WHAT: Companies can outsource the updating of their knowledge base to HelpJuice, which hosts and will automatically update FAQ pages after the company has approved an answer. Results are populated as questions are typed into the FAQ search field.

LAUNCHERS: Emil Hajric, an 18-year-old Sarajevo transplant, previously founded Chalkboard, which creates software specs for clients that map out user experience and the design interface.

WHY: Companies receive hundreds, in some cases thousands, of questions a day. Companies can focusing more on product development and ways to engage their customers by outsourcing the FAQ. Many company FAQ pages are not helpful and/or incomplete.

WHEN/WHERE: Aug. 2011 / Austin

BACKSTORY: Before joining Capital Factory, Emil put up a landing page for a product he called "Questionify" and essentially described HelpJuice. Almost immediately he received overwhelming response from potential customers telling him "he needed to make this product."

BUSINESS MODEL: Tiered monthly service rates depending on number of answers provided; $19, $50 and $100.

COMPETITION: ZenDesk, Web Help Desk.

CUSTOMERS/GROWTH: 30 live customers, five paying since August launch.

PHILOSOPHY: "Updating your support page shouldn't be a chore. We make it delightful," says Emil.

WHO BACKED IT: Capital Factory.

ON CAPITAL FACTORY: "At Capital Factory they introduce you to powerful people and the advice is tailored for your situation." Emil says. "If you ask they won't just give you general advice. It's really interesting to have someone who is constantly thinking about your product or how you can even change the business model. A lot of the product ideas are influenced by mentors."

RAISING: $150K.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 3.

After a company's customer service team answers a question, the answer is passed to a "juicer" to add to the database of answers for future customers. That answer then becomes live and searchable.

FURTHER READING

1. FAQ Pages: Best Practices and Examples (noupe, June 24, 2010)

2. Mikkel Svane, Founder of ZenDesk on This Week In Startups (This Week In Startups #124, March 15, 2011)

3. Google Announces Beef-ed Up Customer Support System [ Google Actually Runs a Team of 1000 Customer-Service Representatives Handling Calls from 60 Countries; Will We Expect Phone Support for Major Google Services Soon?] (TFTS, Sept. 5, 2011)

CONTACTS & LINKS

Emil Hajric
Email: Emil at helpjuice dot com
Twitter: @itsemil
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/emilhajric

HelpJuice
@helpjuice
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/HelpJuice/201683889878116

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