Urbanlinker founder Jonathan Azoulay launches "TalentClub," an online tech talent auctionhouse

If there’s one thing the internet is good at doing, it’s disrupting traditional businesses. When Breaz.io launched last August with a model similar to hired.com in the US, providing a curated selection of 10 engineers each week that recruiters could ‘bid’ on, I began to wonder how this would affect the bottom line of France’s top tech recruiters: Mobiskill, Urbanlinker, Altaide, EdgarPeople, etc. (PS: all of them, and 70 startups, will be at Paris Startup Job Fair on March 28th).
Well, the biggest sign that Breaz might have gotten to their telephone-oriented counterparts is this: Rude Baguette has learned that a new site, Talent.io (formerly TalentClub), which popped up on our radar and looked similar to Breaz, is actually operated in party by Urbanlinker founder Jonathan Azoulay.

The website, although very new (don’t go looking for a Facebook page or a Twitter handle), claims 200+ happy customers – these, of course, are likely to refer to Urbanlinker’s existing clients. In the above email clipping, which Rude Baguette acquired from a confidential source, we see Azoulay communicating with Edouard Tiem, who is, according to LinkedIn, in charge of “Talent,” which provides a Top 10 list of Engineers whom recruiters can bid on, similar to Breaz or Hired.com.
Most interestingly in this situation is that TalentClub’s website, as well as Tiem’s profile, make it explicit that TalentClub is not “a headhunter,” which they describe as being slow and requiring many interviews and phone calls.
Is this a sign that the age-old headhunter model is changing? Not necessarily. Likely, headhunters, especially established players who have built up a solid base of clients and work, are looking to stay in front of any changes that might occur.
The real question today is: does the top tech talent want to be put up on an auction block? The testimonials on these sites certainly seem to suggest so.