Forbes Q&A with beBee - Questions and Answers

These were Forbes' questions and answers to beBee for the article "The Social Network Empowering A New Generation Of Entrepreneurs" by
Alison Coleman.

1. Tell me about your own career background and how you came to launch beBee? Where did the idea come from?

Javier Cámara ( CEO & Cofounder )

My professional background is in technology and digital marketing. I started as a consultant working for Oracle. Then I was CTO of Canamail - a pioneer in email marketing, which was sold to an American fund. 

In the middle of lockdown, Rafael Garcia (my CMO & Cofounder) and I realised that beBee should bring together all kinds of professional opportunities, not just the typical job ads, but both supply and demand, i.e. professionals offering local services, freelancers and entrepreneurial job seekers on the one hand, and those in need of a specific service on the other.

We’re far more than coworkers, we’re very good friends, in fact I’d say he is my best friend! We complement each other perfectly and many of the best ideas have come out after work and during our many trips together.

2. How does beBee work, and how does it help freelancers and would-be entrepreneurs get started? And how is it different from other social networks, like LinkedIn?

beBee is very simple to use and is free - just register as a user (offering services / requesting services, looking for jobs / posting jobs). 

Based on this you will receive professional opportunities as beBee connects supply with demand.

Understandably, people want to make up for lost time by enjoying more adventures in the post-pandemic era. Now, thanks to worker-centric platforms like ours, they also have more control over the projects and clients they take on.

Employers also now understand their obligation to improve working relationships with their remote staff, which is creating happier situations for all parties involved. For freelancers and employees, the future looks brighter than ever.

When it comes to finding work and securing contracts, freelancers, digital nomads and entrepreneurial job-seekers no longer settle for platforms where they are an afterthought. BeBee is flipping the script by building environments where the power resides with them. beBee is focused on professionals not logos and companies. We say it's "user-centric", so you'll see lots of faces and very few logos.

While most job portals and career platforms focus on the company and the jobs, we focus on the candidates and giving value to people. That’s the reason why faces are very important on beBee. On beBee, a professional who offers services can gain visibility by creating their profile before adding their services, blogging to build a personal brand, and connecting directly with potential clients within their field. It encourages them to highlight exactly what they can bring to any given role while simultaneously creating business relationships where their skills and personality traits are in high demand.

In addition to supporting freelancers, offering the best user experience and detailed service to contractors means attracting the best talent, most of whom we have found are NOT on LinkedIn. In turn, companies will partner with skilled and committed workers who can produce the best results time and time again. 

Even in cases where beBee users are on LinkedIn, they can add their LinkedIn profile to beBee, so they see it as complementary.

3. Who is the typical user - any examples of users we could include?

There is no exact prototype of a professional in beBee. It covers all types of professionals as diverse as: home improvement professionals, babysitters, designers, dog walkers, private teachers, artists, programmers, lawyers, photographers, technical support professionals, journalists, marketing, doctors, nurses, recruiters, engineers, architects, accountants, and people in the hospitality industry.

Some Examples:

Electrician: https://gb.bebee.com/bee/simon-jones

Software Developer: https://gb.bebee.com/bee/anna-bergin

PR professional: https://gb.bebee.com/bee/tiphaine-rolland

Beauty salon owner: https://gb.bebee.com/bee/elisabeth-hewitt

4. How did you launch the business? Did you work on your own, or did you have a team? 

I started with @Rafael García Romano , current CMO of beBee, who has extensive experience in digital marketing and two developers.  Rafael was initially more marketing and sales, and I was more product / technical and sales.

Then, we added developers to the team - we now have a team of more than 30 people, including 12 developers, spread across different countries.

5. What were the startup costs and how was it funded? Any external investment?

We have had the 100% support of @Juan Imaz Azcarretazabal , the main investor in beBee. Juan is a successful online entrepreneur, and a pioneer in launching the first webmail in the Spanish language (mixmail). We have also had the help of several angel investors. In total we received an initial investment of more than 3 million euros.

6. Who can use the platform, from a geographical perspective?

beBee is available practically all over the world - it is in more than 50 countries. We have the most professionals in the US, UK, Brazil, Spain, Japan, France, Canada and Germany.

7. What's next for beBee?

Given the amazing reception we’ve had so far, our ambition is to become the global reference site for professionals. We firmly believe that we have a unique offering. 

But we are also very aware that real success comes through humility and hard work. So our fundamental aim is to continue to make beBee an incredible experience for all users.