Firing Squad: HR Geckos' Jay Polaki

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[00:01:05] Cheeseman out.

[00:01:07] Like Shark Tank?

[00:01:08] Then you'll love Firing Squad.

[00:01:10] Chad Zowash and Joel Cheeseman are here to put the recruiting industry's bravest,

[00:01:15] falsiest, and baddest startups through the gauntlet to see if they've got what it takes to make it out alive.

[00:01:22] Dig a foxhole and duck for cover, kids.

[00:01:24] The Chad and Cheese Podcast is taking it to a whole other level.

[00:01:33] Come on, another Firing Squad.

[00:01:34] What's up everybody?

[00:01:35] It's Balaque's favorite podcast, aka the Chad and Cheese Podcast.

[00:01:39] I'm your co-host Joel Cheeseman.

[00:01:41] Joined as always, the key to my peel, Chad Zowash is in the house.

[00:01:45] Hello!

[00:01:45] We're happy to welcome Jay Palaki, not Balaqui, CEO and founder at HR Gecko's 2HRs, most dangerous podcast.

[00:01:54] Jay, welcome to Firing Squad.

[00:01:57] Glad to be here and I'm ready with my bazooka, Joel and Chad.

[00:02:00] Oh, she's going to fire back on us, Chad.

[00:02:02] I love it.

[00:02:03] I love it.

[00:02:04] So real quick, Jay, if there's a picture under the word persistence in the dictionary, it's Jay because she has been lobbying so long to be on the show.

[00:02:13] Finally, you've achieved your goal, Jay.

[00:02:15] Congratulations, you're on the podcast.

[00:02:17] Most of our listeners will not know who you are.

[00:02:20] We like to get a little flavor of what makes you tick here on Firing Squad.

[00:02:23] So give us the personal side of Jay.

[00:02:26] Well, thank you again for accepting my numerous emails and messages to have me on the show, Joel and Chad.

[00:02:36] So glad to be here.

[00:02:38] Hi everyone.

[00:02:39] I'm Jay Palaki, the chief gecko, aka CEO of HR Geckos.

[00:02:44] And to keep the geckos in the conversation, I'll borrow a term from botany.

[00:02:48] I've had a very gated start to my career.

[00:02:52] I started in IoPsych.

[00:02:54] That's my background.

[00:02:55] You know, believe it or not, I started working for the beer giant Anheuser-Busch as an external consultant.

[00:03:03] And I've had many, many instances where I doubted whether I still wanted to be in HR.

[00:03:10] Like when I got shot at when accompanying LA Sheriff's Department's deputy on a job analysis, you know,

[00:03:17] in the middle of a chase, a car thief started shooting at our convoy.

[00:03:22] Wow.

[00:03:23] Yikes.

[00:03:25] I draw the line of gunfire.

[00:03:27] Yeah, so I've been in the line of gunfire, real gunfire.

[00:03:31] And, you know, I've also had the real pleasure of visiting some of the Chicago fire stations.

[00:03:37] One notable one being the one in ladder 49, the Kurt Russell movie, you know.

[00:03:43] So that's been my very gated start in HR and I've been in HR for over 20 years.

[00:03:49] HR Geckos is my baby.

[00:03:51] So I've built HR Geckos from all of my experience.

[00:03:54] Let's stop you there before you get into your baby.

[00:03:56] Chad, tell her what she's won today on Firing Squad.

[00:03:59] Welcome, Jay.

[00:03:59] This is how Firing Squad is going to go today.

[00:04:03] At the sound of the bell, you are going to have two minutes to pitch HR Geckos.

[00:04:08] At the end of two minutes, we're going to hit you with about 20 minutes of Q&A.

[00:04:12] Be concise because if you start droning on, you're going to hear the crickets.

[00:04:17] That's your signal to tighten it up and move out.

[00:04:21] At the end of Q&A, you will receive either big applause, Gecko, no way.

[00:04:27] This is Godzilla.

[00:04:28] That's right, Jay.

[00:04:29] You're going to make this happen.

[00:04:31] Golf clap.

[00:04:32] Well, we like it, but there's something you need to feed this Gecko.

[00:04:36] It's got some legs, but you're going to have to feed this Gecko.

[00:04:39] And last but never least, the Firing Squad.

[00:04:43] Squish.

[00:04:45] That's the sound you're going to hear because you're going to have

[00:04:47] to ditch this business model.

[00:04:49] That Gecko is going to get squished.

[00:04:51] Try, try, try something else.

[00:04:53] That's Firing Squad.

[00:04:54] Are you ready, Jay?

[00:04:56] Yes, I am.

[00:04:58] Let's do it.

[00:04:59] All right, Jay, pitch this thing in three, two.

[00:05:03] Meet HR Geckos.

[00:05:05] We make HR as agile as a Gecko.

