43. MBA & Company

Founder: Daniel Callaghan
Founded: June 2009
Website: www.mbaandco.com

Businesses need freelancers; freelancers need businesses. Daniel Callaghan launched MBA & Company to provide an online platform to help the two sides meet. What sets it apart is that the freelancers it is designed for are the crème de la crème of consultants. Small businesses are the target market – the founder recognised the difficulties smaller firms have in affording the traditional model of hiring management consultants. Freelancers are attracted by the idea of working on short-term projects with small exciting companies while either looking for full-time roles or building their own businesses.

Today the platform has hundreds of companies using it, with projects ranging from the tiny to those worth over £250,000. It has, since launch in 2009, also attracted over 10,000 freelance consultants. MBA & Company has climbed 42 places since its appearance in our 2010 Startups 100 list.