# RISEUP AT WORK LLC Building Career Infrastructure for Intentional Growth at Work - Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/riseupatwork - Entity ID: wefunder:company:189230 - Last updated: 2026-06-04T13:30:10Z - Generated at: 2026-06-04T18:56:05Z ## Quick facts - Focused on career growth after hiring, not job search or recruitment prep - Addresses a $30B+ post-hiring career growth market - Built on 20+ years of coaching experience and frameworks used by 1,500+ professionals - Career infrastructure, not just content: strategy, accountability, and measurable outcomes - AI-enabled tools to scale guidance without replacing the human layer - Subscription model with coaching and institutional expansion over time - Scholarship program expanding access for first-generation professionals and underserved communities ## Active fundraises - wefunder:fundraise:150945: 4(a)(6) successful (USD) - wefunder:fundraise:150944: 4(a)(6) open (USD) ## Story 1. THE PROBLEMPlenty of Tools to Get Hired. Almost None to Succeed Once You're InYou learned how to get hired, and the system helped you do it: the resume, the interview, the search. What comes after, you are on your own. There is no playbook for promotions, compensation, or a manager who is not invested in your growth, and the structure that carried you to the offer disappears the moment you walk in the door.This is not a one-time gap. It returns at every job and every stage: the first role, the stall a few years in, the next promotion, the difficult manager, the decision to stay or move. Each transition resets you to zero, with no system that remembers where you have been or guides where you go next.The environment is shifting further. AI is changing what gets measured at work. Output is now easy to generate, so what moves you forward is harder to fake: reading situations clearly, building influence deliberately, and making better calls over time. And no platform is built to help with any of it.2. CAREER DECISIONS COMPOUNDWhy Getting the Everyday Career Decisions Right Matters More Than Any Single MoveTwo people, the same talent. What separates them is rarely effort. It is the decisions made along the way:When to push for a promotionHow to handle a difficult managerWhether to stay or moveHow to position yourself when no one is looking out for youThose decisions come up early, often, and almost nobody makes them with a framework.Made well, they compound quietly: a better-timed conversation, a move made from clarity instead of frustration, a negotiation that reflects your real value. Made poorly, they compound too: a year in the wrong role, a reactive job change, an avoidable stall.Five years in, the difference is noticeable. Ten years in, it is substantial.We call this Return on Clarity: the advantage that builds when you consistently make better decisions over time. That is what RISEUP is built to deliver.3. THE SOLUTIONOne System for the Whole Career, not a Tool for One MomentRISEUP is a career operating system for professionals after they enter the workforce, built to stay with them across the full arc of their career. It combines proprietary career diagnostics, human coaching, AI-powered tools, and a peer community into a single integrated system.It is organized around RISEUP's proprietary Three Career Stages framework: Launch, Foundation, and Dividend. RISEUP enters where the need is sharpest, the professional stalling two to eight years in, when reactive decisions cost the most, and the promotion, compensation, manager, and stay-or-move calls pile up. From there, it grows with the user, through the leadership transitions and compensation negotiations that no existing platform supports.Unlike tools that reset every time you use them, RISEUP builds a cumulative picture of each user. Every Career Diagnostic, AI tool interaction, voice journal entry, and coaching session adds to it. Over time, RISEUP knows how a professional thinks, decides, and operates better than any mentor, manager, or general-purpose AI ever will. The knowledge compounds. So do the outcomes.This is a software platform with a coaching layer, not a coaching practice with a software wrapper.4. HOW THE PRODUCT WORKSComponents Working in Harmony. One Integrated System.Career Diagnostics: A structured read on your strengths, gaps, and patterns across communication, leadership, and positioning.Guided Programs: Career strategy turned into steps you can use at work this week.Positioning and Interview Tools: Articulate your value and prepare for opportunities before they arrive.Reflection and Journaling: Capture real situations as they happen and turn them into self-awareness.Coaching Layer: Human support for the highest-stakes decisions, a promotion push, or a compensation negotiation.Peer Groups: Small cohorts for accountability and honest perspective.The components are not a menu. Diagnostics sharpen the programs, journaling informs the coaching, and peer groups reinforce what the platform surfaces. The integration is the point, because careers don't break in one place at a time.And it compounds. The longer you use RISEUP, the more it knows you: patterns surface, blind spots become visible, and decisions get made with real context behind them. That is what separates RISEUP from a box of standalone tools. It does not reset. It builds.5. WHY NOWTwo Things are ConvergingThe gap has always been there. LinkedIn built a massive business organizing professional identity. BetterUp built a strong one, selling coaching to employers. Between them, tens of