# Commissary Club/70M Resources

1st social network for 70M Americans w/criminal records.


## Elevator pitch
1-in-3 Americans has some kind of criminal record. We believe the time has come to build a product that unites them. Introducing Commissary Club--the first social network for the 70 million Americans with criminal records. Part social (with the connective tissue of a Facebook), part content (news, music, videos) and part e-commerce (specially curated goods and services, including housing, classes, mentorships, employment, medical and legal services, clothing, marijuana & much more).

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/70million.jobs
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:22344
- Last updated: 2026-06-26T05:01:00Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-27T02:59:12Z

## Quick facts
- Y Combinator 2017 alum.
- A division of very successful 70 Million Jobs, the 1st national, for-profit employment platform for people w/records
- 11 million + people (with records) in our community + 100's of community partners
- Last large population without its own social network.
- Social networks can return spectacular investment returns (FB, TWTR, SnapChat, Instagram)
- $1M+ ARR
- Investors including: Y Combinator, Founders Fund, mAc Capital, Quake Capital, Insight general partners
- 70MJ valuation has risen 10x since launch.

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:15984: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
So that people can shed the shame and the stigma within themselves, and accept themselves, and in doing assert their right to be treated as human beings...and get on with their lives. Background. In 2016, Richard Bronson launched 70 Million Jobs, the first national, for-profit employment platform for people with criminal records. Learning of the launch, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office reached out and asked Bronson to partner with the city, to help reduce unemployment and recidivism among the formerly incarcerated. Y Combinator then recruited Bronson to go through its program. Upon completion, Bronson raised VC money from the likes of Founders Fund, mAc Capital, Quake Capital, Y Combinator and Insight general partners, and began building his business in SF, later moving the team to Los Angeles.In less than three years, 70 Million Jobs succeeded in facilitating employment for thousands of deserving men and women at some of the country’s largest employers, more than any other organization has achieved, while at the same time driving $3.5 million in ARR. During the past 4 years at 70 Million Jobs, we:Found jobs for Americans with criminal records, 2500+ positions filledHad our best month to date in February 2020, booking $200,000+ in revenueReceived $1 million+ engagement from Uber (Feb. 2020)Raised $1.4M+ from key investors incl. Founders Fund; Y Combinator companyBuilt an 11M+ user community; partnered with 400+ community organizationsAnd had $3.5M projected revenue by 2020Next. The coronavirus has virtually eliminated new hiring as 40 million Americans have lost their jobs. But this event provided us with the time and bandwidth to embark on the next step in our evolution: build the first social network for the 70 million Americans with a criminal record.Introducing Commissary Club. The first social network for the 70 million Americans with criminal records. Commissary Club will offer: 1. A social network (with the connective tissue of a Facebook)PICTURE OF CC NEWS FEED WITH ENGAGEMENT (JOEL / ANASTASIA)2. Lots of content: news, music, videos, art, gamesPICTURE OF "CONTENT" SITE (BRIANA)3. An e-commerce marketplace: specially curated goods and services, including housing, classes, mentorships, employment, medical and legal services, clothing, marijuana and much more.Our advantages from Day 1. We already have 11 million folks with records in our community. We already have 450+ partnerships with every important community organization, non-profit, governmental agency, parole and probation department, correctional facility. We know every key influencer in reentry. We know how to market to this population like few others. We enjoy an excellent reputation in the space. Revenue: NEED NEW PROJECTED REVENUEMarket Opportunity: Commissary Club as a social media platform is operating in a $52.7 billion market, with projected 100 million users. It is estimated that close to 100 million Americans are either directly or indirectly involved in the criminal justice system. We plan to tap into that full market, serving not only users with a criminal record, but also their friends and family members who experience unique challenges.Exit Strategy: [I'd like to discuss with you Richard -- do we want to include this ? (We don't have it on Republic). If so, what IS our exit strategy?$1.4M in funding to date70 Million Jobs has raised over $1.4M in funding today from prominent investors, including Founder's Fund, Insight partners, MaC Venture Capital, Quake Capital, and Y Combinator. By reaching our fundraising goal of $3M, we hope to build out our team so we can enhance our platform and provide more individuals a pathway to employment.

