Capseo was part of the Plug and Play Tech Center Startup Camp 2011

Problem :

Any website needs to be visible to reach a qualified audience. It is hard to find the perfect solution, on one hand Webmarketing Agencies are not international and not multi-channel. They are not reactive and not scalable. On the other hand, Market Places are not secured, finding the right available skills is a nightmare, and freelancers are waiting for projects in vain.

Below are some issues that you may encounter on marketplaces if you are looking for freelancers :

• Finding skills: how can I be sure that this person has the right skills?
• Security: how do I secure the payments, copyrights and confidentiality?
• Cultural misunderstanding: Does my freelancer mean yes or no?
• Time difference: why should I be awake at 4 AM to have a meeting?
• Project Management: I outsource the job, why would I end up managing?

... And if you are a freelancer :

• Sales: I am not a salesman, why do I have to sell my skills?
• Skills required: why should I do tasks I cannot handle?
• Security: how can I be sure that I will receive my payments?
• Rating system: how someone who is not an expert able to rate it my work?
• Delay: I want to work only when I have enough time to complete the work.

Solution :

Capseo is able to determine the weaknesses of a website, finding out what has to be done and who are the best people to do it.

For each campaign, Capseo sets up a unique team of influencers to promote brands, products and services all over the web without any advertising or consulting. Those influencers are chosen regarding their abilities to achieve tasks, their social graph and expertise (SEO, Social Media, Blogs, Forums etc.).They can manage their assignments and earnings on their interface.

Clients pay on a Price Per Visitor basis and can monitor the campaign through a dedicated platform (stats, invoices, report etc.). Clients don't have to care about paying or managing freelancers and have no direct relation with them.

Market Opportunity :

• Search Engine Marketing world expenses by 2015 : $51B
• Social Media Optimization world expenses by 2013 : $5B

Firms are having more propensity (+40 % in 2010) to spend on SEO since prices for Search Advertizing are saturating. Social Media Optimization is the fastest growing  budget due to the significant expansion of Social Networks : +400% for viral marketing in 2010.

Marketplaces such as Odesk, Freelancer etc. are having an increasing number of registered workers, however the percentage of those who activelly work is not growing up. 

Milestones :

• + $350K in 16 months
• + 80 clients (e.g : Kaspersky, Axa, Renault)
• 10 agencies partnership (e.g : Publicis)
• + 1400 "ready to work" influencers

Co-founders

The two co-founders, Faouzi and Anji, met in their Master Degree at EM Lyon in France. Friendship at first sight and great co-workers few days after. Both are sharing same values and are really complementary : Faouzi is concerned about technics and algorithms, while Anji is attentive to business model and marketing.

Faouzi El Yagoubi - CTO & Co-founder

• Enginneer in IT & Computer Science
• Founder of Ournia.com (+2 million uniques / month - In selling process)
• Founder of Capnom.com (Marketplace for domains - Sold)

Faouzi is an engineer, an entrepreneur, and a visionary. He loves technology and knows the Web as his own pocket. He intends to solve world issues, but for now he’s focusing on fixing the marketing industry.  Faouzi loves Arabian music and culture. Anecdote : At 14, Faouzi was running one of the first web agency in Morroco (developing and designing websites).

Anji Ismaïl - CEO & Co-founder

• Msc in business & economics
• 3 years XP in SaaS sales
• Founder of Me2Play.com (Marketplace for players - Crashed)

Anji polishes ideas and turns them into reality. Anji enjoys learning, leading, and getting things done. He is a geek inside but has a true salesman attitude. Anji is fond of soccer and snowboarding, eating traditional meals from Tunisia and chilling out with friends. Anecdote : At 16, Anji was ranked among the top 50 best Ebay Sellers in France.

On top of the two co-founders, there is an amazing team of devoted and smart young people. Experienced in product development, customer relation or marketing, they are all bringing their own ingredient to the secret sauce.

Capseo Booth at Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco

Our Rock Stars

• 
• Thibault Georges - Country Manager (France)
  Msc in Computer Sciences. Search and Social Media Strategist.
• Always testing new services, discovering bugs and thinking of new options. 
• 
• Mathilde Grandfort - Account Manager (France)
  Msc in Marketing. Campaign Planner
• Mathilde is fond of plastic art and always has something to nibble in her bag.
• 
• Sami Banni  - Country Manager (Tunisia)
  Engineer in IT and Web Development. Security & Platform specialist
• He likes repairing old computers and games console.
• 
• Nicolas Prud’Hon - Business Developer (France)
  Msc in Marketing & Business Development.
• He is a very active soccer player, likes to ski and practice his swing.
• 
• Karima Aouidet - Social Media Strategist (Tunisia)
  Bachelor in Webmarketing.
• She is fond of testing new Social Media and have many accounts on all of them. 
• 
• Aymen Khalifa - Search Engines Strategist (Tunisia)
  
• Bachelor in IT & Computer Sciences
• Aymen is very active in testing and debating about Search Engines. Not only their algorithms but also their evolution, their qualities etc.
• 
• Carine Esteves - Operations Manager (France)
  Msc in Marketing & Ecommerce.
• Carine really enjoys listening to hip-hop while managing three excel sheets at the same time.
• 
• Jean Elie Kafrouni - Business Developer (USA)
  
• Bachelor in Marketing & Business Development

Capseo's process

      Clients:

1. Start their campaign and specify their needs
2. Monitor the whole campaign and details for each task
3. Get reporting and invoices

      Freelancers:

1. Have to get certified to be eligible for a project
2. Get a brief for each task they qualify for that they can accept or reject
3. Work, Monitor and get paid (per task and on performance)

REVENUES' SOURCES

1. SMCs  => Online subscription

• Performance based invoice (Per Uniques - 70% of total price)
• Monthly fees for the time of the campaign (30% of total price)

2. Entreprises => Partners network + direct sales

3. Partners Network

• White labeling our platform for agencies
• Plugin to marketplaces or tools (e.g : Hubspot)
• Supplying services to traditional agencies (e.g : Publicis)

Proprietary Algorithms

• Automatic website's analysis and campaign design
• Tasks design and tasks assignment
• Matching tasks with skills available
• Process and workflow management

Crowdsourcing power VS Traditional Agency

• International / local
• Flexible & Faster
• Quantity lever
• Lower costs

Process VS Marketplaces

• Secured (copyright, payment, confidentiality)
• No direct relation client <=> freelancer
• Pre-qualified and certified workers
• Time saving (no project management for clients & freelancers)