The Muse (website)

Online career platform

This article is about the New York City based career site. For other uses, see The Muse (disambiguation).

The Muse

Type of site

| Employment website
Available in| English
Founded| September 2011 (13 years ago) (2011-09)
Headquarters|

New York City, New York

United States

Founder(s)| Kathryn Minshew
Alexandra Cavoulacos
Melissa McCreery
Key people| Kathryn Minshew (CEO)
Alexandra Cavoulacos (President)
URL| themuse.com
Launched| September 6, 2011 (13 years ago) (2011-09-06)
Current status| Active

The Muse (formerly known as The Daily Muse) is a New York City-based online career platform founded in 2011 by Kathryn Minshew, Alexandra Cavoulacos, and Melissa McCreery.[1][2][3]

## History

[edit]

The site was conceived after getting feedback from readers of The Daily Muse, the company's career-focused online publication, that indicated readers found the job searching frustrating and "would go through multiple rounds of interviews before realizing the company wasn't a great fit".[4] Furthermore, users said the #1 annoyance for them in the job search was never hearing back from an employer after they'd applied.[5] Based on this realization, the 3 founders decided to create a different kind of job site. The site was launched under the name Company Muse in February 2012, and is now known simply as The Muse.[6]

The Muse originally launched in Brooklyn[7] as The Daily Muse on September 6, 2011, with eight editors and eleven columnists.[8] The first version of the site grew from 20,000 users to 70,000 users in its first 3 months.[7]

In 2012, Minshew, Cavoulacos, and McCreery applied to Y Combinator at the recommendation of their advisor Rachel Sklar. They traveled to San Francisco for the interview and were accepted into the program that same day.[9] The founders moved to Silicon Valley for 8 months during Y Combinator and the subsequent fundraiser, after which they decided to locate their headquarters in New York City starting in September 2012. "The diversity of the N.Y.C. tech and startup scene won us over" said in an interview by bizjournals.com.[7][10]

Including initial funding from Y Combinator, 500 Startups, and others, The Muse received $1.2 million in seed funding[11] in January 2013 to continue growing the business.

After re-branding to The Muse in June 2013,[12] the company was a finalist in The Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year competition in Fall 2013.[13] Tyra Banks and others invested $1 million in The Muse in February 2014.[14] In May 2015, The Muse announced a $10 million Series A round led by Theresia Gouw at Aspect Ventures, with participation by DBL Partners and QED Ventures.[15] In June 2016, the company raised $16 million in a Series B funding round led by Icon Ventures, with current investors Aspect Ventures, DBL Partners, and QED Investors participating.[16]

## Services

[edit]

The Muse creates in-depth profiles of companies seeking top talent, showcasing their brand through behind-the-scenes videos of the office and team culture, interviews with employees, and current job openings. In a 2012 interview with Fast Company, founder Kathryn Minshew explained how the team creates “all the content” by sending someone into the office to capture everything needed to build a profile.[17] The idea is to establish authentic and lasting connections between companies and candidates before the formal application process begins.[17]

In November 2016, The Muse launched "Coach Connect", a network of expert career coaches available to users seeking professional guidance in their job search.[18] The service offers resume review and editing, career Q&As, personalized job search or networking plans,[19] and specialized coaching in interviewing, negotiation, and leadership.[20]

The Muse was a finalist in The Wall Street Journal "Startup of the Year" competition in Fall 2013.[13]

Kathryn Minshew, Alex Cavoulacos, and Melissa McCreery were number 59 on Business Insider’s 2012 Silicon Alley 100.[21] Minshew and Cavoulacos made the list again as number 85 in 2015.[22]

Fast Company included The Muse in their Top 50 Enterprise, 2018 World's Most Innovative Company list, saying "businesses that hire through The Muse retain 95% of those employees for at least three months."[23]

In October 2018, co-founder Kathryn Minshew was listed in Inc. (magazine)'s Female Founders 100 List.[24]

## Acquisitions

[edit]

In June 2017 The Muse announced its acquisition of Chicago-based company, Brand Amper and rebranded it as Brand Builder. This deal represented the first tech acquisition for The Muse.[25] In November 2018 they acquired San Francisco-based HR tech company TalentShare.[26]

## See also

[edit]

* Internet portal

* List of employment websites

## References

[edit]

1. ^ About the Startup: The Muse – WSJ Startup of the Year 2013, retrieved January 20, 2017
2. ^ Miller, Nancy (September 7, 2017). "How This Recruiting Company is Putting the 'Human' Back Into Human Resources". Entrepreneur. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
3. ^ French, Jordan (June 12, 2017). "Is Your Company Prepared to Attract Millennial Talent". Entrepreneur. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
4. ^ Samuelson, Kristin (July 16, 2012). "Virtually window-shopping for that next job". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
5. ^ Clayton, Peter (November 6, 2018). "Kathryn Minshew - Innovation and Leadership Podcast". Total Picture Podcast. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
6. ^ Zax, David (April 5, 2012). "Company Muse Makes Your Job Search Less Sucky". Fast Company. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
7. ^ a b c "Kathryn Minshew and Alex Cavoulacos – The Muse". YC Female Founder Stories. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
8. ^ Tsotsis, Alexia (September 6, 2011). "The Daily Muse Wants To Bridge The Gap Between Glamour And The NYTimes". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
9. ^ "Put Your Name In For Y Combinator: Interview With Kathryn Minshew, Founder Of The Daily Muse". Women 2.0. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
10. ^ "Minshew's Manhattan: Why The Muse CEO ditched San Francisco for N.Y.C." www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
11. ^ "The Muse Career Site Raises $1.2M". AllThingsD. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
12. ^ Gallagher, Billy. "The Daily Muse Expands From A Community For Professional Women To "The Muse," A Career Destination For Everyone". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
13. ^ a b "'WSJ Startup of the Year' Finalists Make Their Case". Wall Street Journal. October 30, 2013. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
14. ^ Tsotsis, Alexia. "Tyra Banks And More Put A Million In The Muse". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
15. ^ Chernova, Yuliya. "Women Power on Display in Career Site The Muse's $10M Round". The Wall Street Journal (Blog). Retrieved January 20, 2017.
16. ^ "The Muse Raises $16 Million To Make Its Career Platform More Personal". Forbes. June 22, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
17. ^ a b "Company Muse Makes Your Job Search Less Sucky". Fast Company. April 5, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
18. ^ Loizos, Connie (June 22, 2016). "The Muse raises $16 million for its next-gen career site". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
19. ^ "The Muse wants to connect millennials with pro career coaches". Fortune. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
20. ^ "The Muse Launches New Coaching Services to Help Even More Members Achieve Their Dream Careers". Marketwired. March 17, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
21. ^ Shontell, Alyson (October 26, 2012). "2012 Silicon Alley 100: 1-100". Business Insider Australia. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
22. ^ "Silicon Alley 100: Meet the most inspiring and influential people in New York tech right now". Business Insider. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
23. ^ "Most Innovative Companies". Fast Company. March 15, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
24. ^ Staff, Inc. (October 12, 2018). "100 Women Making Money, Creating Jobs, and Changing the World". Inc. Retrieved October 12, 2018. `{{cite news}}`: `|first=` has generic name (help)
25. ^ Loizos, Connie (June 27, 2017). "The Muse acquires Brand Amper to 'amp' up its insight into hiring companies". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
26. ^ Loizos, Connie (November 7, 2018). "The Muse, a popular recruitment site for millennials, has made its second acquisition". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 7, 2018.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* The Muse wants to connect Millennials with pro career coaches