spring  of  2012.    Stella  and  Tim  founded  Entrepreneurs  Unpluggd,  a  media  and  events

company  sharing  entrepreneurs’  stories  in  2010.  Tim  was  a  freelance  PHP  developer  before

joining  Edelman  Digital  as  Technical  Lead  last  year.  They  have  been  working  on  matchist  almost

exclusively  for  the  last  9  months.  We  will  expand  the  team  if  accepted  into  NVC.

Progress

Matchist  is  currently  functional  and  is  seeing  incredible  growth  since  the  initial  launch  in

November.  Over  300  developers  signed  up  for  the  beta,  and  we  currently  have  109  active

developers  on  the  platform.  In  the  initial  month,  30  projects  were  matched.  As  of  today,  we  have

had  104  client  signups.  Two  projects  have  been  completed  and  there  are  about  fifteen  in

progress.  We  continue  to  refine  our  matching  technology  and  are  on  version  three  of  the  site.

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