Hello listeners.Today, I have an awesome follow episode from our friends at Swob. You may remember our episode with Stephanie Florio in Season 6 over 2 years ago, where she clued us in on the creation story of the company. Today, I'm speaking with her co-founder and brother, Alex, to hear the update on Swob and what the team has been up to since then. Have a listen nowIt's very cool to hear the successful update with Swob, adding over 7 million jobs to the platform, scaling for businesses and candidates, and ensuring they have the right team in place to carry out the vision.If you would like to learn more about Swob, go to swobapp.com.SponsorsP0 SecuritySpeakeasyQA WolfLinkshttps://www.swobapp.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderflorio/https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-florio-51397765/https://codestory.co/podcast/bonus-stephanie-florio-swob/Our Sponsors:* Check out Vanta and use my code CODESTORY for a great deal: https://www.vanta.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/code-story/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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Today, I have an awesome follow-up episode from our friends at Swab. You may remember our episode with Stephanie Florio in season six over two years ago, where she clued us in on the creation story of the company. Today, I'm speaking with her co-founder and brother, Alex, to hear the update on Swab and what the team has been up to since then. Have a listen now.
Well, today I have another special guest on the podcast, Alex Florio with Swab. Alex, thanks for being on the show today.
Oh, thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Absolutely. Before we jump into Swab again, it's been a couple of years since I had Stephanie on the show. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Give me a little bit of your story.
Yeah, so I would say I'm a pretty regular guy. I love sports, love music, spending time with family and friends. Who doesn't? Sports is my passion. I'm a big hockey fan, love to play hockey. That's probably the number one thing that I do when I'm looking to just relieve some stress. Play guitar, that's another thing as well that I love to do in my spare time. I'm a new father.
My son just turned one, so... That's been an interesting year this past year. I think that I wear my heart on my sleeve. You could probably tell just based on being around me how I am or what kind of a mood I'm in. And that's yeah, that's me.
Well, I appreciate you giving me that overview. Let's let's dive into the meat of it then. So before we jump into what's gone on with Suave in the past couple of years, remind my audience what Suave is.
Yeah, so Swab app is a job app that we've designed to really help make the job search easy. What inspired the idea for Swab was really my own frustration while looking for jobs. I'm sure Stephanie told you this the last time when she was speaking with you, but I began looking for jobs when I was working in the marketing industry.
I was working for an agency, began getting frustrated there, and I started to look for new opportunities. And I honestly just remembered thinking to myself, there needs to be an easier way to do this. It was so unbelievably frustrating. And I'll admit at the time I was using Tinder and that's what inspired the idea.
So what Swab is, like I said, it's a job app that we've created to really simplify the job search. So if you think Tinder, but for jobs, so you put in your location, select what you're looking for. So whether it's part time, full time industries that you want to look at. And then boom, you're on your way. And it's really straightforward.
So like Tinder, if you don't want to apply to a job, swipe left. If you do want to apply, swipe right. And it's the same on the desktop as well. So we're really just trying to make that job search easy and convenient and really making sure that it isn't a difficult process.
And if you are looking for a job, that it is something that's straightforward and easy to do and not going to take so much time in doing so.
You know, looking at the website, I can tell that things have grown and shifted a lot since I talked to Stephanie. So tell me, give me some of the highlights around what has happened in the last couple of years. What has changed with the product, the business, and all the things?
Lots has changed since you spoke with Stephanie. One of the biggest things that we've done recently is really commit ourselves into the U.S. We've been really focused in the United States now, I'd say for the better part of a year and really trying to grow our presence there. So we're still helping companies across Canada and people who are looking for jobs in Canada.
We're still supporting all of those people. But just the U.S. is really an area that we wanted to focus on pre-COVID. And then COVID happened. And that, I think, was the real push that we needed.
So right now there's over seven and a half million jobs across the platform in North America, which we're really excited about, because one of the things that one of the one of the bits of feedback or criticism that we used to hear was really cool app, not a lot of jobs in certain areas where big cities like Toronto or Chicago or New York would be loaded with jobs.
It was the smaller towns that maybe didn't have a bunch. And now that there are seven and a half million jobs on the platform, there are jobs everywhere. So that experience for a job seeker has just been elevated due to the simple fact that there's so much opportunity available.