millions of professionals in the first fifteen years of their careers have been trying to grow with no system for it.Now the ground is shifting. AI is changing what gets measured at work. Output is easy to generate, so effort, hours, and presence no longer signal performance the way they once did. Early-career roles are thinning, and the path from entry to experienced is less defined than it has ever been.What moves you forward now is harder to automate and harder to teach yourself:Judgment in unclear situationsPositioning yourself before opportunities are announcedBuilding trust and influence deliberatelyMaking better decisions, consistently, over timeFew people build these without structure, and until now, no platform has been built to develop them. That is the gap RISEUP closes.6. TRACTIONWhat we can Credibly Point to TodayWe’re early, but there is a real signal:985+ early adopters shaping the product1,500+ professionals coached over timeRISEUP@work TV show launched on NowMedia TV4 published books behind the methodologyAn audience of 32k on LinkedIn; 8k on the NewsletterThis is not starting from scratch. The foundation is already in place.6. Market: Large Umbrella, Clear WedgeA Wide-open Middle, Between Getting Hired and Making itThe career development market is roughly $30B globally, and most of it sits at the edges. Job search platforms serve people trying to get in. Executive coaching serves leaders who have already made it. The middle, professionals in the first fifteen years of their careers actively trying to grow, is underserved, fragmented, and has no category leader.That is the gap RISEUP is built for. We hold the space between, with four capabilities no adjacent platform combines, and our wedge is specific: post-hiring career growth.The market is large, the segment is the fastest-growing in professional development, and the category still has no leader. The opportunity is wide open.7. Business ModelBuilt so Revenue Rises with the Careers it ServesRISEUP is a subscription-led business built for recurring revenue that grows with each user over time.Revenue tiers:Subscription (foundation): diagnostics, guided programs, tools, and communityCoaching (amplifier): group cohorts and 1:1 sessions for high-stakes decisions, at a higher marginAI tools (expansion): embedded tools that speed progress and deepen each user's profileEnterprise and B2B licensing: beginning early 2027, with the pace set by the capital raisedAs careers progress, needs deepen. Promotions, leadership transitions, and compensation negotiations move users into higher-value tiers, thereby increasing revenue per user without incurring any new acquisition costs.Conservative projections (from the 48-month model):FY2027: 1,824 paying users | ~$171KFY2028: 6,285 paying users | ~$647KFY2029: 17,285 paying users | ~$1.88MFY2030: 25,871 paying users | ~$3.59MForward-looking projections are not guaranteed. These figures represent directional modeling based on current assumptions.8. PRODUCT ROADMAPRevenue First, Then DefensibilityRevenue comes first, capital is deployed only after each stage is proven, and defensibility builds as it scales.Phase 1, Monetize the MVP: Prove demand and willingness to pay on proven platforms, generating real revenue and usage data before heavy spend.Phase 2, Embedded AI: Add the Interview Trainer, Resume Builder, and Voice Journal to build the behavioral data layer that powers personalization at scale.Phase 3, Proprietary Platform: This is what the raise unlocks. RISEUP moves to its own stack and owns the orchestration, the data, and the user experience. Defensibility is built here.Phase 4, Scale and Enterprise: Enterprise licensing and B2B, beginning early 2027, with the pace set by the capital raised.9. THE MOATWhy RISEUP Is Hard to ReplicateDefensible not because it is expensive to build, but because it compounds the longer it runs.Four layers, each feeding the next, none of them for sale.The deepest moat is time.10. HOW WE ACQUIRE USERSDistribution is Built on Trust and Earned Reach, not Paid Acquisition.Primary channels:RISEUP@work TV show on NowMedia TV (launched March 18, 2026): mass-reach content engine reaching professionals at the exact moment they start questioning whether their career is on the right trackLinkedIn: 32K followers, 8K+ newsletter subscribers, active content ecosystem built over the years4 Amazon Category Best Selling books and an active podcast: a credibility foundation that drives inbound interest and establishes the framework before a prospect ever sees the platformAffiliate and partner relationships: coaches, creators, and communities already serving the same audienceRegional cohorts: English-speaking markets as the initial focus, with global expansion built into the modelPartnerships and LOIs are in active discussion and treated as pilots until terms are confirmed.11. IMPACT SCHOLARSHIPSScholarships That Scale with the BusinessRISEUP ties access directly to growth: A portion of campaign perks funds scholarships for individuals who lack access to high-quality career infrastructure.Scholarship perk structure: (example structure):$500 = 1 scholarship for 5 years (named recipient)$1,000 = 2 scholarships for 5 years$5,000 = 10 scholarships for 5 years$10,000 = 20 scholarships for 5 years12. USE OF FUNDSFunds will be used to build and scale the core platform, strengthen the coaching layer, and grow a high-quality user base.Product & Platform DevelopmentContinue building the platform experience, including core features and AI-supported tools such