Startup years are like dog years—we pack seven years’ worth of activity and growth into just 12 months.
Last January, Kauzu was no more than an exciting concept, with a handful of part-timers preparing a pitch for a competition in Kansas City. Winning the Gramercy Private Equity “Born Global” award catapulted the concept into reality.
By March we were signing up jobseekers to Kauzu.Jobs, the first mobile app that pinpoints job listings to the user’s location.
Setbacks—financial and technical—forced us to pull back, but they didn’t slow us down. In May we reached out to Chicago’s Aldermen, who readily endorsed our vision for connecting jobseekers and employers in their communities. We forged partnerships with workforce development centers, chambers of commerce and city colleges.
In June we built Kono, the free mobile job-locating app for basic cell phones.
August was our busiest month ever:
· August 8, we launched Kono at the Albany Park Community Center.
· August 15, we launched Kauzu.Jobs with the Centers for New Horizons.
· August 28, we launched Kauzu.Biz with 40th Ward Alderman Patrick O’Connor.
With beta versions of our tools in the hands of the people who needed them, we devoted the fall to perfecting technology and promoting Kauzu.
In September, we gave StreetWise a cover story and the Technori Pitch a highly unconventional presentation. In October we pitched the Built in Chicago Launch event; November saw us highlighting TechCocktail; and we started December with our most extensive pitch yet at the Funding Feeding Frenzy.
(We’ve also been featured in several online journals—check out these recent write-ups on Nibletz and Chicago Venture Magazine.)
And here we are in January 2013, hitting the streets to show employers why Kauzu.Biz is the most advanced, most cost-effective, most hyperlocal entry-level hiring tool ever introduced.
Thank you to everyone who’s supported us, volunteered for us, befriended us and even told us what we were doing wrong. Thank you to everyone we’ve said hello and good-bye to in this crazy year at 5215 Ravenswood.
Please stay in touch, stay involved and stay tuned. If 2012 was any indication, 2013 should be a doozy.
