The Next Web

Jowba.com: really charming startup-specific job board

Written on March 2, 2008 – 11:24 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

If you locked up some teenagers in an attic room twenty years ago they would probably just throw a party. Now, they’re likely to start an Internet company. Times have changed, as we all know. So why not adapt to it? That’s exactly what the guys from Jowba have done with their new startup-specific job board: “We’re passionate about startups ourselves, but were frustrated by the lack of cool, intuitive, and effective job sites that cater exclusively to emerging web, media and technology companies. So, we built our own at Jowba.com.” Great line uh? Here’s another one from their really slick-looking site:

Working at a startup is like no other professional experience on earth (or personal experience, for that matter, depending on whose significant other you ask). We work long hours on hard problems in high–risk ventures. In a startup, every person matters in a way that big companies can’t even begin to fathom. And we all get sick of seeing our teammates more than our (other) loved ones.

So, Jowba certainly knows how to describe the business we’re in. What else can they do? They make it easier for job seekers to get a sense of the vibe at start-ups’ offices, since the company profiles feature pictures, maps, mission statement and info about funding and revenue. Not that a lot of start-ups want to share those numbers, as most of the times it says ’sssh’.

The main advantage for start-ups is that the environment - the Umfeld so you will - in which the vacancy is posted not just looks great, it’s also the expresses the unique feeling of the industry we’re in. Moreover, posting a job is free.

You know the thing with Jowba is that they really got their act together: they’ve integrated key social media tools - including RSS feeds, social bookmarking and easy sharing -, installed some handy functions like automatic reposting of jobs every thirty days and they certainly know how to tell a good story. To sum it up: it’s one hell of a charming service. And if more start-ups will start using the service, it will get more useful. Now the beta version only lists 14 jobs from 11 startups.

I’ve heard the guys from Jowba are emailing random start-ups to ask them to sign up at their service. So let me conclude with a tip: mail the bloggers! Your service is good enough for it and people won’t have the feeling you spam them. Moreover you’ll get more exposure. So.., here’s your first of many write-ups.

I hope you like that post!

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job board, jowba, Start-ups