as the Interview Trainer, Resume Builder, and Voice Journal. Focus is on improving usability, personalization, and measurable career outcomes.Engineering & Data InfrastructureDevelop the underlying systems that support personalization and long-term user context. This includes data architecture, integrations, and the infrastructure needed to support a growing user base while maintaining performance and security.Coaching InfrastructureExpand and standardize the coaching layer through structured programs, cohort models, and a growing network of certified coaches. The goal is to deliver consistent quality while scaling access.Growth & DistributionInvest in content, partnerships, and targeted distribution channels that bring in motivated users. This includes expanding the existing content ecosystem, affiliate relationships, and community-driven growth.Scholarship ProgramProvide access to individuals who would benefit from structured career support but may not be able to afford it. Scholarships scale alongside the business and extend reach into high-potential communities.Operations, Compliance & AnalyticsSupport reporting, performance tracking, and operational systems required to run the business effectively and maintain transparency with stakeholders.AdministrativeWefunder feePayrollSupport the core team responsible for product development, operations, and execution.13. CLOSINGRISEUP is Building the Infrastructure the Workforce was Never Given.The gap in career support is not a personal shortcoming. It is systemic, and it compounds silently across millions of careers, decade after decade, shaping earnings, well-being, and potential in ways that are hard to reverse.The founder spent 34 years as a senior leader inside Fortune 100 organizations, including Sun Microsystems, HP, and Capgemini, across four countries. Alongside that, he ran a doctoral inquiry into why careers stall and built a 13-year ICF-certified coaching practice across 1,500 relationships. Every framework, methodology, and diagnostic from that practice is encoded into the platform.The knowledge scales. The outcomes no longer depend on any single individual.wefunder.com/riseupatworkdeepak@riseupatwork.comcalendly.com/bhootra/investors ## FAQ 1. **What makes RISEUP defensible beyond features and tools?** - What makes RISEUP defensible beyond features and tools? RISEUP is defensible because it is a system built on proprietary intellectual property, not a collection of replaceable features. - Four interconnected books form the core intellectual foundation of the platform, defining a coherent career philosophy, shared language, and structured methodology - RISEUP: Your Career Reclaimed is being published as a six-volume series with a special international edition, creating modular, scalable IP tha... 2. **Why am I seeing an error when trying to fund my reservation?** - If you see a message like “There was an error processing your request. Please try again.”, this is usually not a payment or bank error. In most cases, this happens because Wefunder has not yet confirmed your allowable investment limit under U.S. Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). What’s actually happening behind the scenes: -Your investment reservation is valid -Wefunder temporarily blocks the transaction when: - Your investor limits haven’t been reviewed or updated yet, or - Your intended inv... 3. **Why did Product10X decide to be the Lead Investor with RISEUP?** - Product10x invested in RISEUP because it addresses a gap no one is solving. What happens after you get the job? Most career platforms focus on job hunting or executive coaching. But the 8 to 15 years in the middle, where promotions, compensation decisions, and role transitions shape lifetime earnings, are largely unsupported. Talented professionals plateau not due to a lack of ability, but due to a lack of systems. RISEUP is building a structured career infrastructure to support growth after ... 4. **How is RISEUP different from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI prompts that can answer career questions?** - This is a great question. Tools like ChatGPT or Gemini can certainly provide useful answers. But they rely entirely on the prompt you give them. Every time you ask a question, you need to explain your context from scratch. Who you are, where you are in your career, what you are trying to achieve, and what constraints you are dealing with. The quality of the answer depends heavily on how well that context is described. RISEUP approaches the problem differently. The platform already understands... 5. **I know young professionals at top firms who would never pay for outside career help. Why would anyone use RISEUP?** - We hear this often. And we understand it completely. Here is what we have found in over 30 years of working directly with professionals at every career stage. Those who say they would never seek outside help are usually the ones already doing so. Just not calling it that. They are the ones texting a trusted colleague at 10 pm before a difficult conversation. Reading articles about how to handle a passive-aggressive manager. Replaying a meeting in their head for days because something felt off... ## Team - Dr. Deepak Bhootra (Founder & CEO) - Dennis Zebregs (Founding Engineer) - Pranay Bhootra (Strategic Advisor) ## Recent posts - Made the Final 60 at Gammarama 2026, and the Lesson Wasn't on My Slides (2026-06-04T13:13:29Z) - The Apprenticeship Bridge Is Burning (2026-06-01T14:00:00Z) - Eight Minutes on Deal Insider: A Fast