Can we meet you? Can you tell us about DropQue?
I’m Yinka Akinbobola, co-founder and Product lead at Dropque. Thousands of applications are typically received for any open role advertised in most emerging economies. Recruiters have to spend days and weeks reviewing CV’s which often do not provide enough information to make informed hiring decisions. This situation can drown out and frustrate the best candidates and significantly increase the cost and time to hire for that role and even tripling it in some cases. DropQue is a video intelligence software designed to help recruiters find the best talent faster and significantly reduce the time and cost to hire. With Dropque, recruiters can easily create interviews and send to candidates remotely. This enables recruiters to know their candidates beyond the CV early on in the recruitment process, as they get to see body language, hear candidates articulate and get deeper personality insights, all without the hassles of scheduling phone, Skype or face to face interviews. Our AI algorithm also makes the process a lot faster as recruiters can easily get from 1000 candidates to 100 shortlists without having to watch 1000 videos. On the other hand, candidates can take the interview anywhere, anytime, with either a smartphone, tab or laptop. Candidates do not need to travel long distances or leave their current job to be interviewed. Unlike Skype, Hangout and other video calling software, Dropque uses asynchronous one-way videos. This means recruiters do not need to sit through the interview with each candidate like in a live call, instead, they send out the interview and get responses all at once. One way video interviews into the recruitment process is a perfect replacement for multiple stage and panel interviews. This, of course, doesn’t prevent the recruiter from having a final face to face with the candidates.We had to show that we have built an amazing product that everyone needs to hear about and that we need all the help we can get to scale it across all the markets we intend to. In a nutshell, it was about telling our story and telling it well.
What was the motivation for establishing DropQue? What does it offer Nigerians and how will you describe the reception of DropQue?
Every member of the team at one point had to travel long distances to get interviewed for a job role in the past. The time and cost to travel weren’t pocket-friendly especially when you’re unemployed, accompanied by the risk of travelling cross country. This shared experience motivated us to start DropQue. We also realised that CVs do not provide enough information for recruiters to make informed decisions about a candidate, as a result, the best candidates could get knocked out early on in the recruitment process. Dropque offers job seekers in Nigeria and even outside Nigeria the flexibility to take interviews from anywhere, at any time. DropQue gives candidates the ability to demonstrate skills, motivation and enthusiasm, as well as eliminate time and cost to travel. So far both on the candidate and recruiter side, Dropque has had good feedback.Your startup was named the winner at the just concluded Seedstars Lagos. Can you kindly run through the experience? What do you expect as you proceed to Seedstars World?
Opeyemi Akinwoleola, Dropque’s CEO represented Dropque at Seedstars. It was a rigorous selection process. We could tell by the calibre of startups that pitched. They were all working on cutting-edge tech with huge potential. We had to make a strong case that we were worth being given a chance. We had to show that we have built an amazing product that everyone needs to hear about and that we need all the help we can get to scale it across all the markets we intend to. In a nutshell, it was about telling our story and telling it well. We intend proceeding to Seedstars World with a lot of positivity. We know we will meet many quality startups, and this represents an amazing opportunity to learn. We will tell our story, and with the help of our mentors and advisers, we should be adequately prepared for the finals.At the moment how will you measure success? What are your metrics?
DropQue has an ambitious goal. We want to transform the way interviews are done, globally. Our starting point is Nigeria. We are focused on improving the experiences of job seekers, SMEs, corporations and governments. On the supply side, we are attracting job seekers and enabling them to present themselves in more interactive ways. In Africa, we aspire to reach between ten (10) to fifteen (15) million job seekers over the next few years. On the demand side, we are eliminating the frustration hiring managers face when looking for and interviewing talent, as well as the communication bottlenecks inside and outside the enterprise to fill positions. We are also helping them save 80% of time lost and 50% of cost accrued due to logistic hassles at the interview stage of the recruitment process.Dropque’s first challenge right now is shortening its sales cycle. We are currently targeting enterprise customers as they are our highest paying customers and need our product the most, but closing an enterprise client takes almost between 4 – 6 months. In other to expand fast, we are currently exploring ways to make the sales process a lot shorter.
The job market in Nigeria is saturated. What do you think can be done to provide jobs for Nigerians?
We need to empower individuals to start and run businesses. Our leaders have a major role to play in this, not just government now. Right now we have very few local investors investing real money in local businesses. Access to financial capital is the most significant challenge when it comes to starting a business in Nigeria. Next to this is government regulations and access to constant electricity. Nigerians in the diaspora are excelling in almost every industry they have found themselves in, this only goes to show it’s the environment that is the drawback at home. Our leaders need to do better. Human capital development should be the priority.What are the challenges you face in running your startup?
DropQue’s first challenge right now is shortening its sales cycle. We are currently targeting enterprise customers as they are our highest paying customers and need our product the most, but closing an enterprise client takes almost between 4 – 6 months. In other to expand fast, we are currently exploring ways to make the sales process a lot shorter. Our second biggest challenge right now is raising capital/funding. Dropque is looking to add to its sales and tech team in other to be able to quickly deploy new features – especially more AI features, and also to triple sales effort.If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing?
Building another startup. lolWhat advice do you have for young and aspiring founders or entrepreneurs?
My advice to young and aspiring founders/entrepreneurs is usually this simple quote by Albert Einstein: “ Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning”.
Editor, Techawkng.com. I am also a freelancer, part-time copywriter and I love solitude. Send us an email-admin@techawkng.com.
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