By Autumn Manning, CEO and co-founder

HATCH pitch was an amazing opportunity for us to not only prepare for a high-pressure pitch so we nailed our key messages, but also to walk away with some actionable feedback and recognition. We were voted audience favorite, and took advantage of the perks offered to finalists including a radio interview and additional media exposure. The best part, though, was making sure we were thinking about the true differentiators in our business and this space considering all the great ideas we were up against.

Shortly after HATCH, we finalized and announced a seed round of funding that was picked up in the Wall Street Journal, among other publications. We’ve grown our customer base by roughly 200% and expanded our product significantly to keep pushing the envelope on employee engagement. Growth in both customers and revenue has helped to validate our business model and position within our space.

Here are a few press mentions:

• http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2014/05/14/youearnedit-raises-1-5m-to-help-companies-create-culture-of-recognition/
• http://www.fastcompany.com/3039762/how-i-get-it-done/a-creative-new-way-to-encourage-employees-and-support-causes-at-the-same-t
• http://culture.fool.com/portfolio/employee-recognition-company-benefits/
• http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/maria-shriver/apps-i-live-digital-royalty-founder-amy-jo-martin-n118461

Advice I would offer to HATCH pitch 2015 finalists: Define your key differentiators (and make sure they are really differentiators to the market), ideal market size, and unique value proposition prior to the pitch. Take note of the judges' feedback and use it to refine your pitch and business model as you move forward.

YouEarnedIt continues to grow rapidly and as we start 2015 we're in discussions with potential partners for external financing. We’re scaling quickly and continue to hone in our operations to make 2015 our breakout year. We've realized that our approach, software, values and vision are unique within our space and resonate with companies that realize an engaged workforce is the key to strong performance and true differentiation as they compete in the marketplace.

This year, we’re hosting a session at SXSW that will feature lots of our customers and their innovative work practices geared towards engaging top talent. Please feel free to stop by and see a former HATCH finalist in action!

Here's the link to our session: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2015/events/event_IAP36470