Kathryn Minshew is the CEO and co-founder of The Muse, a New York City-based online career platform.
Early life and education
Kathryn Minshew was born on October 30, 1985, in New Jersey, USA. Minshew is the daughter of Terri Dantonio Minshew and Stephen Minshew. Minshew attended high school in Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and earned a degree in political science at Duke University.
Career
In May-August of 2006, Minshew worked for the Health Action in Crises’ bureau administering World Health Organization (WHO) response to humanitarian disasters ranging from the Israel/Hezbollah conflict to post-tsunami relief in Indonesia to the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Minshew also organized the HAC request for and response to WHO donors in English and French.
In June – August of 2007, Minshew worked in the U.S. Department of State as Regional Security Intern. Minshew analyzed indigenous and external terrorist threats to diplomatic personnel on the island. Minshew supported coordination of Embassy security policy and relationships with local police and military.
From October 2008 – June 2010, Minshew was a business analyst at McKinsey & Company. Minshew’s compelling experiences are in project management, strategy, problem-solving, communication skills, and presentation; as well as financial modeling through a variety of engagements in the health care, financial, energy, and media sectors. Minshew developed a media expansion strategy and suggested market entry approach for a global internet presence. Minshew re-designed health care reform strategy and execution plan for national philanthropy, including evaluation of existing initiatives and 80 interviews across eleven geographies.
Minshew led project management simultaneously for four teams from finance, marketing and legal for a Fortune 100 company. Minshew also developed an approach and application for three major national banks’ mortgage modification programs, including innovative marketing strategies, deep financial modeling, and implementation of a customer service “SWAT” team saving $200 million in 2 weeks.
From June 2010 – January 2011, Minshew worked for Clinton Health Access Initiative. Minshew ran for strategic and implementation planning for vaccine introduction in Malawi and Rwanda. Minshew worked for CHAI when she co-founded Pretty Young Professionals, a networking site for young professional women.
The Muse
In July 2011, Minshew co-founded The Muse (originally named The Daily Muse), is a New York City-based online career platform and job discovery tool serving more than 5 million professionals worldwide, with Melissa McCreery and Alexandra Cavoulacos.
The Muse was considered after receiving feedback from the readers of The Daily Muse, the company’s career-focused online publication that indicated readers found that searching job can be frustrating and would go through various rounds of interviews before realizing the company wasn’t a great fit for them. Furthermore, users said that the most vexatious part for them in the job search was never hearing back from an employer after they had applied. The three founders decided to build a different kind of job site after hearing all these comments. In February 2012, they began the site under the name Company Muse and now known as The Muse.
They originally started The Muse in Brooklyn as The Daily Muse on September 6, 2011, with eleven columnists and eight editors. In its first three months, it expanded from 20,000 users to 70,000 users in their first version of the site. In 2012, Minshew, McCreery, and Cavoulacos applied to Y Combinator at the recommendation of their advisor Rachel Sklar. The three founders traveled to San Francisco for the interview, and on that same day, they got accepted into the program. They went to Silicon Valley for eight months during Y Combinator and the subsequent fundraiser, after which they settled to locate their headquarters in New York City starting in September 2012.
Including first funding from 500 Startups, Y Combinator, and others, in January 2013, The Muse earned $1.2 million in seed funding to proceed to grow their business. In June 2013, after renaming to The Muse, the company was a finalist in The Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year competition. In February 2014, Tyra Banks and others invested $1 million in The Muse. In May 2015, the company declared a $10 million Series A round led by Theresia Gouw at Aspect Ventures, with the support by QED Ventures and DBL Partners. In June 2016, The Muse was able to raise $16 million in a Series B funding round led by Icon Ventures, with current investors DBL Partners, Aspect Ventures, and QED Investors participating.
The company produces inside and out profiles of companies exploring top talent, showcasing their brand through behind the scenes videos of the office and team culture, latest job openings, and interviews with the employees. In an interview with Fast Company in 2012, founder Minshew revealed how the team produces all the content by sending somebody into the workplace to capture everything required to create an effective profile. The concept is to build authentic and lasting connections between applicants and companies before the formal application process starts.
The Muse launched Coach Connect in November 2016, a network of specialist career coaches accessible to users seeking professional assistance in their job search. The service gives personalized job search or networking plans, resume review and editing, career Q&As, and specialized coaching in interviewing, leadership, and negotiation.
Recognition and Awards
In 2011 and 2012, Forbes listed Minshew as the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media list. In 2012, Minshew and her other two co-founders were also listed on the Inc List of 15 Women to Watch in Tech. Minshew has been highlighted in publications including Forbes, Inc., Huffington Post, Stylecaster, Teen Vogue, and Wired. In Fall 2013, Minshew represented The Daily Muse in the Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year, where she reached the finals. In 2016, Minshew was given a New York Future 50 Award winner by SmartCEO magazine and a Workforce Magazine 2016 Game Changer. In 2016, Minshew was also an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Minshew and co-founder were named to the Silicon Alley 100 in 2012 and 2015. Minshew was also featured in the 2014 Global Citizen campaign by Tumi, and in the 2015 Women of Substance campaign by Anthropologie.