Jascha Zittel is the co-founder of Mercu, an AI-powered recruitment automation platform for the frontline workforce.

Mercu helps companies like Guzman y Gomez, Decathlon, and Playmade, automate candidate screening, shorten time-to-hire, reduce interview no-shows, and remove repetitive recruiter overhead.

‍

👋🏼  How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I wear many hats daily. Currently working on scaling the company to a point where it makes sense to hire people and pass on some of those responsibilities.

‍

🧐  What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I actually enjoy cold outbound sales. Yes, it can be frustrating at times, but the thrill of convincing a complete stranger via email to take a meeting with you makes it all worth it.

‍

🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

The obvious one: Building Mercu with one of my best friends and partner in crime, Elliott.

The less obvious one: Building GrabFood from 0 to 1 and spearheading the launch in Singapore and Malaysia.

‍

🔍  What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?

Is it lame if I say AI? In my opinion it's the single trend to watch this year, as it impacts everything.

‍

💼  What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry?

Here are three things I tell aspiring founders:

‍

1) Try to bootstrap for as long as possible; ideally for the entire journey!

2) Get comfortable with always selling—and the rejections that come with it.

3) This will be the hardest thing you'll ever do. Get comfortable with constant discomfort.

‍

🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

History.

‍

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

So many...Breaking Bad, Tokyo Vice, Silicon Valley.

‍

🍨  What's your go-to ice cream flavor?

Dark chocolate!