[00:05:07] We are a co-pilot for HR operations and we automate key HR processes,

[00:05:13] connect all HR systems, and our AI powered help desk is the only

[00:05:18] help desk built for HR by HR.

[00:05:20] The significant advantage we are bringing to HR teams is that we help them

[00:05:24] provide HR services instantly.

[00:05:27] And the big advantage for businesses is that they can comply with ever

[00:05:30] changing laws and avoid the costs that come with manual processes

[00:05:34] and outdated technology.

[00:05:35] Our purpose is to replace fragmented systems with a unified, digital,

[00:05:40] one-stop shop that connects employees to what they need, when they need

[00:05:44] it and where they need it.

[00:05:46] That's us, HR Geckos with the Godzilla inside.

[00:05:48] So we are ready.

[00:05:50] That was quick for a product with a lot of stuff going on.

[00:05:55] I love it.

[00:05:56] All right, Jay, let's get to the name.

[00:05:58] This is what we cover first.

[00:06:00] HR Gecko, why the Gecko?

[00:06:02] Have you got a cease and desist from Geico?

[00:06:05] You're also using what looks like a Godzilla icon.

[00:06:08] I love it.

[00:06:08] The Godzilla folks contacted you to change to chain things.

[00:06:12] You're very adamant about the trademark usage.

[00:06:14] So do you really have a trademark around HR Geckos?

[00:06:17] So great question.

[00:06:18] Our origin story is we started as HR Godzilla.

[00:06:22] We didn't meet the lawyers from Godzilla, but we decided to be the

[00:06:26] smaller reptile, the Gecko, because what we intend to do is transform

[00:06:32] HR and so true to our name, HR Geckos is built to transform HR and

[00:06:37] HR processes and bring us into the 21st century.

[00:06:41] The logo is self explanatory via the Gecko with the Godzilla inside.

[00:06:47] And no one's contacted us.

[00:06:49] I don't think we'll be ever sued.

[00:06:50] We have a trademark applied for it and it's ongoing.

[00:06:53] So if you, if you do well on this show, you might need one because the,

[00:06:57] the phones are going to be ringing off the hook with, with new sales.

[00:07:00] Truly big Godzilla.

[00:07:01] You, you have a robust history in HR, from your LinkedIn profile.

[00:07:06] What was the catalyst for an HR lady to start a company?

[00:07:11] Well, first off, I think when I turned 40, I realized

[00:07:17] that HR needs to leverage technology more and being in organizations where

[00:07:24] I had to really go through the bureaucracy to get anything done,

[00:07:29] get any new technology implemented.

[00:07:32] I found that being on the outside of organizations and helping to drive

[00:07:37] this transformation would work better for me.

[00:07:40] And so a couple of years before the pandemic, I picked up the

[00:07:44] gauntlet and said, here I go, HR Godzilla.

[00:07:48] And then when we went to market to figure out the name, Godzilla has

[00:07:53] a definite ominous ring to it.

[00:07:55] Of course it's the king of monsters.

[00:07:57] And our intention was to burn down these paper silos in HR.

[00:08:03] But we decided to be friendly and said, okay, so, you know, we are

[00:08:07] here to actually transform, not just burn down.

[00:08:09] And so Geckos was the ultimate choice.

[00:08:13] We had a family brainstorming event and my five-year-old nephew was one of

[00:08:17] the people who actually chose the name HR Godzilla.

[00:08:20] And then we convinced him that HR Geckos was a friendlier name as well.

[00:08:24] So, Hey, he's the future of the workplace.

[00:08:27] He's 12 years old today and he loves HR Geckos.

[00:08:31] What better way to name a company than to talk to the young people, Chad.

[00:08:35] So you got an undisclosed amount of money in 23.

[00:08:40] Are you prepared to tell us how much that was?

[00:08:42] And if so, great.

[00:08:43] But regardless, what have you done with the money?

[00:08:46] Are you looking to raise a real round of money, a seed round?

[00:08:49] Like talk about the financial situation.

[00:08:51] Sure.

[00:08:51] We're fully bootstrapped.

[00:08:53] We've always been bootstrapped.

[00:08:55] The undisclosed amount of money is undisclosed to me as well.

[00:08:58] So I don't know what Crunchbase is reporting.

[00:09:06] So we were part of mass challenge, which is one of the global accelerators

[00:09:10] and we were accepted into the program last year.

[00:09:13] Finalists at the PitchFest as well.

[00:09:15] And, you know, as a company, we've grown being bootstrapped and we have a

[00:09:20] comfortable runway.

[00:09:21] Of course, you got to start begging for money when you really don't need it.

[00:09:25] Right?

[00:09:25] So we are, we have our begging bowl in hand and we are approaching

[00:09:29] investors, but we'll see how that goes.

[00:09:31] Well, how big are you now?

