Mo Rassolli

For our latest Startup Spotlight series, we spoke to Jonathan Coates, co-founder and CTO of RefermyJobs.

Jonathan, or Jonny, as his colleagues call him, has 10+ years of experience in web development and building large recruitment websites and job platforms. He has always been interested in how the industry works and has founded multiple businesses.

Together with Richie Wan, they founded RefermyJobs, a job board that makes recruitment more affordable for small businesses by offering a risk-free way to advertise jobs.

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Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you better. So, can you tell us a bit of your “backstory” and how you got started?

Coding has been a passion of mine since I was 15, and I started my first job at 18 as a web developer. I learned as much as I could as fast as possible, being the driven individual I am.

I freelanced for three years before becoming a contractor for web agencies. Since then, I have worked in startups, applying my skills to help change the recruitment industry.

What was the most exciting story that happened to you since you launched your startup?

I joined RefermyJobs in early 2022, so Richie had been working on this project for a little while before we joined forces. It excited me that I’d be able to propel his idea to fruition, as before we met, he was struggling to find a decent CTO to help him build his idea and bring it to life.

No startup founder is immune from making mistakes, and it’s part of the “growing pains” they go through. Can you share one mistake you’ve made and the valuable lesson it taught you?

Making mistakes and experimenting with different ideas, you need to try things to succeed. There’s no formula for starting a business and no guidebook, it’s just a matter of trying, failing, and doing it again.

Finding the right people is one of the hardest things about starting a business, and my biggest mistake was being in business with the wrong people.

There has been much talk about supporting diversity and inclusion among startup investors. This may be obvious to you, but can you share with our readers the reasons why it’s so important for investors to support startups with a diverse and inclusive executive team?

I think it’s extremely important to recognise people’s abilities regardless of age, gender or background. I have worked with people from all over the world in the last few years since remote work has become more common.

People from diverse backgrounds bring new ideas & unique perspectives to the table, which allow you to see the world & your business in a new and exciting way.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring a positive change within your community, what would that be and why?

There are still so many people who have to figure out money management, business, well-being and health on their own, so I would like schools to teach these classes as mandatory courses.

Many people cannot manage and grow their finances, so understanding how to manage and control your well-being is crucial.

If you had a chance to spend a day with someone and have the liberty to ask anything, who would that person be? What three questions would you ask?

I don’t have anyone in particular in mind. I think there are several people I’d like to spend the day with and ask them questions, each for different reasons.

Elon Musk because he’s done very well in business and will have a lot of advice to give me. I’d ask him about stress management, mainly as he’s known for working a lot.
Jordan Peterson because he has a lot of exciting ideas about the world. Not all of them I agree with, but he’d be an attractive man to have a coffee with and get to know.
Joe Rogan because he’s had conversations with nearly every person I’d ever want to meet, and also, we could talk about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which I find incredibly interesting.

Can you share your favourite life quote with us and why this is so relevant to you?

“Nothing worth having comes easy” is my favourite quote, and it’s relevant because it reminds me every day that hard work is required.

Great! Thanks for that. Now, let’s go to the main focus of this interview. Can you share the story behind that “A-ha Moment” that led to creating and launching your startup?

My A-ha moment came when Richie pitched his ideas to me, and I immediately loved it. A job board that only charges for successful hires… A-Ha! I was hooked.

What do you think makes your startup stand out? Can you share with us examples to show this?

What makes RefermyJobs stand out is that most job boards pay you upfront for a job advert without guaranteeing any results. However, RefermyJobs only charge when you successfully hire someone using our job board, and that’s extremely helpful for companies with less budget.

We’re also building a network of active referrers to help fill jobs faster and accurately, incentivising them with generous payouts!

That’s a massive difference between other job boards and us.

What are some “myths” or misconceptions people have when launching a startup that you’ve debunked throughout your journey?

Everything will go to plan, and you’ll be making money hand over fist immediately. You’re not likely to be a success overnight.

I will talk later about having a clear vision and a plan, but you also need to be prepared for that plan to fail. You need to be able to adjust quickly and think of a new angle of attack.

If there’s one significant difference between launching a startup and a small business, what would that be and why?

Usually, small businesses will start to generate cash quickly, and startups will go for investment rounds to fund their idea.

Investment is usually required because their idea needs money to get it off the ground for marketing or to grow their product to the level required to go to market.

What are the top three traits that entrepreneurs must possess to launch a startup successfully? Can you expound on why you chose these three traits?

Communication skills, passion and resilience.

If you aren’t passionate about your work, you probably won’t do it. If you can’t communicate what you’re building effectively, you’ll struggle to get it off the ground. When things get tough, you must be resilient, learn from your mistakes and try, try, try again.

Let’s flip things around: What do you believe are the three things that can cause a startup founder not to become successful, and why?

If you aren’t planning for the end of your business, you won’t be ready for challenges. This ties into having a clear vision of your future business.

Finally, if you act quickly or not, you may find someone else has beat you to the punch.

Be resilient, learn from your mistakes, and try again.

As a parting gift to our readers, what are the top three pieces of advice you can give them about launching a startup and why? Please share a story for each.

1. Keep your business lean.

Have everything you need and nothing you don’t. Keeping your business lean is an ongoing battle you’ll keep fighting throughout your entire business.

At RefermyJobs, we keep things lean, we don’t hire unnecessarily, and we don’t spend money on software or subscriptions we don’t need.

2. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

Mistakes are how you learn. As I’ve said, no one is taught how to start a successful business, and that’s something you just need to figure out along the way. It’s all a part of the journey.

The whole career, I’ve been challenging myself to be better, making mistakes and learning from them, no harm, no foul.

3. Seek out great people to work with.

At first, I always tried to do everything myself, but after some time, I realised I wanted to avoid building a business. I wanted a great team around me, so I always looked for great people to work with. For us to succeed together, I always strive to build an excellent team of people around me.

Thank you for these fantastic insights and for your time. We truly appreciate it and wish you all the best on your journey.