babajobs.com a case study

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With over 25 lakh jobs and over 1 lakh employers, Babajob.com is India's largest informal and entry level job portal.Finally, a free tool for anyone to find a better job.

Sean Blagsvedt is the CEO of Babajob.com, which connects employers to informal sector employees in the developing world - such as delivery helpers, maids and drivers - through a combination of mobile phones, location, skill and price filtering and social connections. The site has registered over 2 million job seekers, added 2.5 million job positions and raised Series A funding from Vinod Khosla Impact, Gray Ghost Ventures and USAID. The New York Times hails Babajob.com as a significant innovation that "seeks to bring the social-networking revolution to the world’s poor."Previously, Sean spent 9 years with Microsoft in the Office, Windows and Research groups. In 2004, Sean moved to Bangalore as the 3rd member of Microsoft Research India, heading the Program Management and Advanced Prototyping team, focusing on novel approaches to mobile phones and technology in emerging markets.Prior to Microsoft, Sean worked at the White House with the Internet Policy czar, Ira Magaziner. Sean holds dual bachelor degrees in Computer Science and Public Policy from Brown University (1998). He is a TED Fellow and married to Jaaga.in founder Archana Prasad with whom they share a wonderful son, Vyom and dog Berlin.


http://research.microsoft.com/india

http://www.jaaga.in/

Please read carefully…

Introduction: BabaJob.com, a Bangalore-based startup, is a unique

Internet site. What makes it stand out is that it runs on a model of providing

jobs to the highly un organized workforce, comprising economically poor

people like drivers, maids and helpers through social networking3. Founded

by Sean Blagsvedt4 and funded by his stepfather Ira Weise, BabaJob.com

generally caters to those with low monthly incomes. Altruistic use oftechnology, for the up liftment of the world’s poor, powers the jobsite. And it

is just not a plain job portal. It goes beyond that and integrates features of

social networking (Annexure I) with job referral for better usability. But there

are some major drawbacks like fraudsters stealing member data, circulation

of malicious code in the social network and sometimes hiding true

information of the jobseeker by the referral in order to get them job.

Moreover, it is quite uncertain that this type of job site is going to

sustain over the long run.



Abstract: BabaJob.com, a Bangalore-based start-up, a unique Internet site

that provides employment to the poor through the concept of online social

networking. The idea is to help the highly un organised poor workforce of

the economy like maids, helpers, drivers, cooks, etc. The case not only

gives the wider view of this but also highlights various issues, restricting the

member users to integrate them with the growing popularity of online social

networking. It illustrates the process by which an illiterate gets job through

the help of a mentor, and in the process the mentor gets rewarded for every

jobseekers acceptance of job.

Pedagogical Objectives:

The case is structured to let the students analyze and understand:· To understand the dynamics of the social networking market· To understand the business model of BabaJob.com· To understand the visibility of trust and risks associated with BabaJob.com· To understand the importance of appropriate business model in the social

networking space.


Lets Discuss….. · To understand the business model of BabaJob.com· To understand the visibility of trust and risks associated with BabaJob.com· To understand the importance of appropriate business model in the social

networking space.

It is quite uncertain that this type of job site is going to sustain

over the long run.

babajobs.com a case study

Small Business & Entrepreneurship