Announcing Pollen's Official Launch

Self employment should be accessible to all

We’re thrilled to announce that Pollen has raised $4M in funding from ANIMO VC, Founder Collective, XYZ Venture Capital, Precursor Ventures, and a wonderful group of angels.

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Pollen is the professional membership service that powers independent careers.

At Pollen, we believe that self employment should be accessible to all. Pollen is the membership that powers your independent career, providing freelancers access to quality business advice and a powerful network of peers and mentors to help you grow your business. Today, Pollen is excited to end our private beta and become available to all. If you or someone you know is looking to power their independent career, sign up at www.runpollen.com

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Pollen was started because of my personal experience both as a freelancer as well as supporting entrepreneurs around the world. When I was considering leaving the safety and security of traditional jobs for full-time self-employment, I went in search of the things I saw being so essential to entrepreneurial success from my time at Kiva, MasterClass, and Bungalow; access to quality business advice and a supportive network of peers and mentors. But as a freelancer, I was met with scams, snake oil, and SEO.

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It became clear to me that nothing out there was taking my independent career as seriously as I was, and I would have to rely on soulless SEO articles, Twitter takes, LinkedIn clickbait, and spam-filled Slack groups for my professional development.

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This is the experience for the 60 million Americans that freelanced in 2022, and the 2/3 of Gen-Z and Millennials that want to work for themselves. The average freelancer spends eight hours a week Googling for answers, 2/3 suffer from self-doubt or isolation, and 90% wish their education better prepared them. As a result, freelancers leave 20-30% of potential income on the table.

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Nobody is going to business school to pursue self employment. The SBA isn’t set up to support independent careers. Society is rapidly breaking the traditional job paradigm in favor of custom-made careers, and our system has no adequate offering to support independents, until now.

Introducing Pollen

We enable freelancers to build lucrative and sustainable independent careers. The moment you join Pollen, you instantly get access to the entire platform that enables you to:

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Access expert mentors: Over 20 mentors are active on Pollen, answering questions on demand, hosting events, and developing exclusive content.

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Make progress: Access 30+ playbooks and templates made by seasoned freelancers, because the best information can’t be Googled.

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Build your network: Meet peers and mentors through industry groups, regular events, tactical workshops, and authentic discussions that tackle issues freelancers deal with daily.

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Get more clients: Find quality job opportunities through 2x weekly drops, access exclusive referrals, and connect with a network of potential collaborators.

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Make and save money: Not only will Pollen help members get clients, but they also get access to over $100,000 worth of discounts to freelancer tools.

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Mentors’ skillsets span from branding, pitching, to finance and more, and include names like Austin Church, Wudan Yan, and Ashley Simpo. They’re the real deal, not snake oil salespeople.

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The network builds collective wisdom and meaningful relationships. Our members have found collaborators, exchanged referrals, brainstormed solutions for each other, given feedback on work, and more. It’s free of the spam that dominates most Slack groups and the self-promotion that populates LinkedIn.

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Our members see real impact on their business

Being a member of Pollen has directly resulted in new high-quality and well-paying clients. Pollen has given me the courage to go after household name publications, making my portfolio even more legitimate. The Pollen team actively sources and makes warm introductions for their members, which makes a huge difference. Alongside that, they've made a very intentional online space that gives me energy and doesn't bog me down.” - Rachel C.

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I joined Pollen when I was turning my side business into my full time job, and the network has been instrumental in pricing my services, launching my book, and preparing for big public speaking moments. Becoming a Pollen member has unlocked more in my business and myself than I could ever imagine. - Melissa V.

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I’m 3 years in and these playbooks help me understand my business in a different way, and the community is filled with people that help me validate strategies, exchange feedback, and feel supported. - Dylan M

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Pollen enables every phase of your independent career, from getting your first client to launching a newsletter, diversifying your revenue streams and beyond. We’re available on demand at any time — no cohort program required — because we know this path is nothing but linear.

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