Showcase Conversation (2026-05-28T14:00:00Z) - Your Performance Review Is an Autopsy. Your Career Needs a Diagnostic. (2026-05-26T13:00:00Z) - The Power Skills Moat (2026-05-21T13:00:00Z) - Six Workplace Truths. Six Reasons RISEUP@work Exists. (2026-05-18T14:00:00Z) - The 37 Percent Bet: (2026-05-17T22:41:11Z) - Investor Preview: Inside the Early RISEUP AI Infrastructure Build (2026-05-08T14:00:00Z) - Recent Conversation on the Career Gap AI Just Made Bigger (2026-05-07T14:00:00Z) - Why Kodeful Just Bet on Us with Their Own Engineering Capacity (2026-05-04T14:00:00Z) - Investor Q&A Replay: Platform, Roadap, and What Comes Next (2026-05-01T02:50:26Z) - Live Investor Q&A - Going live soon! (2026-04-29T14:13:29Z) - Join Us: Live Investor Q&A on April 29 (2026-04-17T13:00:00Z) - Recent Conversations on Systems, AI, and Career Growth (2026-04-14T19:49:29Z) - Why We Launched RISEUP@work TV Show (2026-04-06T14:02:32Z) ## Q&A - Q: Why did Product10X decide to be the Lead Investor with RISEUP? - A: Product10x invested in RISEUP because it addresses a gap no one is solving. What happens after you get the job? Most career platforms focus on job hunting or executive coaching. But the 8 to 15 years in the middle, where promotions, compensation decisions, and role transitions shape lifetime earnings, are largely unsupported. Talented professionals plateau not due to a lack of ability, but due to a lack of systems. RISEUP is building a structured career infrastructure to support growth after hire. Not content. A system. Product10x backed RISEUP for three core reasons: 1. Systems thinking. An integrated platform combining structured frameworks, peer accountability, and AI decision tools. 2. Human-centered AI. Technology that enhances judgment and clarity rather than replacing it. 3. Disciplined sequencing. Revenue validation first, infrastructure ownership later, reducing risk while building defensibility. The roadmap prioritizes monetization and behavioral insight before heavy AI investment. As engagement and data mature, proprietary orchestration and intelligence layers follow. Five years from now, structured career development may be as common as networking. RISEUP is building that infrastructure. Read the full investment memo here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CrmOvmJuZq8NcHGjlUUdYjCznMVUUccu/view?usp=sharing - Q: Why am I seeing an error when trying to fund my reservation? - A: If you see a message like “There was an error processing your request. Please try again.”, this is usually not a payment or bank error. In most cases, this happens because Wefunder has not yet confirmed your allowable investment limit under U.S. Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF). What’s actually happening behind the scenes: -Your investment reservation is valid -Wefunder temporarily blocks the transaction when: - Your investor limits haven’t been reviewed or updated yet, or - Your intended investment amount exceeds your current Reg CF limit The system may show a generic “error” even though no funds were charged This is a platform compliance check, not a failure. How to fix it (takes ~1 minute): Update or confirm your investor limits here: 👉 https://wefunder.com/settings/investor_limits Once your limits are updated, you can return and complete the investment without issue. How investment limits work (more details): 👉 https://help.wefunder.com/investing/how-much-can-i-invest Important notes: Most investors are non-accredited and are subject to annual limits Many accounts default to a $2,500 cap until disclosures are updated These limits apply across all Reg CF investments, not just RISEUP Accredited investors are not subject to these caps No money is withdrawn unless and until everything is confirmed If you’re ever unsure, Wefunder support can quickly confirm your status. - Q: How is RISEUP different from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI prompts that can answer career questions? - A: This is a great question. Tools like ChatGPT or Gemini can certainly provide useful answers. But they rely entirely on the prompt you give them. Every time you ask a question, you need to explain your context from scratch. Who you are, where you are in your career, what you are trying to achieve, and what constraints you are dealing with. The quality of the answer depends heavily on how well that context is described. RISEUP approaches the problem differently. The platform already understands the professional using it. It integrates career diagnostics, reflection work, coaching insights, and structured frameworks that describe where someone is in their career journey. Because that context already exists in the system, the guidance is not generic. It is structured around the RISEUP framework and tailored to the individual professional. So, the difference is not simply AI. The difference is the system that surrounds it. Dennis Zebregs, the founding engineer, has a more detailed view and explanation here: https://wefunder.com/riseupatwork/feed/275759-beyond-the-prompt-why-riseup-s-ai-brain-is-the-ultimate-career-operating-system - Q: What makes RISEUP defensible beyond features and tools? - A: What makes RISEUP defensible beyond features and tools? RISEUP is defensible because it is a system built on proprietary intellectual property, not a collection of replaceable features. - Four interconnected books form the core intellectual foundation of the platform, defining a coherent career philosophy, shared language, and structured methodology - RISEUP: Your Career