Meet the Member: Christopher des Fontaines
In our latest Meet the Member Feature, we spoke with Christopher des Fontaines, Founder & CEO of jollyclick. Jollyclick is a social network for entrepreneurs, freelancers and innovative projects. All talents and projects have their profile and are connected by a smart chatbot.
Keep reading to learn about how the idea behind this new platform came about:
FACC: Jollyclick is a social network for entrepreneurs, freelancers and innovative projects which connects profiles through a smart chatbot.
CD: We are pivoting right now actually - and we are rebranding this summer. Jollyclick is a new professional social network. We believe that people should do what they love. That’s why we decided to create a social network that gives purpose to people. Sign up for free, meet gifted talents, join cool projects and find purpose at work. That’s our new us :)
But yes, indeed, the social network is about profiling your talent (whatever they are), profiling your projects (ditto) and bringing them together. We do work on a matchmaking algorithm that should be out and running in 30 days!
Although, it’s for everyone - not only entrepreneurs and freelancers. Soccer players, clowns, designers, artists, filmmakers, carpenters, DJs, lawyers, everyone deserves a purposeful social network.
FACC: When were you founded and how many active users are currently on the platform?
CD: We were founded in December 2016. We launched our beta (3rd version) in December 2018 and we have gathered a community of 4100 users. It’s continuously growing, especially after each update and new version launching. Next time will be this summer as we launch our RC (Release Candidate), the 4th version. Should be great :)
FACC: How do you hope to grow this number within the next five years?
CD: Attached you’ll find our pitch deck that explains a bit more on how we’re planning to grow big
FACC: Your background includes work for non-profits. What gave you the idea to found Jollyclick and how did you take your project from idea to conception?
CD: In August 2014, I lived in Stockholm and worked on a jazz album. I did the lyrics but couldn’t find any available pianist to make the music. Hence jollyclick. I thought it was completely absurd that such a simple encounter was not made possible by our dear internet. So I rolled up my sleeves and decided to create a platform to match any talent with any project.
FACC: What is your business model?
CD: Our business model is made of different revenue streams. Premium subscriptions and advertising comes up easily when thinking about social networks. But knowing how viciously an ad-based business model can affect a social community, we have decided to create a win-win situation and reward our users. We are also working on a SaaS solution that will provide private social networks to various organizations wishing to manage and animate their community.
FACC: The freelance website Fiverr has been aggressively promoting their platform and talents in the NY region. How is your approach different than a “job board” and what added value you bring to your users?
Work has been platformized in three different ways: job boards (Monster, Indeed, etc.), recruitment platforms (Upwork, Fiverr, etc.) and social networks (LinkedIn, Shapr, etc.). jollyclick is a social network. So, we are not only streaming job offers and talent as commodity, we are allowing free social interactions to happen and thereby creating community and broadening opportunities. People sign up on social networks to get into groups, read content, give opinions and more generally knowing that they will receive help in some way or another.
Specifically, jollyclick showcases and connects instantly any talent and project in the world. Big companies, startups, non-profits, music albums, movies, basketball teams can meet web developers, artists, marketing experts, athletes, clowns and DJs. You just sign up for free and join a world of purposeful opportunities :)
FACC: Do you verify the skills or CVs of any of your talents?
CD: We do some basic moderation, but for now, no. Although, we will soon crowdsource and let people cross check users’ skills by giving them the possibility to rate and compliment others after having worked together (like Airbnb or Uber). We are also thinking about having a more qualified certification process for talent and projects in the future.
FACC: What motivated you to join the FACC and what do you hope to share with fellow members this year?
FACC is a great network for a starter! As NYC figures among the top 3 cities on our roadmap and jollyclick is a French Swedish startup, we thought it would be smoother to use a cultural bridge to begin with. Jollyclick is a free social network that aims to provide purposeful projects to people. We believe FACC members could have a great interest in using jollyclick when they’re looking for jobs, recruiting, seeking for opportunities, but also for cool side-projects they love joining.
Interested in connecting with Christopher? Log into the FACC Member Directory to send him a message.
