Careers at Expa

Mission

Expa’s mission is to help create successful companies.

History

Garrett Camp had significant experience launching startups. He co-founded StumbleUpon, a web discovery platform that eventually garnered more than 25 million registered users. He also co-founded Uber, an on-demand transportation service that now operates in more than 400 cities. With his colleagues, Camp introduced four successful firms over 10 years with 100 million registered users.

Over this period he identified a number of techniques that he felt were essential to the success of new startups. He decided to use this knowledge to help others. So in 2013 he founded Expa – a company whose purpose was to work with young firms to develop new products, increasing their chances of success. Expa was described as a “startup studio”, rather than an incubator or VC.

The firm planned to work with only a few active companies at a given time, particularly in the areas of mobile platforms, applications, and marketplaces. It would emphasize the integration of product strategy, user experience, and system design. Based on its promise, in 2014 it was able to raise $50 million in venture capital funding from prominent investors. In March 2016 it raised $100 million.

Business model of Expa

Customer Segments

Expa has a niche market business model, with a specialized customer segment. The company targets its offering at new and early-stage startups seeking assistance with product development.

Value Proposition

Expa offers three primary value propositions: accessibility, risk reduction, and brand/status.

The company creates accessibility by provider easier market entry. It is focused on providing new startups with product development guidance, helping to increase their probability of success. This represents a new kind of service, as these ventures do not usually receive such intense support. Its investment arm, Expa Capital, invests between $500,000 and $1 million of seed capital on each firm.

The company reduces risk by applying a high level of attention to clients. It takes a hands-on stance for their product development efforts, forming teams to assist them in crafting the brand, building the prototype, and determining market fit. It also utilizes a heavily data-driven approach. Once a project has received traction, Expa shifts resources to companies at earlier stages.

The company has established a strong brand due to its initial success. It has 25 in-house experts in New York City and San Francisco as part of its team. In its first two years of operation they helped Expa launch 15 new firms, including Spot.com, Mix.com, Reserve.com, and Operator.com.

Channels

Expa’s main channel is its website. The company promotes its offering through its social media pages.

Customer Relationships

Expa’s customer relationship is primarily of a dedicated personal assistance nature. The company’s staff members work directly with a specified set of clients to assist in product development efforts.

Key Activities

Expa’s business model entails providing dedicated service for its clients.

Key Partners

Expa operates Expa Labs, a program through which it solicits applications from entrepreneurs with promising ideas. The initiative manages six companies at a time, providing them with $500,000 in seed funding and six months of office space in New York City or San Francisco. The program is 180 days long, and benefits include legal help, expert advice, and access to Expa’s advisors network.

Key Resources

Expa’s main resources are its employees, who include the entrepreneurs, engineers, and designers that design and develop its services and provide them to clients.

As a new startup it has relied heavily on funding from outside parties, raising $150 million from 16 investors as of March 2016.

Cost Structure

Expa has a value-driven structure, aiming to provide a premium proposition through significant personal service.

Its biggest cost driver is likely cost of services, a variable expense. Other major drivers are in the areas of product development and administration, both fixed costs.

Revenue Streams

Expa has one revenue stream: the share of revenues it obtains when clients’ products go on the market.

Our team

Garrett Camp,
Founder

info: Garrett Camp earned a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an M.Sc. in Software Engineering at the University of Calgary. He previously served as the Co-Founder, Chairman, CEO, and Chief Product Officer of StumbleUpon. He is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of Uber.

Roberto Sanabria,
Partner and Chief Operating Officer

info: Roberto Sanabria earned a B.A. in Economics and a BSE in Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as the Head of Analytics at Expa, the Senior Manager of Business Analytics at LinkedIn, and the Director of Analytics at StumbleUpon.

Hooman Radfar,
Partner

info: Hooman Radfar earned a B.A. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He previously served as Founder and Director of 10e9 and as Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AddThis.

Naveen Selvadurai,
Partner

info: Naveen Selvadurai earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He previously served as a Co-Founder of foursquare, an Adjunct Professor at The Cooper Union, and as an Engineer at Socialight, Sun Microsystems, and Lucent Technologies.