How I use 500 Miles to track promising tech companies
Do you find it cumbersome to keep up with the large number of promising startups? Do you worry about not discovering a company on the verge of breaking out?
If so, then you are in a similar situation to me until a few months ago. As a college student interested in the tech industry, I began tracking all the interesting companies I heard about my freshman year. My tool: web browser bookmarks. While bookmarking works (sort of), it was difficult to track companies as I still had to do periodic research on my favorited companies to stay current. Some of my friends used spreadsheets to track companies and keep notes on them. I considered this method but it did not seem that much more useful.
After awhile, I just kind of accepted the fact that using my web browser to track companies was the best method out there until I was introduced to a free mobile app called 500 Miles. Almost overnight, the 500 Miles app significantly improved my ability to discover and track companies. I could now browse through high-growth companies and bookmark them with a feature designed specifically for that task. The name of this feature: My Stack.
My Stack
My Stack equipped me to quickly compare the pros and cons of each company that I cared about conveniently from my iPhone. I followed companies like Blue Apron, Oscar, Egnyte, Talkdesk, ThoughtSpot, Flatiron Health and even later stage or public companies like Facebook. My Stack enabled me to stay up to date with a rather surprising number of companies. At times, I felt like I would water down my company list by adding too many companies, but My Stack remained organized, informative and engaging. What’s more potentially even more exciting is that 500 Miles provides insightful trends using big data about over 1,000 companies. Following a company on 500 Miles provides insight into:
- company’s headcount and hiring trends
- past employers and colleges of current employees
- investor confidence
- international hiring
- salaries offered
- current employees experience levels
- hires and departure rates
- alumni connections
- open jobs at a company
With meaningful information like this, I felt more informed about the future prospects of a company and my company portfolio/list was robust and up-to-date. Additionally, when I followed companies by pressing the green thumbs up in a company’s profile, the 500 Miles platform began further customizing the recommendations of similar companies they sent via push notifications a few times each week. By following companies, I strengthened my ability to discover more great companies, a delightful bonus of My Stack.
A dynamic list of companies
Since some companies excite me less after awhile as my interests (and the market) shift, I was glad the My Stack feature allowed me to unfollow a company by pressing the green thumbs up button again. This feature ensured My Stack never got longer than I wanted it be and was comprised entirely of companies I actually cared to learn about.
As a 500 Miles user, whenever I hear about a startup on the news or from a friend, I go check out their profile on 500 Miles to see how they are performing. If the company excites me, I add it to my stack. A few days later, I’m recommended more similar companies. 500 Miles has enabled me to build a company portfolio that’s informative and interesting. If you want to work in tech or even if you already do, this app will be useful to you.
500 Miles is a data-driven recruiting platform that connects students and young professionals to startups.
