Vizzy founder: How badly do you want this?

Jess Woodward-Jones is the co-founder of Vizzy, a recruitment platform that works with hiring businesses to look beyond CVs.

In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Woodward-Jones discusses why building a successful business will always be hard no matter how good the idea is, the transformational power of effective note keeping and the problems with AI recruitment.

What advice would you give to a first-time founder?

I would ask any first-time founder: “How badly do you want this?”. No matter how good your idea is, creating something from nothing is hard. Are you ready to make sacrifices, and do you have the relentless passion and energy to make it work? My co-founders (Joe and Chris) and I absolutely love what we do – we are all in. But we’ve had to cancel holidays and miss gatherings, and there will always be a few sleepless nights. I joke that Vizzy is like my third child – but it’s true, and she’s the most demanding!

What’s the best way to promote diversity in the workplace?

Make your company accessible and inclusive from the beginning – and that doesn’t start on their day one; it has to start in the hiring process. The application process has been unchanged for decades and remains an inflexible gatekeeper for certain groups of people, including those who are neurodivergent. The traditional hiring process that includes a CV submission is ultimately flawed and means that growing teams are missing out on top talent and all the benefits that come from having a diverse workforce.

Do you have a productivity hack?

I’ve got much better at note-taking. I used to have piles of notepads everywhere, but I’ve now created a system where I store my notes digitally after every call with a client or a prospect. My call isn’t over unless I’ve logged my notes; it’s a hard rule I’ve set for myself. When I have follow-up calls, these detailed notes not only help me deliver better service for clients but also help me navigate calls and meetings with greater focus. I’m no longer searching frantically through my many notepads trying to find that one piece of detail I can’t remember!

Excluding your own, what’s a sector that’s ripe for disruption?

My friend is a neurosurgeon at Imperial, and he and his colleagues are doing some incredible things that will disrupt the med-tech world. They are bringing mixed reality in to transform the way patients and clinicians interact with medical imaging technology. For example, using augmented reality to help patients literally see and better understand their diagnosis and next steps. This tech will also help surgeons and their teams rehearse and prepare for theatre – anytime, anywhere. The scope to train, practice, and share knowledge and skills with fellow medics across the world is a very exciting prospect.

What’s the most misunderstood technology?

The use of AI in hiring has become commonplace. Although many teams are using it to drive efficiency and help with the first pass at sifting through CVs, it’s problematic, in my view, to have AI filtering candidates and potentially perpetuating bias – rejecting top talent with limiting data at the first hurdle. The author, Hilke Schellmann, puts it well in her book, arguing that the biggest risk is not machines taking workers’ positions, as is often feared, but rather preventing people from getting a role at all.

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