Paragon One

Paragon One is a platform designed to help students land jobs out of college.

The company’s platform, CareerMapper, takes students through a multi-step process that includes career guidance, resume building, and interview preparation.

Since launching in 2015, Paragon One has helped 97% of users land job or internship offers from top companies, including Google, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and Tesla…

And the company has received support from several venture capital firms, including Learn Capital, University Ventures, and Y Combinator.

With its platform, Paragon One is targeting the $15 billion job training and career counseling market.

Specifically, the company is targeting the 6 million students graduating college each year, as well as the 3.5 million workers in their 20s who are seeking a career change. Alone, these two groups represent a $3 billion market.

According to company research, 85% of freshmen said getting a job was the main reason they went to college. And 60% weighted a college’s ability to help them find a job when deciding where to attend.

However, according to a recent study by The Atlantic, only 17% of college students found their school’s career office to be “very helpful.”

Paragon One aims to provide a solution to this problem with its CareerMapper platform.

Here’s how it works:

First, students take a career & skills assessment and are matched up with a personalized career coach…

Next, they upload their job application materials and receive crowdsourced feedback from more than 500 industry experts at top companies…

Following that, students receive personalized coaching from advisors with respect to their career path options and interview skills…

And finally, they are put in touch with potential interviews for jobs and internships in hopes of landing an offer.

As Forbes noted: “We’ll look back and wonder why we ever taught students the old way of finding jobs at all.”

Paragon One offers two services:

CareerMapper Lite: this service costs students a $2,995 “tuition” charge, and includes six one-hour coaching sessions, access to insider webinars, and access to community tools for resume building…

CareerMapper: this full-service option costs students $6,495 and includes 15 coaching sessions, curated internship opportunities, and progress reports throughout the grooming process.

In 2017, Paragon One generated $425,000 in revenue, a 240% increase from its 2016 figure.

At these prices, Paragon One achieves an 80% product margin. In addition, the company’s cost to acquire a customer when compared to that customer’s lifetime value is on the decline. In other words, the money Paragon One is spending to acquire each customer is resulting in an increased return on investment over time.

Part of Paragon One’s future plans include addressing what some customers have viewed as a difficult price point for college students — for example:

The company plans to offer financing and scholarship options for students who meet certain criteria to make the plans more affordable…

In addition, Paragon One will implement a system where students could agree to pay back the tuition costs from their first-year salary at their new job.

Co-Founder and CEO Matt Wilkerson previously co-founded AHAlife, a luxury e-commerce platform that went public on Australia’s ASX stock exchange…

And co-founder & CTO Byron Hsu previously founded two e-commerce companies, Xenon Project and Modern Everyday. Xenon Project was acquired in 2012 by a private company, and Modern Everyday was acquired by LiveDeal (NASDAQ: LIVE) in 2014.

Team Background

Byron Hsu - Co-Founder & CTO

Throughout his career, Byron has founded multiple companies which have been acquired.

He previously founded Modern Everyday, an e-commerce platform that was acquired by LiveDeal (NASDAQ: LIVE) in August 2014.

In addition, he founded Xenon Project, an online retailer of radio control toys that was acquired by a private equity group in December 2012.

Byron previously worked for Founders Pledge, a group that assists start-up founders in building relationships with investors and industry experts.

He formerly served as co-founder and Director of Technology for RallyPoint, a military contractor that developed wearable computer devices.

Byron earned Bachelor’s degrees in Materials Science and Electrical Engineering, as well as a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from MIT.

Matt Wilkerson - Co-Founder & CEO

Since 2009, Matt has been an angel investor, investing in notable companies including Spotify, ClassPass, and JustFab.

Prior to starting Paragon One, he co-founded AHAlife, an e-commerce platform for luxury design items. After the company achieved $10 million in annual revenues, AHAlife went public on the Australian stock exchange.

Matt previously served as a product strategy consultant for New Pathway Education Group, a China-based academy that helped middle- and high-school students prepare for entrance into elite colleges and universities. New Pathway was later acquired by EIC Education.

In addition, he previously worked in the late-stage venture capital division of Technology Crossover Ventures. This VC firm previously invested in companies including Groupon, TheStreet.com, and eBags.

Matt began his career as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley. While there, he assisted with M&A transactions in the media and telecommunications sectors.

He earned Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Management Science from MIT.

Cian O'Leary - Senior Software Engineer

Cian has extensive experience in the software development industry.

He previously served as a software engineer for Fabric Corp, a company producing fabrics for apparel and upholstery.

In addition, he served as an application developer for iRecruit Australia.

Cian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Queensland University.

Huixian Ye - Vice President of Business Development

Before working at Paragon One, Huixian served as Director of Finance for Jamison Capital Partners. While there, she focused on financial reporting, business strategy, and tax planning.

For nearly five years, she worked in the finance department of Eton Park, an investment firm.

In addition, she formerly served as an auditor for Deloitte, a tax consulting company.

Huixian earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Boston University.

Co-Investors

Y Combinator

Seed-stage accelerator whose alumni include Scribd, Reddit, Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe

Foundation Capital

Venture capital firm whose portfolio includes Netflix, Chegg, and Lending Club.

Learn Capital

Venture capital firm focused on funding early-stage companies. Portfolio includes Edmodo (network that provides educational tools for teachers and students and was acquired by NetDragon for $137 million) and MissionU (a platform designed to be an alternative to college for students that was acquired by WeWork).

University Ventures

Investment group focused on companies in the education sector. Portfolio includes Avenica (platform focused on placing college graduates into the job field that was acquired) and MissionU (platform designed to be alternative to college for students that was acquired by WeWork).