Matched, an advisory platform from ex-Linktree duo Jessica Box and Susan Hion-Jarvis, has launched with investment from high-profile investors including Modibodi founder Kristy Chong and Frank Body co-founder Bree Johnson.
Unlike traditional top-down mentoring schemes, Matched promises a new way for ambitious entrepreneurs to share business and life skills as ‘learners’ and ‘trainers’.
Learners can sign on for one-on-one or group sessions with experienced startup professionals.
Kic co-founder Laura Henshaw, Culture Amp co-founder Rod Hamilton, and Smiling Mind co-founder Janey Martino, are among the other 30 trainers signed on at launch.
Trainers set a fee for each session, with Matched taking a percentage.
Over time, learners can become trainers in their own right, spreading knowledge and know-how with even more Matched participants.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Box said the Matched platform is deliberately sector-agnostic, and designed to remove the silos separating different kinds of knowledge.
Existing products are “very specific on the industry that they focus on, whether that is engineering or tech specific, versus, say, health and fitness or wellness,” she said.
By contrast, the Matched model is inspired by the growing prevalence of ‘portfolio careers’, where individuals don’t define themselves by a single job.
Box, who was head of growth at unicorn Linktree, said this experience in the creator economy showed her “people are wanting to monetise a number of different parts of their life, or access different parts of their passions, and not just be wedded to one industry”.
In this model, someone who is an expert in e-commerce strategy may be able to share insights with someone well-versed in leadership skills, and vice versa.
“This meaningful kind of human connection enables you to really take control of your career and look at the skills that are needed in different industries, be able to transfer them from one to the other, and really take charge of that,” Box said.
Young Australians entering the workforce have different expectations than their older peers, she continued.
“Gen Z people are looking beyond the nine-to-five and wanting more than one thing, from a passion perspective, to fulfill their lives,” Box said.
“I think we’ve demanded a lot of one role for a long period of time to fill all the things that we want to do… people are realising, ‘Oh, I can still have my full-time position in something that I’m deeply passionate about, but that doesn’t preclude me from doing other things’.”
Investors also bill Matched as a win for women in the startup and leadership space, especially those without expansive business networks and access to ‘warm introductions’.
In a statement provided to SmartCompany, Chong said turning to trusted advisers was pivotal in turning Modibodi into a global success.
“But finding those advisers was not easy, I was time poor so I couldn’t attend physical networking events, and without a warm introduction it made it so hard to ask experts for advice.”
“This is why I love Matched,” she added.
LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund and FB10xAdVentures have joined Chong and Johnson as investors in the angel round, which has provided under half a million dollars in funding.
“We’re so excited to see talent from Victorian unicorns like Linktree using growth lessons to found their own ventures,” said Dr Kate Cornick, CEO of LaunchVic.
“We look forward to backing Jess and Susan in their next steps, and hope the Matched platform will open doors for future entrepreneurs.”
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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