With an overcrowded, over qualified job market, college leavers don’t have it easy when it comes to embarking on their chosen careers. Underemployment, unemployment and a mountain of student debt are just some of the hurdles they have to face.
However, the cavalry has appeared to offer a helping hand in the form of Pave, a New York-based start-up that takes a crowd-based approach to helping young adults achieve their potential.
The online platform matches college leavers (known as prospects) with backers who will help them to get a foot in the door of their target professions so they don’t have to take on jobs they don’t want to.
Win-Win
Both parties get something out of the initiative. For the prospects, the chance to pursue the career of their dreams. For backers, the rewards are financial as they receive a percentage of a prospect’s earnings for an agreed period of time.
If a prospect does not make any money during the contractual period, nothing is owed to the backers. For example, this could happen if a budding filmmaker, artist or musician earns no income from a long-term project or their work flops.
Pave was the brainchild of its CEO and founder, Sal Lahoud. He said he came up with the idea when a friend asked to borrow some money. Instead of entering into a loan agreement he suggested that his friend pay him a portion of his earnings. When he agreed the Pave founder realized that this could work as a business model.
Pave also provides the opportunity for prospects to be mentored by their backers.