Simply Hired
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Simply Hired was a Sunnyvale, California-based job search engine that aggregated job listings from across the internet - covering some 6 million jobs from 700,000 employers at its peak, with around 30 million monthly visitors. Operating in 24 countries and 12 languages, it built its brand as a search engine for jobs rather than a traditional job board, and also ran a publisher partnership program syndicating job content to third-party sites. It raised just over $34 million in venture funding.
02 / Simply Hired FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Simply Hired was squeezed by the dominance of Indeed in job search: despite 30 million monthly visitors, it could not compete with the world's largest job site and wound down its operations in 2016, selling its assets to Indeed's parent company, Recruit Holdings, which kept simplyhired.com running as an Indeed publishing partner.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Company founded
Simply Hired is founded in Sunnyvale, California as a search engine for jobs listed around the internet, later raising over $34 million and expanding to 24 countries and 12 languages.
- Shutdown and asset sale
On May 31, 2016, Simply Hired notifies partners it will cease operations on June 26, 2016, winding down its partnership program and platform services. On July 1, 2016, Recruit Holdings - the Japanese group that owns Indeed - announces it has acquired Simply Hired's assets; simplyhired.com continues to operate as a job search destination and Indeed publishing partner.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Simply Hired raised just over $34 million in venture funding during its lifetime.
- 02
The company ceased operations on June 26, 2016, winding down its partnership program and platform services.
- 03
Recruit Holdings acquired its assets on July 1, 2016; no reliable loss figure was disclosed.