[00:09:33] How many employees do you currently have?

[00:09:35] So we have a software development center in India and we have about five

[00:09:39] employees there.

[00:09:41] And we also have a digital marketing specialist and a business

[00:09:46] development specialist.

[00:09:47] The CTO and CEO are co-founders and my CTO is also my husband.

[00:09:52] His name is Sai Anadatta.

[00:09:53] Keep in the family.

[00:09:55] That's good.

[00:09:55] Yeah.

[00:09:56] Yep.

[00:09:57] And he's, he's a tech genius par compare.

[00:10:00] He's just brilliant.

[00:10:01] So I'm happy to have him on board at HR Gecko.

[00:10:04] He's dead sexy too.

[00:10:05] I'll just throw that out there.

[00:10:06] Well, of course, of course.

[00:10:08] So,

[00:10:08] The tools net him actually.

[00:10:10] Right?

[00:10:10] Yeah.

[00:10:12] I don't want to go down that road.

[00:10:14] I'm sure there's a story there.

[00:10:15] Anyway, when did you, when did you start using the, the terminology co-pilot?

[00:10:21] So we started using the terminology, I would say at the beginning, when we

[00:10:26] launched, when we launched in January of 2023, that's when we started

[00:10:31] using the terminology co-pilot.

[00:10:32] Okay.

[00:10:33] So everybody's using it now.

[00:10:35] Do you think that it's, it's, it makes it better from an adoption

[00:10:38] standpoint or is it, is there just way too much noise?

[00:10:41] Are you looking at prospectively getting out of kind of like co-pilot

[00:10:44] and going into something that maybe is more sexy, like a Godzilla pilot?

[00:10:49] I don't know.

[00:10:50] Good question.

[00:10:51] But you know, the word co-pilot is very prevalent among you and me,

[00:10:56] the ones who talk about this new technology and the ones who

[00:11:00] talk about HR technology a lot.

[00:11:02] But when I approach my industry segments in the small to medium business

[00:11:06] spaces, they're really not that aware of this technology.

[00:11:09] In fact, the term sometimes helps them better understand what we can do as

[00:11:14] an automation and a technology tool for HR.

[00:11:18] So I don't think there is a, there is too much noise there.

[00:11:21] I still think it's a good use of that buzzword when we go talk to people.

[00:11:26] Okay.

[00:11:27] Also another buzzword that's happening a lot lately is process

[00:11:31] efficiency, which I didn't hear in your pitch.

[00:11:33] Although the entire pitch to me sounded like this is just a big

[00:11:38] ball of process efficiency.

[00:11:40] So is that where you guys are really leaning hard to be a process

[00:11:44] efficiency excellence kind of technology or where are you going?

[00:11:48] Cause that's what I got from the pitch.

[00:11:50] Absolutely.

[00:11:50] So definitely process efficiency because there is so much fragmentation

[00:11:55] in the HR tech stack and an organization, you know, employees.

[00:12:00] The two are, I'll say the three biggest problems we want to solve is that

[00:12:04] employees find it very hard to find what they want when they're looking for it

[00:12:09] in the moment that matters and they don't know whom to contact about it.

[00:12:13] They don't have the necessary active directory kind of process to figure

[00:12:19] out whom to contact for what within HR or within the business.

[00:12:23] And then, you know, they have no visibility into the status of their

[00:12:27] requests. The process is not transparent enough.

[00:12:31] The policies are not transparent enough and the resolution is not

[00:12:36] transparent enough to the employee.

[00:12:39] So these are some of the top things we are trying to resolve with our

[00:12:43] product. Definitely the process efficiency is part of that, right?

[00:12:47] We're streamlining the HR operations with the tech.

[00:12:49] Yeah.

[00:12:50] But at the end of it, we are trying to make sure that the focus remains on

[00:12:54] the human and not all of this process pushing where you're asking them to

[00:13:00] complete these different forms or provide you with different pieces of

[00:13:05] information. At the end of the day, making it look like this really

[00:13:11] cumbersome, frustrating moment for the employee, especially when they're

[00:13:15] calling you when, you know, they've had a new baby or they're calling

[00:13:20] you in the midst of a crisis and they need resolution or they just want to go

[00:13:25] on vacation and they just want to know how much vacation they have.

[00:13:29] Like you, Chad, not everyone's going to Europe like you, but, you know, I

[00:13:33] want to go to the beach.

[00:13:34] I want to know how much vacation I have and I can't get a handle of it

[00:13:37] unless someone looks up a different system and tells me or I wait for

[00:13:41] someone to email me back.

[00:13:43] So those are some of the frustrations that we are looking into and solving

[00:13:48] for.

[00:13:48] So just to be able to provide an understanding and scope of the actual

[00:13:52] technology and who it's going to serve, where do you start?

