Moving Up, But Not Away

Moving Up, But Not Away


After generating revenues of $10 million at The Phelon Group, she sold her shares to her partners in 2008 to start UpMo. Phelon knew it was going to be hard, but her persistence paid off.

Phelon intentionally pursued wealthy investors with the mindset that they would be willing to take the biggest risks. She was right. She raised an angel round of $4 million, and her investors–which include Pat Sueltz, the former president of SalesForce.com, and Brian NeSmith, former president and CEO of Blue Coat Systems–are some of the most respected and influential people in Silicon Valley. “Our angels are the lifeblood of our company,” says Phelon. “They have helped us make great connections.”

With 20 full-time employees–most of whom work on the software engineering team–the company is now raising a second round of financing that will be used to extend its current offering into the mobile space, integrate with existing collaboration platforms such as SalesForce.com, and provide more robust analytics. While UpMo originally launched as a service for individuals, Phelon saw more opportunity in the enterprise space. The company re-launched in January 2012 with the intent of working more closely with organizations to help them understand how their structure and business units are set up so people can move throughout their company. HR managers and recruiters are provided with a dashboard that gives them an overall view of the organization and its employees. UpMo’s algorithm uses collaborative filtering and crowd intelligence to help them get in touch with others who share their goals or who are in positions they would like to move into. Phelon has big hopes for the company‘s future. “We want to build a product that every professional uses.”

–Sian Morson


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