Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Kamrath.
Josh, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Colorado and went to college at Colorado State University, where I met my wife, Josie. I graduated a year ahead of her in May 2011 and went to work for a startup called SeeUnity located in Northern Colorado. Josie and I were just dating at the time, and when she graduated, we decided to move out to California where her whole family is from. I quit my job and started to put my feelers out for something new. That’s when I came across Bongo. Originally called YouSeeU, Bongo was founded by a tenured business communication professor named Dr. Jeff Lewis, who taught at Colorado State.
The company decided to bring me on as the first sales employee in 2012. In my early days at Bongo, I remember him telling me that higher education was really concentrated in Southern California. We were just starting to get a minimum viable product out, so he asked me to start trying to sign up schools in California. So, I started going door-to-door selling our software. Over the last several years, Bongo has grown significantly, and I was able to climb the ladder. I was responsible for signing new partnerships as the head of sales up until about a year ago when I was promoted to CEO.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think with any startup, it’s a rollercoaster with a lot of highs and lows. Finding the product-market fit, what value props matter most, and because we’ve been mostly bootstrapped, being very conscientious of our expenses, especially in the early days, were all some of the struggles that come to mind.
Tell us more about your work.
Bongo was founded in 2009 under the name YouSeeU before we rebranded in October 2018. It is a privately-owned company with about 60 employees. We currently have two offices, one in Solana Beach, Calif. that I work out of, and another in Loveland, Colo., which is our headquarters. There are also a few remote employees scattered around the U.S.
Bongo sells directly to clients in the education and corporate markets, but our main business model revolves around partnerships. We aim to partner with industry-leading companies in a variety of industries to impact as many learners as possible around the world. These partnerships typically involve integrating our video assessment solution into an organization’s existing platform to enhance their core product offerings.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc.
Bongo is a video assessment solution that enables experiential learning and soft skill development at scale. Organizations use Bongo’s structured video workflows to facilitate repeated skill practice, personalized feedback, and peer-to-peer collaboration within a real-world context. The whole idea is that when individuals demonstrate skills and apply their knowledge on video, evaluators get an authentic representation of what they can do.
We specialize in structured video assessment. Most organizations use video for learning in some way, but usually in a static format where individuals passively consume content. Bongo’s solution revolves around user-generated video, so learners actually put skills and knowledge into action through experiential exercises. Once learners complete an exercise, they receive personalized, time-stamped feedback from a subject matter expert to help drive their improvement.
Bongo is known for its Video Assignments, unique workflows that leverage proprietary video and feedback technology. For example, Question & Answer put learners on the spot to answer prompts asynchronously with only a limited to respond. This replicates the high-stakes nature of a real-time conversation. Bongo’s workflows not only give evaluators a better sense of individuals’ competency, but they also help learners develop valuable soft skills like communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.
What are you most proud of as a company?
The team we’ve started to build because everyone’s hard work and comradery is really motivating. I want to emphasize “started to build” because continuing to define our culture and expand our team is something I think all of us continue to be excited for and proud of.
What sets you apart from others?
Along with the proprietary elements and partnership-centric business model I already mentioned, I’d say Bongo helps fill a huge need in the marketplace right now. Organizations have been dealing with skills gaps for years, and the skills demand is changing at a faster pace than ever before. Educational institutions and companies are looking for innovative ways to develop the competencies individuals need to succeed in this changing environment. Bongo gives individuals a safe space to practice key skills and for evaluators to provide meaningful feedback at scale.
Contact Info:
- Address: 731 Hwy 101 Suite 16-18 Solana Beach, CA 92075
- Website: https://www.bongolearn.com/
- Email: josh.kamrath@bongolearn.com
created by dji camera
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