The app has evolved a ton since you would have spoken with Stephanie, but at its core, it's still doing what we initially set out for it to do, which is help people find jobs. And now we're just showing more and more opportunities for people. We're working with a new team in terms of our developers and our tech side. So our CTO and our developers are just, they're amazing.
I don't have a technical background. And so having people who are so knowledgeable and such experts in this area makes it so easy for me. Our CTO, for example, is a former Google executive. He was a co-creator of YouTube TV.
And just knowing that somebody like that is on our team who shares the vision and really has the same kind of goal in mind, it just takes off so much stress and it's such a relief.
And so what we're doing now, what we want to hope or what we hope to continue to do is obviously just support people in their job search, continue to grow the platform in terms of making sure there are more and more opportunities and really introducing things that are going to help people on their job search.
Because one of the things that we're also doing now is really making a lot of educational content and really trying to go above and beyond in terms of how we're helping people in their job search outside of just providing them a platform with opportunities to look for. It's unfortunate, but a lot of people really struggle, especially younger people really struggle in their job search.
especially when it comes to things like resume building or communication with an employer, that type of etiquette, how to communicate, what to do beyond an interview, how to prep for an interview.
So those are a lot of things that we're starting to introduce as well, which are really going to help more people because a lot of people, unfortunately, miss out on opportunities because of silly things. And if we can help fix that, it's just another way that we're helping people out in their job search.
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Tell me about some of those things you had to work through in deciding what was the next thing to adjust, to add, or to enhance in the product.
Yeah, so it's funny you ask because that's something that is just always ongoing. And I think for us, one of the biggest things that we really wanted to solve and make sure that we were doing was providing ample opportunity on the app and on the website. Because that was a bit of feedback that we heard early on was remote areas don't necessarily have the most jobs.
And there are people who struggle in those areas who need jobs and who can't find jobs. And so now that was one thing that we really wanted to prioritize and really make an emphasis on improving. So the fact that we were able to hit seven and a half million jobs and the number of jobs is growing was priority one for us.
That at its core was something we really wanted to do and make sure that whatever we were doing in the background, whatever updates or new tweaks we were making, there would always be jobs there. So we're really proud and excited of the fact that there are that many jobs available right now.
It just makes the experience so much easier and it provides the user a lot of opportunities that they maybe don't find on other platforms or maybe they don't even know exists. We're also, like I said, introducing more educational content and things that we're going to have behind paywalls and different features in the app that we're going to introduce.
And it's funny, like our product roadmap, I feel like it's always evolving. And one of the nice things about having a former Google executive as our CTO now is the amount of ideas and outside the box thinking that they bring. It's amazing. And so right now, like I said, the biggest thing was making sure that there were jobs on the platform.
And now that we have the jobs and the number is continuing to grow, there's so many other things that we're going to be working on and introduce in the background. But I think that was the biggest thing, making sure that the jobs were there.
Sure. No, that makes sense. And it sounds like that's been successful, right? You have 7 million plus jobs on the platform. What led you towards the educational content aspect of it? I can picture people looking for a job and then perhaps maybe even being done with Swab for a little while, right? But does the educational content keeps them coming back to the product and gaining value?
Is that part of the driver there? Or tell me about your story there.
Definitely part of that. Again, I think what inspired that part of it is a lot of people struggle. It's easy to go onto a platform, whether it's Swab or another site, and look for jobs and apply. But beyond that, if you struggle or don't really know what to do in terms of next steps... you're just going to get weeded out.
It's unfortunate because we've seen it so many times and we've seen so many opportunities and so many cases where somebody didn't get a job or didn't get a second interview or whatever it is because of silly mistakes. And so what might seem obvious to you and I when searching for jobs or communicating with a potential employer, it's not so obvious to a lot of people.
And so that was just something where we thought we really, we want to make sure that candidates and people that are on our platform have access to opportunities, but we want to make sure that they're actually getting, taking advantage of the opportunities and getting in those doors.