Reclaimed is being published as a six-volume series with a special international edition, creating modular, scalable IP that supports global adoption and long-term expansion - The books directly power the platform, coaching models, and AI tools, ensuring all components operate from a unified framework rather than generic career advice - More than 88 supporting videos break complex concepts into simple, repeatable learning blocks, increasing comprehension, retention, and consistent outcomes across markets - AI tools are trained on RISEUP’s proprietary frameworks, allowing personalization at scale without losing philosophical integrity or quality control - The shared language and system design create high switching costs, as users invest in a coherent way of thinking and operating rather than isolated tools - Published IP establishes credibility, trust, and long-term defensibility that competitors focused only on features cannot easily replicate In short, features can be copied, but a coherent, trusted career system built on published intellectual property and integrated delivery cannot. - Q: What is the exit plan (acquisition, IPO, merger, etc.) in which investors will be able to see a ROI? - A: We are raising funds through a convertible instrument. At this stage, projecting a specific exit is not something we can do responsibly. RISEUP has the potential to become a very large company over the next several years. Across our conversations with potential customers and partners, we have consistently seen a strong need for what we are building. We operate in the career development space, adjacent to platforms such as LinkedIn, Coursera, and BetterUp. Our initial strategy is to build adoption, behavioral data, and community engagement in the underserved segment that sits between job search tools and enterprise coaching. Over time, as the platform matures, this creates a natural path where larger platforms in this space may view RISEUP as a strategic acquisition opportunity. Concurrently, we expect to raise a priced equity round, which will increase the value of early investors' convertible notes. - Q: I know young professionals at top firms who would never pay for outside career help. Why would anyone use RISEUP? - A: We hear this often. And we understand it completely. Here is what we have found in over 30 years of working directly with professionals at every career stage. Those who say they would never seek outside help are usually the ones already doing so. Just not calling it that. They are the ones texting a trusted colleague at 10 pm before a difficult conversation. Reading articles about how to handle a passive-aggressive manager. Replaying a meeting in their head for days because something felt off and they cannot name it. Processing a promotion that went sideways with a friend who is just as confused as they are. That is career guidance. It is just scattered, unverified, and impossible to build on. I have sat across from hundreds of these professionals. Capable. Driven. Doing well by every visible measure. And quietly making decisions that are costing them years of compounding, not because they lack ability, but because no one ever gave them a framework for navigating the environment they are actually in. The professionals most likely to use RISEUP are not the ones who feel lost. They are the ones already driven enough to want an edge. The ones who, when they discover that a structured system exists for what they have been doing informally all along, immediately ask why no one built this sooner. We have 600 early adopters, and we are working with 60 of them in depth through structured interviews to understand how they operate and how we can adapt to serve them better. - Q: Isn’t your media ecosystem a distraction? Is this a serious venture or a personal brand play? Why not focus purely on product execution? - A: This is a fair question, and the distinction comes down to whether media is activity or infrastructure. In our case, it is infrastructure. RISEUP is an IP-led platform built on proprietary frameworks codified across four published books, along with courses, guides, and coaching systems. In businesses like this, the core asset is not just software. It is **trusted intellectual property**. And for IP-led platforms, distribution, credibility, and narrative adoption are fundamental to value creation. Our media ecosystem is how that trust is built and scaled. Today, this includes 32,000+ LinkedIn followers, 8,000+ newsletter subscribers, RISEUP@work as an owned media channel, a growing 6k YouTube audience, and consistent appearances on relevant podcasts as a guest. Each of these is intentional. It expands reach into targeted audiences while reinforcing a single message. From an investor's perspective, this delivers three advantages. First, efficient acquisition. We are building owned and earned distribution rather than relying on paid channels with rising CAC. Second, pre-conversion trust and clarity. Users repeatedly engage with our thinking before entering the product. This builds confidence that this team understands the problem space deeply. As seen in our conversations, users engage when they believe the problem is understood, not when features are presented. Third, defensibility. When users adopt the frameworks before using the product, switching costs increase. This is not just usage. It is belief and alignment. This is not a personal brand strategy. It is a deliberate system for scaling reach, building trust, and converting with greater efficiency.