Unfortunately, 70 million Americans or 1 in 3 people has been imprisoned at one point in time. and because of that they will forever struggle to find employment in the US labor force. For all of the talk about prison reform, one of the largest reasons for recidivism is that many who have been in prison can’t get a job because of their past.

It’s criminal on our part that we won’t support those that have served their time and paid for their poor decisions. It’s time that we find a way to make these individuals productive members of society so that no man or woman has to go back to the streets in order to survive because we refused to accept them back into society.

The opportunity to put 70 million individuals back to work in the US presents a major for-profit opportunity that will also lead to less incarceration and more societal productivity.

That is why the founder of 70 Million Jobs is building a first-of-its-kind, Indeed.com job board specifically for the formerly incarcerated. Richard Bronson, Founder & CEO of 70 Million Jobs is executing on this vision by building and vetting the largest database of former inmates seeking employment.

To date, the database of potential applicants is 1 million strong, which has been efficiently sourced from several of the largest non-profits that work with parole and probation departments, as well as through information distribution within actual prisons.

On the employer side of the marketplace, Richard is partnering with some of the most iconic brands in the US such as Coca-Cola and Under Armour that are open to putting former inmates back to work.

1. First to market in an unattractive market: What do we mean by unattractive? The reality is, no traditional job board or company has wanted to come into this space because of the connotation of dealing with inmates. Thus it is a wide open market ripe for the taking.
   1. In addition, it creates a bit of a moat because other companies with more resources are less likely to try and invest in this space until they see what a company like 70 Million Jobs can accomplish. At that point, if it does go well, 70 Million Jobs will be an attractive acquisition target for any company with resources considering entering the space.
2. Product differentiation: The team has developed the product to work less like a traditional online job board because former inmates tend to not own computers, nor are they terribly tech savvy.
   1. Instead, they focus their energy on providing emails and text messages to potential job candidates, which has proved effective in reaching this population.
   2. This makes the space less attractive to traditional job boards because of the customized approach that is needed to reach this audience.
   3. 70 Million Jobs is also working to offer applicants a video resume solution because typically they have very little to put on a traditional resume. Nonetheless, they often still have a compelling story to tell that can get them hired with a bit of guidance.
3. Expansion opportunities: 70 Million Jobs wants to do more than just offer help in getting a job. Over time they want to offer more products and services like banking services, and medical care to these individuals who are likely not to have any of these things when they get out of prison.
   1. In that way, 70 Million Jobs has the opportunity to become a full suite of tools to help reintegrate former inmates into society from a personal and professional standpoint.
4. Price point: Organizations are incentivized to work with 70 Million Jobs because of their low cost of acquisition. Most staffing agencies can charge 10% to 20% of first years salary, plus other fees. 70 Million Jobs charges a flat $400 fee per hire, which is quite attractive.

Not only does 70 Million Jobs have a positive societal impact but it is also a business that has a clear path to monetization and profitability. With each candidate placed bringing in $400 as a headhunter fee, the dollars add up quick. With just 7 employees today, the team is projected to place about 1,000 candidates this year, which would amount to $400K or $57K in revenue per employee, which in the early days is a sign of solid traction and positive unit economics.

Even if 70 Million Jobs only ends up serving 10% of the incarcerated population on a yearly basis at $400 per placement, that would be a $2.8 BILLION revenue generating opportunity.

KingsCrowd estimates that it would be within reason for 70 Million Jobs to be able to place 100K individuals into jobs by 2022. That is factoring in the organizational partnerships as well as the database of 1 million formerly incarcerated already on hand. This equates to a $40M annual revenue run rate.

At an acquisition multiple of 2 or 3X revenue, 70 Million Jobs could fetch a valuation north of $100M, providing a solid return for investors getting in at an $8M valuation today.

Richard Bronson, the Founder of 70 Million Jobs is a seasoned entrepreneur. He previously built an investment firm in the early 90’s that employed over 500 people and generated $100M in annual revenue. However, at the time Richard was playing fast and loose, which led him to commit white collar crimes that landed him in prison for 22 months. With all his investors paid back, and 22 months in prison Richard was put in a position of starting from zero once again.

Along with a great deal of humility gained during his time behind bars, he also came to understands the unique challenges of the formerly incarcerated along the way. When he left prison he spent time working for a non-profit called Defy Ventures, which focused on teaching entrepreneurial skills to former inmates to help them build their own businesses.

He ultimately decided to move on to form 70 Million Jobs because he wanted to be able to have an impact that reached a broader swath of the formerly imprisoned community. By building a scalable for-profit business, Richard felt he could execute on his vision of improving the lives of millions of formerly incarcerated just like him.

Between his mission driven approach to building this business, mixed with his awareness of the pitfalls that come with trying to skirt the line of following the rules as you scale a business I think position Richard extremely well to succeed in building 70 Million Jobs.

The Recommendation

I like that 70 Million Jobs is a mission aligned business for Richard, and that he has a history of scaling businesses and failing, because with that failure comes tons of learnings.

I also appreciate the first mover advantage here, and I have a feeling many will be watching to see how it goes before trying to enter the space. And if you are a believer that timing is everything, 70 Million Jobs is coming along at a most opportune time in history. More businesses than ever are increasingly looking to become more inclusive in order to speak to a new age of employees. Hiring former inmates is a perfect way to promote inclusion and drive employee buy-in.

This also means that this organization has the eyes of some major investors, including Y-Combinator, which it was a part of in 2017. This is the same incubator that has graduated companies like Airbnb and DropBox to name a couple.

This will benefit the business as they look to raise more capital from top-tier VCs bought into a socially conscious job board that aims to reduce recidivism. In addition this is a business with solid unit economics and a plethora of partnerships that will drive a solid pipeline of job opportunities to scale the business with.

With a product and team that can meet the unique challenges of a group of individuals seeking employment that have found it extremely hard in the past, I have a good deal of confidence that they can win out in this space. I could also imagine a world where an Indeed or Monster down the road looks to acquire an organization like 70 Million Jobs as an expansion opportunity.

At a $6M valuation for investors getting in on the first $100K, I would say it feels very reasonable for a busin ess that is sitting in a multi-billion dollar market all on its own and has already showed its ability to execute, albeit in the early days. I also like the vision that Richard has to become a complete platform for meeting the needs of former inmates looking to rebuild their lives with things like financial products and other basic life needs that intermix with their professional career.

For these reasons, I recommend 70 Million Jobs as a Top Deal.

Analysis written by Chris Lustrino on May 6, 2018.