Maybe it was meant to be…

Today is a very special day for me. In precisely 6 minutes, the Recruiter.com announcement will hit the news wire. This will probably be a very big talking point in the industry. But none of that matters, because at the precise moment that the world learns about the Recruiter.com merger, half way  around the world, a mother is expecting a call from her son. Today is my mom’s birthday – and this will in fact be the real event for me. There are more important things in life.

But one has to wonder about the eerie coincidence though. Perhaps there are supernatural forces at play. I’d like to think so.

A close friend of mine gave me a nice bottle of Moet a few months back. I’ve been meaning to open it, but have been waiting for the right occasion. Today is the day. Cheers. Prost. Kampai. Skal. Sante. Those are the only ways I know how to toast.

Wow, Recruiter.com has been quite a ride. I was living in Montreal when I started tracking that domain – I was, at the time, furiously acquiring premium names in virtually every vertical. I believed in their value, and still do today. It took me a year to close on Recruiter.com – it wasn’t an easy thing, but I was persistent. Maybe it was timing too, as these things often are. The previous owner, Arthur Young, is in my mind the true visionary. He’s someone that I respect dearly, and is a person of great integrity. It felt as if Arthur was trusting me with this name, and knew that I could take it to the next level. “This will always be my baby”, he said to me.

So I made a decision early on. I will either turn Recruiter.com into a global brand, or die trying. I owe it to Arthur. I knew that the HR/recruiting industry is arguably the most complex and sophisticated one out there. To make my vision of the brand come true, I would need help.

About 5 years ago, I put together a pretty solid business plan. I had many good ideas. I begged many to join me, but everyone declined. Risk taking isn’t for everyone I suppose. This false start took a year out of my life. I recall reading a post about a certain Jason Davis at Recruiting.com, circa 2006. I sent him an email asking if he’d be interested in doing a venture with me around Recruiter.com – but I never heard back from him. Turns out, Jason wasn’t ignoring me – he never received the email. Recruiter.com had to wait.

Then came a certain Mike Ramer, whom I’ve gotten to know better in the past year. Mike is a great thought leader, and said to me one day “I’m going to put you in touch with this guy Jason, who is well known in my industry. You guys should talk.” I said “sure”, not knowing that it was the very same Jason Davis that I once tried to track down.

Jason introduced me to Miles Jennings. Within 5 minutes, I knew that Miles was the right partner for Recruiter.com. It just felt good. There’s something about being in the company of someone who is as equally brilliant as they are personable. Miles and I chatted for hours. Hours then turned into days. Days turned into weeks.

And then, the new Recruiter.com was born. Now, this is our baby. Happy birthday mom.