[00:13:55] Do you start after the hire and then going through onboarding and through

[00:13:59] the talent management whole process methodology or is it before that?

[00:14:03] Just help me with scope real quick.

[00:14:05] Absolutely.

[00:14:06] We start right when an applicant has offered the job and is in the

[00:14:10] process of considering and accepting it.

[00:14:12] So we start with that onboarding and that's where the automation part of

[00:14:15] our platform comes in as well.

[00:14:17] We help digitize that part of the process as well.

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[00:15:36] All right, Jay, let's talk about the Godzilla in the room.

[00:15:39] I want to get a sense from you of the competitive landscape.

[00:15:42] From where I sit, there are some well-funded, well-resourced competitors.

[00:15:48] Rippling, Bamboo, High Bob, Factorial, just to name a few.

[00:15:53] Where do you guys fit in?

[00:15:54] How do you cut through the clutter?

[00:15:56] How do you differentiate?

[00:15:57] Absolutely.

[00:15:58] So that's a great question.

[00:16:00] In fact, one of my board of advisors just sent me an email

[00:16:04] asking me one of those questions as well.

[00:16:07] So when you look at, you mentioned Rippling.

[00:16:09] Rippling is built primarily for payroll.

[00:16:12] And on top of that, they've added on some additional functionalities to help out.

[00:16:19] And they cater to companies, apparently, who even have two employees,

[00:16:25] because that's apparently where payroll comes into play.

[00:16:28] Our company is differentiated by the fact that we are using our chatbot

[00:16:33] not just to provide employee self-service, but also to help the HR team

[00:16:39] with their side of the operations.

[00:16:41] So we are tapping into knowledge center resources and knowledge bases

[00:16:46] that would help HR teams be more efficient and more productive as well.

[00:16:52] That's one of our key differentiators.

[00:16:53] No one's doing that.

[00:16:54] The chatbot is only used for employee self-service.

[00:16:57] The second thing that we are doing very well is not just building a workflow,

[00:17:02] but actually connecting everyone who needs to be a part of that

[00:17:06] workflow in one single system.

[00:17:09] We are taking away that disjointed, fragmented HR tech stack

[00:17:14] and acting as a hub for the employee, for the HR, for the business

[00:17:20] so that they can connect easily and seamlessly with all of their technology

[00:17:24] through a single sign-on gateway, through us acting as a hub.

[00:17:27] And the third differentiator is our custom integrations.

[00:17:32] We integrate with and we build integrations

[00:17:35] with anything that has an open API or not based on the different technologies

[00:17:40] that are already in-house.

[00:17:42] We will make sure that we are connecting all of them

[00:17:45] and making it a seamless experience for the employee.

[00:17:47] How about on pricing?

[00:17:48] Do you guys differentiate quite a bit on the pricing side as well?

[00:17:51] It feels like a product for a smaller company.

[00:17:54] Am I wrong about that?

[00:17:55] Like, who's your customer?

[00:17:57] What do they look like typically?

[00:17:59] So we are here to serve the small to medium business segment.

[00:18:03] So anywhere from 50 to 5,000 employee companies, that's where we sit.

[00:18:08] And the pricing, we have a freemium model for smaller companies

[00:18:15] that are less than 25 employees.

[00:18:17] In fact, they're extending that to even 50 employees or less

[00:18:20] at this point in time this year so that we can help you

[00:18:23] with getting set up with your HR people function,

[00:18:26] because we have all of the other bells and whistles

[00:18:30] that you need as a company that's starting up,

[00:18:33] org charts, job descriptions, digitizing your employee handbook,

[00:18:37] having your employee profiles in one place

[00:18:39] with all of the contact information so you can actually build the chart

[00:18:43] and look at how your organization is scaling and growing.

[00:18:45] These are things that people say some of the companies say

[00:18:48] they are able to provide, but they provide it in a very piecemeal fashion.

[00:18:53] Whereas we do the whole gamut of all of this that I've just mentioned.

[00:18:57] We also have survey.

[00:18:58] We have a survey tool and we have push notifications

[00:19:01] and announcements and integrations with Slack and Teams.

[00:19:04] So we do a lot of things that organizations say they do,

[00:19:07] but they really don't do it to the full extent

[00:19:11] of the process or the technology.

[00:19:13] But we are doing it to the full 100% extent.

[00:19:15] Excellent. So as we talk about SMB, SMB is a very, very,

[00:19:21] very hard market to penetrate, which you've probably heard us

[00:19:24] say on this podcast a million times.

[00:19:26] It can be done. Don't get me wrong.

[00:19:27] What is your go to market strategy on being able to penetrate the SMB market?

[00:19:31] Education. First off, small to medium businesses are not aware

[00:19:36] that there are tools for the HR function, tools in general.

[00:19:40] I mean, they don't pay attention to the service nows.

