10 questions to Talkpush founder, MaxArmbruster

Can you give a brief introduction about your company?

Talkpush is a software that helps to accelerate recruitment for companies that have to hire hundreds of people every month. We work with some of the largest employers in the region, such as the Sheraton hotel, or the Lazada group to accelerate the source and screening of thousands of candidates every month. Thanks to our software, every candidate has a chance to tell their story, and hundreds of eager job seekers get noticed and hired for their dream job.

How did the idea of Talkpush come across to you?

This is my second recruitment software company.... A few years ago, I realized that while the leading HR software from the US were suitable for senior hires, and SMEs, they did not address the main pain points of large corporations which needs to hire in large volume: how do we decide who to bring in for an interview?

Normally how long does it take for the interviewer to listen to the record and decide if the candidate is the perfect match for the vacancy?

Most of the phone interviews are completed in less than 5 minutes... An experienced recruiter can usually listen to a minute or two of those recordings and decide who to invite and who to turn down.

How does Talkpush help to improve the quality of hires and reduce the time spent on recruitment?

Our clients are able to meet their recruitment targets while interviewing 30% less people in person.

What was your biggest challenge or the worst decision you had made and had to flip away from afterwards?

We wasted some time (time = the most precious startup commodity) trying to please too many potential clients at first.
I am now focused on making a big impact for a few clients, rather than having a small impact on many clients.

What is your dream and vision for Talkpush?

Talkpush is a great productivity tool today. Tomorrow, I would also like it to be providing more intelligence to recruiters, so we can help to eliminate recruitment bias, and give the best people the best chance at being hired.

How do you get your brand out there? (Did you leverage any connections to other startups? Any other meaningful relationships or connections that helped you?)

Participating in startup pitch competitions has helped to get our name out there in the startup community, which is great for our internal hiring. Joining Blueprint, and then Seedcamp has also helped establish us in the eyes of candidates and of investors. Besides that, we are proud members of IBPAP (IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines), an industry association which helps us meet with the decision makers in the industry we target.

TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. What keeps your team going? What do they value the most?

We love to improve the life of recruiters and candidates. Everyday, hundreds of candidates are interviewing on our platform and we enjoy being an enabler in getting them their dream jobs.

What is the one reason to start a startup in HK? And what would be the reason not to do so?

HK is the best city to live in, which is enough to attract some great talent. I can't think of any reason not to come!

What is your #Startup Passion?

I want to destroy hashtags 4eva #justkidding. ;)