SmartCompany 2007 Award for Top Website
Revenue: $50,000
Founder: James Masini, 24
Based: Melbourne
Employees: 12
Industry: Recruitment
Website: www.hippo.com.au
When James Masini was at university, he and his mates would hop on to recruitment sites to find part time jobs. At the same time Masini was doing a degree in entrepreneurship at RMIT University, and he began to work on a recruitment site aimed specially at the youth market (15-24 year olds.)
It took him three years — from getting the idea, doing the market research, and finding some funding — to launch.
Investors have included Peter Jordan, partner at Deloitte, Geoff and Janine Allis at Boost Juice and Marc Besen.
It did not faze Masini that his competitors were Seek, MyCareer and CareerOne. His site has a cheerful and positive look that appeals to the youth market. There are immediate calls-to-action on the home page and the site makes it easy to browse and search. It has clear and engaging job description areas and has an effective use of user member areas.
About the Top Website Award:
The SmartCompany50 awards are based on revenue, growth and innovation. But one award is different. The Top Website Award was formed to recognise a site that might only be a few months old but has potential to grow into a much larger business.
The judges for this award are managing director of dtdigital, David Trewern, and SmartCompany’s Jacqui Walker and Amanda Gome.
Here are the judge’s comments:
- This site, through the use of primary colours and interesting typeface, has a cheerful and positive look that appeals to the youth market.
- There are immediate calls-to-action on the home page and the site makes it easy to browse and search.
- It has clear and engaging job description areas and an effective use of user member areas.
- It is a simple site that is very intuitive but provides the right amount of information.
- It is backed up by a great business idea that targets a niche sector of the job market.
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