[00:19:43] There are planes they do because there is some payroll involved.

[00:19:46] But the service nows, which are built for service delivery,

[00:19:49] they don't pay attention to those bigger tools

[00:19:51] because they've never needed to use them.

[00:19:52] So the education component is key in this market

[00:19:56] about educating.

[00:19:57] In fact, I was just speaking to a CHRO of a 200 people company

[00:20:02] who never thought about using AI the way HR Geckos is using it,

[00:20:06] where they have multiple channels on Slack and Teams

[00:20:11] and they have employees in different countries at this point in time

[00:20:16] because of the way everyone's shifted to remote

[00:20:18] and can employ anyone anywhere today.

[00:20:21] And they're finding it hard to corral all of that into one place

[00:20:25] and train a chatbot.

[00:20:26] I mean, the Slack bot is not going to be able to help them

[00:20:28] because they have messages coming in through email and Teams

[00:20:31] and even voicemail and walk-ins.

[00:20:33] So our platform actually corrals all of that information.

[00:20:37] The chatbot is very, very private to the company.

[00:20:41] We are not Gen. AI.

[00:20:42] We are not chat GPT.

[00:20:43] And I'll say that again and again.

[00:20:45] We are not chat GPT.

[00:20:46] We are built for the company.

[00:20:49] The chatbot is very private, is trained only on your data

[00:20:52] and does not share your data outside of your organization

[00:20:56] and does not bring in outside data to be compared to your data at all.

[00:21:01] So it's a very custom built NLP machine learning bot

[00:21:05] and it will serve the purpose of augmenting the work of,

[00:21:09] say, an office manager or an HR manager or an HR team of one

[00:21:14] with 150, 200 employees who really needs that help

[00:21:17] and is resource strapped and is short on time

[00:21:21] and life is passing us by as we speak on an HR team of one.

[00:21:27] So that's the efficiency and the augmentation

[00:21:31] we are bringing with the technology.

[00:21:32] And the education piece is key to this.

[00:21:35] And that's why the go-to market, you know, the content is key

[00:21:39] and strategically going and speaking to where these small

[00:21:43] to medium businesses are is also very key.

[00:21:46] And they're not going to attend HR technology conference.

[00:21:49] They're not going to attend these larger conferences.

[00:21:51] So we have to go where they are in the local areas,

[00:21:55] in the local networking business networking groups.

[00:21:57] Are you partnering with companies on that?

[00:21:59] Are you partnering with companies to be able to get that kind of penetration?

[00:22:02] Talk about that, because that that to me is is the go-to market strategy.

[00:22:06] Yes. So we've partnered with a couple of companies already

[00:22:10] in the background screening and people analytics space.

[00:22:13] And we have a couple of HR consulting partners

[00:22:16] and a couple more who are coming on board shortly.

[00:22:18] And we are also trying to partner with the big bigger companies

[00:22:22] who serve the SMB market.

[00:22:24] So we're trying to get on their marketplace as well.

[00:22:26] We have a few deals in the pipeline with these companies

[00:22:30] and hopefully will be on their marketplace soon so we can reach that SMB segment.

[00:22:35] Partnerships are very, very key today because how do you reach,

[00:22:41] you know, a small business owner who has 300 employees

[00:22:44] and is so busy running the business is not even thinking about the HR piece.

[00:22:50] Right. So that's that's one of the biggest ways also to approach this market

[00:22:55] and get into the market.

[00:22:56] Yeah. What about the other Godzilla's in the market?

[00:22:58] Because we just talked about chat GPT.

[00:23:01] I mean, you've got you've got Gemini that's out there.

[00:23:03] You've got all these different large language models that are outspending.

[00:23:07] I mean, they're pretty much buying all the GPU power.

[00:23:09] I mean, they are monopolies in themselves already,

[00:23:12] but they're going to monopolize the GPU power in a very slim market,

[00:23:17] like like like you are looking at compared to what they're looking at

[00:23:21] in the entire universe of data.

[00:23:24] Do you need that kind of power?

[00:23:26] Number one. Number two.

[00:23:27] Can another company jump in with an open AI or,

[00:23:32] you know, a Gemini or what have you and pretty much take you guys out

[00:23:36] much faster and scale faster.

[00:23:39] Tell me about that competition piece.

[00:23:41] Oh, great question.

[00:23:43] Definitely spent a lot of time on that when we were launching in January

[00:23:47] and we were asked the same question.

[00:23:49] So here's the difference.

[00:23:50] Chat GPT and other GenAI tools are using data from God knows where.

[00:23:58] They themselves do not know where they're getting the data from.

[00:24:01] OK, but they can.

[00:24:03] So now think about it, though.

[00:24:04] And I understand what you're saying, but they can.

[00:24:07] Let's say, for instance, you can still use those AI models

[00:24:09] with smaller data lakes, correct?

