Firsthand

About us

I created Firsthand because privilege shouldn’t be the determining factor in whether great candidates land great jobs or opportunities.

Fredrik Marø, Founder

We’re on a mission to democratize careers

The best jobs don’t go to the best candidates. They go to the most connected candidates, whose networks teach them what opportunities to apply for, what to write on their resumes, and what to say in their interviews.

At Firsthand, we don’t think it’s fair to employers, candidates, or the schools that educate them, that great candidates, with the right skills and motivation, should lose out because they lack access to a privileged network.

Firsthand’s mission is to democratize careers. By harnessing the collective know-how and goodwill of alumni, our aim is to give every candidate the best possible professional network.

Backed by leading VC investors

Our story

02/2005

"Tell them you have firsthand manufacturing experience”

That was the interview advice a college mentor gave our founder Fredrik when he asked: “How do I make my summers working on the floor of a meatpacking plant seem relevant to investment banking?” Fredrik got the job and a lifelong appreciation for mentoring was born.
05/2010

Founded at Harvard Business School

When HBS's head of career services lamented that her 40 career coaches couldn't meet student demand, Fredrik and three classmates decided to turn their school project, of delivering career advisors on demand, into a real business. They called it Evisors.

09/2010

Launch of Evisors.com

With 250 Harvard and Wharton MBAs signed up as career advisors, we launched Evisors.com, the world’s first on demand career advisor site. We targeted job seekers directly, who paid by the hour, but universities soon started buying the service for their students.
09/2013

Launch of world’s first alumni mentoring platform

“I’d just as well do this for free, especially for students of my alma mater” said one advisor, whose sentiments echoed among the 3,000 advisors now on Evisors.com. We decided to re-engineer Evisors.com to create the world’s first alumni mentoring platform for higher ed.

05/2015

Evisors becomes Firsthand

Sales of our alumni mentoring platform quickly outpaced those of Evisors.com. We decided the company needed a new name to reflect our focus on building mentoring technology rather than selling mentoring hours. We decided to call the company Firsthand.
11/2017

Launch of the Alumni Networking and Mentoring Platform

Recognizing our role in connecting and strengthening communities, we released the biggest ever update to our platform. Mentoring was still at our core, but we added numerous new ways for students and alumni to connect including video chat, events, and job postings.