## FAQ
1. **Is there a follow-up feedback system in place to track the sustainability/success rate of hired candidates?**
   - We try to track outcomes through both employees and employers. Data can be very incomplete, however. But our people generally do well in the job and employers are pleased with their performance. Thanks for you question
2. **Several months ago 70Million issued a SAFE with a $600,000 valuation cap. How do you justify an $8million valuation cap now?**
   - We raised at a $6 million cap (not $600k)
3. **Your SEC Form C Item 26 says the validation cap on the prior SAFE was $600,000. If this is incorrect, you should amend the Form C.**
   - Mike-Here’s the Form C filing as on the SEC site: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1716822/000167025418000126/xslC_X01/primary_doc.xml I'm not seeing the $600k valuation reference. Can you provide me with a link to what you're looking at. Thanks for your help. Richard
4. **https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1716822/000167025418000126/documents_list.htm See Item 26 in the Offering Statement**
   - Thank you for bringing this to my attention. WeFunder made an error. I'll have them contact you to confirm this. As I wrote earlier, we raised money on SAFEs immediately after YC w/a $6 million cap. Richard
5. **Hi Richard. I'm excited about this business idea and am considering investing. What's holding me back is my concern about a lack of concrete numbers. In particular, I'd like to know a) Projected sales revenue for 2018 b) Exactly how many applicants have been placed to date c) ...**
   - Hi, David-thank you for your interest and your important questions. To provide some context, we've been operational for about a year. For the first 8 months, we focused on amassing a large community of active job-seekers (we couldn't offer an honest HR solution without being able to deliver the goods). We now have more than 1 million job-seekers (with records) in our community. Armed with one side of our marketplace, we began pitching large, national employers about 4 months ago. This is a me...

## Team
- Richard Bronson (CEO)
- Seth Sundberg (VP of Marketing )
- Joel Henderson (Technical Lead)
- Briana Sparks (Editor/Community Manager)
- Adrienne Hatter (Community Outreach Manager)
- Alexandre Brown (Marketing Manager)
- Chris Wood (Software Engineer)
- Ben Swerdlow (Software Engineer)
- Julianne Martin (Marketing Associate)

