Jackson Jhin's path from college graduate to Cameo CFO at just 24 years old is, at this point, Chicago tech lore.
It was 2017, and the Notre Dame grad was on day three of his job at Chicago Ventures when he found himself trapped on the 12th floor of the Merchandise Mart when the elevators at tech incubator 1871 stopped working after hours.
Not knowing he needed to use the elevators down the hall, the 22-year-old went searching through 1871 for anyone who could help him out of the building. Also working late that night were Steven Galanis and Devon Townsend, who were tinkering away at their celebrity video shoutout startup Cameo.
Jhin, Galanis and Townsend spent the next few hours talking about Cameo, and about creating access between fans and celebrities. A couple weeks later, Chicago Ventures made a pre-seed investment in Cameo.
Jhin went from an investor in Cameo to one of its top executives in 2019 when he convinced Galanis to name him CFO. He was already spending nights and weekends helping the startup in its early days, and Galanis asked if he wanted compensation for his time.
"I was like, 'Well, actually, I would love to become your protégé. Your actual No. 2,'" Jhin said.
It took some convincing, but Galanis agreed to hire Jhin as the startup's chief financial officer. From then, Cameo went on to raise $165 million at a $1 billion valuation.
"Steven took a massive bet on me," Jhin said. "Mentorship will change your frickin’ life. There are mentors who can absolutely affect the curve of your career."
That experience of finding the right connections, discovering a mentor and being at the right place at the right time led Jhin to launch Protégé, a Chicago startup that connects up-and-coming talent with celebrities, coaches and other top experts who can provide feedback and mentorship.
Talent is everywhere, Jhin said, yet opportunity is not. Protégé helps provide a better path to learn from the best, improve your craft and even earn an opportunity to work directly with an industry titan.
"That opportunity is not afforded to everyone," Jhin said. "In my case it was luck. I got locked in an office. How much more lucky does it get? That's why we started this company."
Jhin launched Protégé alongside co-founder Mike Cruz, a Chicago tech veteran who landed an early engineering role at Trunk Club after applying to the company's Craigslist ad. He eventually became the fashion startup's VP of engineering, helping grow the firm before its ultimate acquisition by Nordstrom.
Protégé emerged from stealth this month with $8.5 million in funding from a who's who of big-name backers. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital, a top-tier Silicon Valley VC firm that rarely invests in Chicago, and TQ Ventures, a VC firm from record executive Scooter Braun, who's known for discovering Justin Bieber. Other investors include Jay Z’s Roc Nation, Lionel Richie, DJ Khaled, actor Jason Alexander, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff, Doja Cat manager Lydia Asrat and others. Galanis is also an investor in the startup.
Here's how it works: Protégé lets you send a 60-second video clip to anyone in its network of famous musicians, vocal coaches and other industry experts. The expert reviews the video and sends back a video response with feedback.
The user, who pays between $10 and $200 depending on the expert, gets valuable feedback and a personal connection with a prominent person in their field. But there's the potential for an even greater opportunity — to work directly with the star or have your work featured in one of their songs.
Protégé, which launched in private beta six months ago, helped pop star Bebe Rexha find a fresh voice to record with her on a new song. After listening to hundreds of submissions on Protégé, she picked 27-year-old Liz Lokre, who worked with Rexha in an L.A. recording studio earlier this month.
Hip-hop producer 9th Wonder used Protégé to source beats, as has Khaled. "Seinfeld" actor Alexander uses Protégé to give advice to aspiring actors who submit monologues. And Conrad Robinson, the vocal coach for Alicia Keys, gives feedback to singers.
"Those are life-changing things that people haven’t been able to previously access," said Jhin, who left Cameo last year to start Protégé.
A mix of Cameo, "The Voice" and MasterClass, Protégé's goal is to help talent get discovered and learn from top experts in ways that were previously not possible. The startup is beginning with entertainment, but it plans to expand to other art forms like painting, dance and filmmaking. Eventually, Protégé believes it can help aspiring business leaders learn from established CEOs, and help up-and-coming investors connect with top VCs.
It makes money by taking a 25% cut of each transaction. The startup has so far seen 30,000 users and 3,000 videos submitted through its platform.
Protégé currently has 14 people on its team, with plans to grow in Chicago.
"We’re bullish on Chicago," co-founder Cruz said. "There are some amazingly talented people that are still yet to be discovered. I think Chicago’s a great place to find those people."