So that was something that was really important to us was to really make sure that if people are struggling, that beyond the job opportunities that are shown on SWAB, we're offering resources to also help you in that journey and really help you feel confident when you're applying to those jobs. Because we've also seen a lot of people who
afraid to apply to jobs and because they don't know how to handle if an employer reaches out or calls them for an initial phone interview. And so if we can just help those individuals feel that much more prepared and confident, that's the biggest thing. So really making sure that when you're on swab, you're finding those opportunities, but you're actually landing those opportunities as well.
Yeah, for sure. Setting them up for success, right, when they get that first interview or an un-interview or many interviews so that they know what to do, right, when people contact them. That makes a ton of sense. Okay, so, you know, I'm checking out the website, right, and I see that you guys got some pretty interesting interest, I'll say, from Richard Branson. Tell me about that.
Yeah, so that was an awesome experience. So in 2018, we were actually named the first ever Canadian company to win Richard Branson's Pitch to Rich contest. In the early days of Swab, Stephanie and I used to do a lot of pitch competitions and get involved in as many contests or competitions that we could.
Because for us, we just thought it could be an opportunity to win money and really put that back into the business and help us. And so that was something that I had come across. There was an application process for it. I thought, hey, what do we have to lose? Why not? So I submitted the application and I'm not sure, maybe a month or so went by, found out that we were a finalist.
We had to do a one minute video pitch to Richard Branson that he would personally view and found out a couple of days later that we had won. And honestly, like even talking about it now, When I think about that, it was so surreal getting that phone call saying that we had won.
And honestly, it was so humbling to know that an idea that we had, the risk that we took to start this idea was validated by somebody like Richard Branson. So it was truly humbling for me and for Stephanie as well. It was such an awesome experience. We actually got flown out to Calgary and got to spend some time with Richard. We went to an event with him and it was awesome.
We had so much fun and really got to pick his brain. And like I said, just knowing that he was the one to personally select us as the winners, it truly was humbling.
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You've got some really great things going on. And then also here you mentioned you have a new CTO or the CTO you have. I don't recall if that was an early team member, but there's a new team that's also working on the product. That's a big change. Right. So have you had have you ran into any sort of technological challenges or product challenges as you were adding those teams?
you know, large number of jobs on the platform or as you were changing teams?
It's a good question. And that's one thing where I'm grateful we have a CTO with the type of knowledge that he has and the team that we have in terms of our tech support or our technical side. I think with anything, there's always hiccups or hurdles along the way. And in this case, it's no different. Things are always crashing. Things always go wrong.
But like I said, having people that are a lot smarter than me, tech went from being one of the things where I was constantly banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what was happening to literally none of that where the stress has just melted away because I know that our tech team is a lot smarter than Stephanie and I. They know how to handle anything that goes wrong.
We're also working with a new marketing group as well. And they're really helping us in terms of creating that awareness in the US. But I think with anything, you want to work with people who share a vision, have similar goals in mind, and really just are there to help evolve what you're already doing.
And like I said, I think for me, it's really important to work with people that are, A, just as passionate as I am and have the same vision in mind, but are also experts in what they do. And so we're fortunate now that we have such a wonderful team that we work with, so much great help and support.
And quite honestly, I know I could speak on behalf of Stephanie for this as well, but we're really grateful because it's really helped us focus on other elements of the business. Whereas before we were doing everything.
everything and really trying to juggle everything just the two of us now we can really focus on growing the business and we know that we have support behind us that if we need it and they're doing what they're supposed to do so it's been awesome but like anything there's going to be growing pains but we can deal with the growing pains as long as the people that we work with share the same visions and goals in mind and we're fortunate that we have such a great team
So important to have the right people that are locked into the vision. You can't stress that enough. I'm curious if you have and maybe it's, you know, just an anecdotal story or or a success story from the worker side, right from the candidate side, excuse me, from the candidate side.
Do you have some stories there you can share of of how someone was really struggling, got on swab and had immediate success?
I think one story that I always think about was the very first person who got hired through Swab. So this would have been a few years ago. But Stephanie and I in the early days, and this was pre-COVID, would go into schools and we'd do a lot of presentations and speak to a lot of young people.
