Inside Glassdoor: From 2007 to Now Into a $160 million business
Startup Type:
Headquarter: Mill Valley, USA
Current Status: Active (acquired by Recruit Holdings in 2018, operating as a distinct brand)
Founders: Timothy Glass, Robert Hohman, Rich Barton
Founded Year: 2007
Investors: Benchmark, Sutter Hill Ventures, Battery Ventures
Funding Raised: $160 million
What Is the business model of Glassdoor?
Website where current and former employees anonymously review company culture, salaries, and interview experiences. Makes money by selling employers premium employer branding and job posting services
How Glassdoor got started?
Launched in 2008 as a “give-to-get” platform: users had to post an anonymous company review or salary to unlock others. Co-founder Rich Barton believed in empowering job seekers with information. Glassdoor quickly amassed millions of reviews and became a crucial tool for job hunters researching employers
what growth strategy has Glassdoor followed?
Grew by building trust and a recognizable brand for workplace transparency. Its SEO strength meant Glassdoor reviews often surface high on Google when searching a company name. The company steadily introduced paid services like enhanced employer profiles and job ads, which turned it into a strong recruitment advertising business leading to its $1.2B acquisition
what are the top products/features of Glassdoor
Glassdoor company reviews and ratings, salary reports, interview questions database, Glassdoor Employer Center
what was the biggest challenge faced by Glassdoor?
Moderating and verifying content to ensure authenticity and avoid defamatory or false reviews has been an ongoing issue. Additionally, Glassdoor had to find a profitable revenue model (eventually focusing on B2B hiring solutions) and compete with established job sites that started adding similar content. In 2018, it was acquired by Recruit Holdings (Indeed.com’s parent), posing integration and independence questions