[00:24:11] Yes. So a company can actually go and they can utilize that

[00:24:15] and hit a hit a data lake like you're talking about with these SMB companies.

[00:24:20] So let's talk about the that threat, because that's the threat that I care about.

[00:24:23] I don't care about the whole universe of data.

[00:24:25] I care about them actually able to efficiently use that model against your model.

[00:24:31] So you are seeing chat GPT being used in customer service today, correct?

[00:24:36] Where it can answer a query and say, OK, here's the info.

[00:24:41] Right. So we are going a step beyond that with our chatbot.

[00:24:46] Our chatbot is not just bringing in the information.

[00:24:49] It's also acting as a place where you can evolve your HR practices,

[00:24:55] your HR handbook, your FAQ library

[00:24:58] as the chatbot is interacting with your employee populations.

[00:25:02] I don't see chat GPT or anyone doing that at this point.

[00:25:05] And they're cost prohibitive for small to medium businesses.

[00:25:08] Have you seen how much their subscription costs?

[00:25:11] It's it's beyond what anyone can afford for a platform like that.

[00:25:16] Yeah. Our cost, we are pegged for small to medium businesses.

[00:25:21] And so we are affordable, much more affordable than any of these GenAI tools.

[00:25:26] Besides, when we speak to small to medium businesses,

[00:25:29] they tell us, why do we need a GenAI tool?

[00:25:32] First of all, you know, they can use it as a personal assistant.

[00:25:35] Maybe they can write a job description with it,

[00:25:38] or maybe they can write a job posting, clever job posting

[00:25:41] with all the fun buzzwords in it.

[00:25:44] But it's really not helpful to serve their employees

[00:25:47] because by the time they train that GPT,

[00:25:49] they would have spent thousands of dollars doing that.

[00:25:52] Whereas our bot hits the ground running with the data

[00:25:55] that is in their system already with their employee handbook,

[00:25:59] with their company policies and its training curve,

[00:26:03] its learning curve is very short and it's very private to that company.

[00:26:08] It does not share data outside of that company

[00:26:11] and it does not bring data from outside

[00:26:14] to share with people within the company.

[00:26:16] So there is a huge difference in the way a generative AI tool is used

[00:26:20] versus an AI machine learning NLP tool is used.

[00:26:23] And that's also a differentiator that we need to educate people about

[00:26:28] because obviously everyone's caught up in this.

[00:26:32] All right, Jay, let's move on. Let's talk about sales and marketing.

[00:26:37] You have a team of five. I don't know if any of those are sales people.

[00:26:40] Your marketing strategy from what I can tell is you have a podcast.

[00:26:44] Now I've been on the podcast,

[00:26:46] so that's obviously sound marketing decision on your part.

[00:26:49] But talk about the marketing. How are you educating?

[00:26:51] How are you getting the word out? What is the sales process?

[00:26:54] It's a big world. How are you getting in front of it?

[00:26:57] Great. Yeah, so the podcast is actually a very big educational tool

[00:27:02] on leveraging technology and talking to HR practitioners,

[00:27:07] sharing their insights and seeing how we are able

[00:27:11] to use technologies like this today in the HR function.

[00:27:14] When it comes to reaching folks, I believe in a lot of networking

[00:27:19] and so I've been doing that outreach myself.

[00:27:22] Being an HR tech influencer myself has been helpful.

[00:27:26] I was told as a startup, you can't afford an influencer,

[00:27:30] so try to be an influencer yourself when I first started in the business.

[00:27:35] And believe it or not, that's very true because HR tech influencers,

[00:27:39] you guys cost a fortune and I can afford you.

[00:27:44] That's true.

[00:27:46] Hey, I'd love to jump off the stratosphere with you,

[00:27:49] but it's going to cost me so much money. I can't afford it.

[00:27:52] I'd rather just be on the outside watching you guys fall.

[00:27:57] You're welcome to watch.

[00:27:58] Yeah, you're more than welcome to watch.

[00:28:00] Yeah, you can pop the champagne when we're done.

[00:28:02] I've got one last question for you.

[00:28:04] You can change my diaper when I'm done.

[00:28:07] Did that go too far?

[00:28:08] That went too far.

[00:28:09] Let's not go into that, okay?

[00:28:10] So I have one last question, Jay.

[00:28:11] How much money do you want?

[00:28:13] Let's follow up from early funding and the Oliver wanting more gruel.

[00:28:18] How much money do you want?

[00:28:19] And when you get that money, what do you want to do with it?

[00:28:23] We are looking to raise a million and a half.

[00:28:25] And we are going to put that mostly into product development

[00:28:31] and marketing and sales.

[00:28:33] So we're thinking 30% product and 70% sales and marketing

[00:28:37] at this point in time.