## Q&A
- Q: what is happening with this investment?
- Q: Hello Richard. Is there anywhere I would be able to obtain an update on what the company has been up to?
  - A: This is the investor update I sent out 6 weeks ago:Dear, It’s been very exciting recently at 70 Million Jobs. As I told you in my last update, we were introducing a complementary new division to our job board business: staffing and recruiting (70MillionStaffing.com). We think we really nailed it! Whereas we could not screen candidates through our job board (no job board can), we now can ensure that we are referring job candidates that fit comfortably within our clients’ hiring matrix. We do all assessments (background checks, personality tests, reference checks, interviews) and make this material available to hiring managers in real time. And we can do this quicker and less expensively than most companies can do for themselves. In the first week of rolling out these options (either serving as a staffing firm or a direct-to-perm recruitment firm), we generated more than $100k in new business. Based upon the very early response, I’ve revised upward my revenue 2019 revenue projection to $1.5-$2.0 million This traction has generated a great deal of investor interest. I’ve just begun reaching out to new investors, and there’s interest from more than 35, so far. I’m raising an additional $2 million as a seed-plus round, on top of the $1 million seed round previously raised. I’m continuing to raise through SAFEs, with a $8 million cap (versus the previous $6 million), again, with no discount. This money will be used to build out our sales team, add recruiters and developers. If you have interest in this round—or know others that may—please notify me. I’ve attached a copy of our investor deck; please share as you see fit. I expect to be profitable soon. We currently have ~$200,000 in the bank. Our monthly burn rate is ~$50,000. To date, we have facilitated employment for more than 2,000 deserving men and women—more than any other organization of any kind has done, over a relatively short period of time. You may be reading about developments in the reentry space. It’s somewhat surreal when Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, Meek Mill and the Koch Brothers are mentioned in the same sentence, but I take good news where I get it. I will be a speaker in a few weeks at SHRM’s (Society for Human Resource Management) annual convention in Las Vegas, speaking about fair-chance hiring. We are very much a part of the national discourse. I’m very excited by our prospects and by the impact we’re having. Thank you for your continued support. Richard
- Q: This platform is a great opportunity for fresh graduates and other unemployed persons, HBL Jobs 2019 available on our website.
- Q: I wish I could invest, but I live paycheck to paycheck. However, I wanted to wish you the best. As an ex convict myself (I served 21 years... from age 19 until I was 40) behind medium and maximum security walls in Oklahoma. I would love to help in any way I can, lending support to your plateform. You can check out my LinkedIn profile here: www.linkedin.com/in/douglasshaffer2013. I have "made it" but not without struggle and not without support. I understand first hand the difficulty of getting a job... a GOOD job. I have wanted to start such an endeavor myself. If I can help in any way, please let me know. Douglas Shaffer 405-760-0431 doug.shaffer@outlook.com doug@d1disposal.com
- Q: An inspiring idea and something I’m passionate about. A few Q’s I have: - Is the revenue model purely from corporations, and how does that work? Are they paying a service fee to you to posts jobs, or being paid per placement? Are they paying a subscription for a platform you’re building, or more as a service company? - Related to the q above, if your service is inherently being a ‘recruiter’, are there employment agency licenses you’ll need, etc? - Data shows that 80% of people are rearrested within 5 years. To play devils advocate: doesn’t that technically mean whether or not someone gets a job, they still have an 80% chance of being rearrested? For example, during the first 5 years out of jail the actual job they can land is demotivating/ not fulfilling / and sends them back to crime. I guess what I’m getting at is: Is there a way your company can find meaningful jobs for people, and is there a long term (5 years) strategy for their career? - Do you have a financial breakdown of the revenue streams, I’ve read through your pitch deck and it’s fairly vague at the moment. I routinely build startups in Asia, (3 related to hr recruitment), am co-founder of a VC that invests in early stage startups, and run a digital agency and development company. Looking forward to replies! Tai
  - A: Hi, Tai-nice to meet you. Our revenue model is identical to most popular job boards: companies pay us to advertise their jobs. With a few large employers, we also employ a recruiter model (companies pay us if/when they hire a referral). In our capacity, there are no licenses.What you've omitted regarding your recidivism stat is that more than 90% of those arrested within 5 years (there's a nearly 2/3 rate of rearrest within 3 years) will be unemployed at time of arrest. People with jobs rarely recidivate.If you have additional question regarding projections and if, in fact, you're have potential interest as an investor, I'd suggest we set up a call to discuss. Thanks for your interest. Richard
- Q: Clearly many people are looking for 'numbers' in the area of outcomes. Do you have a plan in place to incentivize placement /retention feedback from employers?
  - A: Hi, Darly-thank you for your very insightful question. Indeed, it's nearly impossible for job boards to provide honest metrics regarding jobs placed and attendant retention. Aside from the time and resource demands that such a study would require (and we are optimized first to land jobs for our users, who desperately need them), our users (folks with criminal records) are notoriously averse to sharing status updates (they prefer remaining out of sight). We do get a lot of feedback from our employer clients, but because most of the jobs we feature are for lower paying opportunities, company hiring managers place far less importance in them than, say, for mid- to upper-level personnel. But anecdotally, they uniformly report a general satisfaction in both the performance of our applicants, as well as retention rates. Indeed, recent studies have shown that a) people with records often emerge as an employer's best hires, compared with co-workers with no record; and b) they are retained 12% longer than their co-workers. I hope that addresses your questions. Richard