I was this high school student and they came up to us, had some questions, said they were looking for their first ever job. Like I said, a high school student. So it's about that time where you should be looking for a part-time job. This person took our information and it was funny. We found out literally like, I think a week or two later that they had applied to a job and they got hired.
Again, this was really early on. So it was, you know, we did some research and found that it was the very first ever candidate to get hired through Swab. So that was just a really cool moment. And that's something that I often think about because now there have been many people who have been hired and that's amazing. That's why we started Swab. That was the goal was to help people.
And that's always been the goal. But I think I always go back to that very first success story. And I think even that knowing that somebody was able to find employment, especially in the early days where there were a lot of ups and there were also but there was also a lot of downs. So just knowing that it actually had helped somebody, it was such a gratifying moment.
You know, we still get excited when we hear about candidates finding jobs through SWAB.
Let's flip to the other side then. Tell me about a story of a business who's really struggling to find the right people, used all the other sort of job boards or whatever right out there, and found Swab and then just found the diamonds in the rough.
On the employer side, we built that part of the platform with employer feedback. Like we would go and meet with employers and really just try and get as much information as possible, learn things, what they like about what they're currently using, what they don't like, what they would like to see. And it was something where a lot of employers really do struggle with bringing in candidates.
One of the things that we've done is really made sure that we listen to the pain points that they would identify and really be in a position where we could solve those pain points. For example, one of the things we would always hear from employers is they would post their job on other sites and they were getting candidates who were from out of town or out of the country and they weren't local.
And that was a big issue for a lot of these employers because they're spending money on those candidates and it's not doing them any good. And so there was one story of a company in the US. It was a small automotive company. They were really struggling to find candidates. They were posting their jobs on other platforms and came across Swab, posted their job.
We were there to support them, made sure everything was OK. And literally within two days, they made a hire. So they within two days of posting, they received candidates and made a hire. So. As much as we get excited about candidates who find jobs through Swab, we also get excited, obviously, on the employer side when they're able to find those candidates and it actually works for them.
Because, again, we built the product for people who need the jobs, but the employers who are posting the jobs, there's no jobs without them. We really made sure that we listened to their feedback and took it seriously as well. And like I said, when somebody is able to find candidates and hire someone within two days, that seems pretty good to me.
Absolutely. That's a speedy hiring process. Okay, so you've got the product and the company to a really good place, right? But this isn't the finish line, right? There's more to do. There's more to build or to address with the product. So tell me what the future looks like. Tell me what's next for Swap.
It's never not evolving. And whenever we look at the roadmap, it's just, is it ever done? But so there's a lot of things that we're working on. Like I said, new features that we're going to introduce in the app, things that you can unlock, different educational content, even on the employer side, we're completely revamping the employer sections.
We're actually changing it where, because prior it used to be where employers would post their jobs and it would be a monthly or annual subscription. We're scrapping that. So it's going to be even easier on the employer side. It's going to be a freemium model. They can go and post their jobs for free, but if they want to boost their posting and make it more visible, they can have the option.
There are a ton of things that we're working on right now. We even did a website revamp, but I think ultimately the biggest thing Like I said, was all of the features that we can introduce are going to be awesome, but they don't mean anything if there's no jobs.
And so that's the biggest thing, too, is we're just continuing to work with new partners and really make sure that we're growing across North America and have more and more opportunities available each day.
OK, so I'm a worker or I'm a business, right? What do I got to do to get started?
For sure. If you're looking for a job, you can download Swab free in the App Store or Google Play. And you can also use our website to look for jobs as well. And if you're an employer who's looking to post and hire candidates, you can go to swabapp.com to get started.
Awesome. Well, Alex, thank you for being on the show today. I'm really excited to hear the successes of Swab. It's been a couple of years since I talked to Stephanie about the creation story of the product. And I can tell that you both have been, along with the team, have been heads down, working hard, making the product better, getting jobs on the platform and providing value for your market.
Really appreciate being on the show today.
Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.
So cool to hear the successful update with Swab, adding over 7 million jobs to the platform, scaling for businesses and candidates, and ensuring they have the right team in place to carry out the vision. If you would like to learn more about Swab, go to swabapp.com. That's S-W-O-B-A-P-P dot com. And thanks again for listening.