[00:28:38] And our ask is very much geared towards smaller angels,

[00:28:44] investors, not big conglomerate private equity firms

[00:28:48] at this point in time, where they understand HR

[00:28:51] and they understand the future of work kind of technologies.

[00:28:55] And those are the kind of investors we are looking to attract

[00:28:58] and work with in the near future.

[00:29:01] Speaking of money, Chad, this product sounds a little pricey for me.

[00:29:05] Jay, you got a freemium model.

[00:29:06] It went from 25 to 50.

[00:29:08] I'm not sure that's a good sign.

[00:29:09] But talk to us about what it's going to cost to use HR geckos.

[00:29:14] So at this point in time, we have a PEPM plan,

[00:29:18] which is a per employee per month plan.

[00:29:21] It's $13.99 per employee per month to use our platform

[00:29:26] with all of the built-in customizations

[00:29:30] and all of the other tools that we have

[00:29:32] for HR teams and employees.

[00:29:34] We have slashed our prices a number of times

[00:29:38] for our clients.

[00:29:39] And we've also offered a flat rate on the annual contract

[00:29:43] instead of using the PEPM model.

[00:29:45] And that has worked for smaller teams

[00:29:47] who have some attrition, like smaller technology startups

[00:29:50] who have had a lot of attrition these past six months.

[00:29:53] So the annual contract is also very well priced.

[00:29:56] And we are very flexible on the annual contract flat

[00:29:59] pricing as well.

[00:30:00] All right.

[00:30:01] All right.

[00:30:02] Well, that bell means one thing, Jay.

[00:30:04] It's time to face the firing squad.

[00:30:07] Are you ready?

[00:30:09] Yes, I am.

[00:30:10] Well, even if you're not ready, we're doing it.

[00:30:11] Too bad.

[00:30:12] Chad, have at it.

[00:30:14] Jay, all I got to say is burn it down.

[00:30:16] Burn it down, Godzilla style.

[00:30:18] So a partnership is where you win.

[00:30:20] It's really the only practical way your business scales.

[00:30:24] The first thing, and as I talk to and advise startups

[00:30:28] on a daily damn basis, it's get to MVP as soon as you can.

[00:30:31] And then especially when you're

[00:30:33] looking at trying to be SMB, right?

[00:30:35] You want to get into those bigger portfolios, right?

[00:30:38] The bamboo HRs, those types of things.

[00:30:40] The ones who need to evolve their platform.

[00:30:42] They need to evolve their technology, right?

[00:30:44] And they can't.

[00:30:45] It's better to buy than it is to try to have somebody

[00:30:48] develop it internally.

[00:30:49] We've seen that over and over because the velocity

[00:30:51] technology right now is going so fast.

[00:30:54] Most of those companies don't have the assets

[00:30:56] to be able to, or the resources to be able

[00:30:58] to actually do that in house in most cases, right?

[00:31:01] And if they do, they're going to do it half-assed.

[00:31:02] They just are, right?

[00:31:04] So that is where you win.

[00:31:05] So when you're talking about getting that funding,

[00:31:08] I would say yes, tech is great.

[00:31:11] Being able to do more with the product is great,

[00:31:13] but don't go too far.

[00:31:14] Focus on revenue, revenue, revenue.

[00:31:16] That's all that matters, right?

[00:31:18] Turn that revenue.

[00:31:19] Man, you turn 40 and in the HR practitioner

[00:31:23] and you realize it's not getting better.

[00:31:25] It's not getting faster.

[00:31:26] It's not enough.

[00:31:27] So you said, I'm going to change it.

[00:31:29] You have the experience.

[00:31:30] Your husband has the experience.

[00:31:32] I fucking love that.

[00:31:34] I fucking love that, right?

[00:31:36] And talent management is where the money is.

[00:31:39] Talent management, not talent acquisition.

[00:31:41] There's great stuff there to be able to start

[00:31:43] penetrating in the market, to be able to go down funnel,

[00:31:45] but you're already going down funnel.

[00:31:47] That's where the money is, right?

[00:31:48] So usually hate the SMB market, which I said earlier,

[00:31:53] but there are tons of bigger platforms.

[00:31:54] And if you do focus, which I think you will,

[00:31:58] sticking to the co-pilot is smart.

[00:32:00] That was kind of like a trap question,

[00:32:02] because to be quite frank,

[00:32:03] you want to be able to get into something

[00:32:05] that everybody understands.

[00:32:06] And if you have a company like, I don't know,

[00:32:10] Microsoft using co-pilot as a way to help adoption

[00:32:13] and understanding of what this tech is, use it.

[00:32:16] Use it, use it.

[00:32:17] Don't try to recreate the wheel, right?

[00:32:19] So I don't know if it's because I'm in neuro Chad mode,

[00:32:22] but to me, this is, I'm happy.

[00:32:25] This is great.