- Q: Richard, My ex-husband(now good friend) has been incarcerated for 25 years. His sentence was commuted by the Governor in April and he goes to the board for the first time this Thursday. An opportunity for a job, is already a fear of his. I have also known many many individuals who have been released and have seen the struggles they face seeking employment. Particularly, I am reminded of one person, who had a lot of confidence/clout inside but after his release told me "I don't even know how to fill out an application at the gas station". He was embarrassed and ashamed by this. I absolutely love what you are doing. That being said I do have a few questions: 1. In the video - when talking about scaling things up you state that you are getting people jobs, and everytime you do you get a recruitment fee. You mention elsewhere in an answer that you get a recruiting fee from a number of clients. Elsewhere you also state clients pay a fee to post jobs. 2. You also state you get thousands of jobs from a variety of different job boards. 3. In some responses you compare yourself to other job boards in another you are different because your user base isn't equipped to handle a typical job board. I am with the other posters with regard to numbers for tracking and placement. If you are getting a recruitment fee, "everytime" or even "from a limited number of companies" isn't this at least a certain number of people who have been placed? What is your system for tracking outcomes? If you are trying to track these numbers, what are those results and why do you think they are incomplete? Perhaps, you could follow-up when jobs are filled and ask the question? When you say you get thousands of jobs from a variety of different job boards, how do you know that these companies are willing to hire those with criminal records? Do you only pull from companies that you have already been in contact with? What are you doing that is different from any other job board? As one poster said what is to stop any of these other boards from adding a filter, or from word getting around about what companies hire previously incarcerated individuals and having them apply directly. Best, Danielle
  - A: Hi Danielle-thanks for your questions. Are you asking as a potential investor or as a concerned citizen/friend? Plz respond at Richard@70MillionJobs.com
- Q: Congrats on meeting your minimum funding goal! How much longer is the crowdfunding campaign going to go on for and what’s the next step once you’ve secured the funds?
  - A: Hi, Steve-thanks for your question and congratulations. I believe our crowdfunding campaign will continue until October. In addition to the funds we're raising on WeFunder, we are a VC- and angel-funded company. Our goal is to help as many deserving men and women find jobs as possible; unemployment within this population strongly correlates to recidivism, while employment is the silver bullet. Longer term, we believe we'll be able to market a wide range of goods and services to this vast population that no one markets to. Can I ask you the nature of your interest? Richard
- Q: How does your company make money?
  - A: Hi, Jennifer-companies pay us to post ads on our job board (like they do on Indeed.com, Zip Recruiter, Glassdoor, etc.) We also collect recruiting fees from a limited number of companies, who pay us for each referred candidate they hire. Richard
- Q: I am interested in providing advertising and marketing muscle in return for equity. Let's talk.
  - A: HI, Rick-please connect at Richard@70MillionJobs.com. Please tell me what you have in mind, and provide some personal background. Thanks
- Q: What is your plan for a downturn in the economy and an increase in unemployment, which could occur in the next few years (or at any time)? Do you think surviving in that world would be more challenging, if employers are less likely to hire those with criminal backgrounds?
  - A: We are certainly enjoying the historically low unemployment levels in the country, which has left corporate America with millions of unfilled jobs--many of which can be filled by our users. But good times seldom last, as you point out. Staffing companies very much experience a dip in business during recessions; typically, they (as would we) then focus more on temporary/part-time/flex-time staffing, to address their clients' needs during downturns. Additionally, I would pare back expenses considerably through lay-offs (personnel being our largest expense), stay liquid, and hopefully ride out the storm.
- Q: Do you consider yourself a software company? I noticed that you only have one software developer who is also acting in a CTO role. How much will software play into your "moat" and uniqueness as a company? Could another site, like indeed, simply add this as a filter/micro-feature on their site in the future, harming your model?
  - A: 1. We are testing out the potential of having non-employee, stay-at-home salespeople sell ads to small, local businesses. I operate this company leanly, and try never to build out capacity--or incur fixed costs--unless I can attribute a direct ROI. We are experimenting with this sales force and are trying to keep things simple. Inasmuch as we're offering no salary/benefits, etc, we do not expect to attract nor are we attracting top-flight sales people. We utilize our CRM (HubStop, which gave us an incredible deal, as a Y Combinator company) extensively throughout our in-house sales and marketing efforts.
- Q: In your response to David C's question (question a), you said "a) I project 2018 revenue of approx $400k".
  - A: Craig-you're absolutely right. I apologize. Our monthly expenses run $35,000, or $420,000 for the year. I expect we'll be operationally profitable within 2-3 months. Based on these projections, we'll lose $20,000 in 2018, 2019 should be a very profitable year.
- Q: Richard, what would be your margin on the $400k estimated revenue for 2018?
  - A: Thanks for reaching out, Craig. To my knowledge, we have not estimated 2018 revenue of $400k. Where did you get this figure? Richard
- Q: Hi Richard. I have read that you do not know how many people have been placed in the jobs posted on your website. This feels like a serious platform design problem. How do you prove that you are giving people jobs? At the very least, this is the kind of data you would need to lock in big employers. All the best, Adam
  - A: Hi, Adam-thanks for your question. Unfortunately, no job board is capable of determining how many people land jobs through it. Employers utilize their own ATS (applicant tracking system), which requires applicants to create an acct with them and complete their application. The app is then processed by the potential employer, who are generally unwilling to share these outcomes. And job seekers generally feel no obligation--in fact, they'd mostly resent--a company trying to ascertain their employment status. This is particularly true for our users (those w/records) who are loathe to appear on anyone's radar. We do generate anecdotal data (like site like Indeed.com, Zip Recruiter, etc), and label it as such. But you're right, of course, we'd love to know exact results. Richard