[00:32:26] I love this conversation.

[00:32:27] I love it.

[00:32:28] Big applause.

[00:32:29] And I believe acquisition is imminent.

[00:32:32] Acquisition is imminent.

[00:32:34] Good job, Jay.

[00:32:35] If anyone wants a loan, now's a good time to hit up,

[00:32:37] Chad, for some cash if you're a little low on it.

[00:32:41] If you can get me, that's the thing.

[00:32:43] If you can find him.

[00:32:44] If you can find him.

[00:32:45] He'll be on the stratosphere next Tuesday.

[00:32:47] So Jay, I was totally prepared to come into this

[00:32:51] saying that this wasn't even a knife in a gunfight.

[00:32:53] It was more like a spoon in a tank battle.

[00:32:56] And I still sort of believe that.

[00:32:57] Now what I feel like your secret sauce is,

[00:33:01] is the tagline on your site, HR,

[00:33:04] built by HR for HR.

[00:33:06] We don't get a lot of companies on Firing Squad

[00:33:09] that have a founder that's rooted

[00:33:11] as deeply as you are into HR.

[00:33:14] I think that's a huge benefit to this company.

[00:33:17] You being able to have real conversations

[00:33:20] with other HR people should be magical

[00:33:22] for you going forward.

[00:33:23] Five people, this is a skeleton crew.

[00:33:27] I'm amazed that you've been able to build

[00:33:28] all that you've been able to build.

[00:33:30] You need money.

[00:33:31] You got a tech guy that's probably

[00:33:34] in the basement working 23 hours a day, right?

[00:33:37] You've got, you know, and what you need.

[00:33:39] You need a chief revenue officer.

[00:33:41] You need a chief marketing officer

[00:33:43] that knows what the hell they're doing.

[00:33:45] Fractional.

[00:33:46] Dump the stock photos on the website,

[00:33:47] like get a real professional.

[00:33:49] Cause that's kind of what lights the world.

[00:33:51] That's like, you gotta have that stuff.

[00:33:53] Get some salespeople, you know,

[00:33:55] pounding the pavement and call it, you know,

[00:33:57] on the phone.

[00:33:57] I think there's a market for this.

[00:33:59] I just think you're on that ledge.

[00:34:01] And I think that 1.5 million, which I think you'll get,

[00:34:05] there's a lot of seed money being thrown around right now.

[00:34:08] If you were looking for 50 million, I'd say maybe not,

[00:34:10] but you should be able to raise one to 2 million

[00:34:12] in seed with just what you've done so far.

[00:34:14] And I think once that happens,

[00:34:16] get some people that can help you grow this thing.

[00:34:18] And then I think it's off to the races.

[00:34:20] And I didn't really think about it until Chad said it,

[00:34:22] but yeah, acquisition is a real opportunity for you.

[00:34:25] And at two to 3 million in funding,

[00:34:27] you should find a really nice payday for those investors.

[00:34:30] So again, I love it.

[00:34:32] I just wanna see the money.

[00:34:33] If you had the money,

[00:34:34] I'd be Euro Chad mode giving you a big applause as well.

[00:34:37] But because there's no money in the bank for me

[00:34:40] at this moment.

[00:34:42] Ah, golf clap.

[00:34:44] We're going golf clap.

[00:34:46] We're going golf clap.

[00:34:47] So Jay, get to work, raise some money,

[00:34:49] build a team and kick this thing into fourth,

[00:34:52] fifth gear.

[00:34:53] And thanks for coming on.

[00:34:54] And thanks for coming on.

[00:34:55] Wonderful, thank you so much.

[00:34:56] This has been a pleasure.

[00:34:57] I can tell by the smell on your face

[00:34:58] that you're feeling pretty good, which is great.

[00:35:00] Let us know when you raise that money.

[00:35:02] For those listeners out there

[00:35:04] that wanna know more about you,

[00:35:05] more about HR get goes, where do you send them?

[00:35:07] Oh, I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram,

[00:35:10] anywhere you are on a social media platform.

[00:35:13] I'm there so I'm happy to connect.

[00:35:15] Mostly on LinkedIn though.

[00:35:16] And definitely look us up on the web or on LinkedIn.

[00:35:20] Our company pages are everywhere.

[00:35:21] This is why you need a marketing person

[00:35:23] because the answer is check us out at hrgeckos.com.

[00:35:28] Chad, that's another one in the can.

[00:35:30] We out.

[00:35:31] We out.

[00:35:33] This has been the Firing Squad.

[00:35:34] Be sure to subscribe to the Chad and G's podcast

[00:35:37] so you don't miss an episode.

[00:35:39] And if you're a startup who wants to face

[00:35:41] the Firing Squad, contact the boys at chadcheese.com

[00:35:44] today.

[00:35:45] That's www.chadcheese.com.

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