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Cofounder of thumbtack here. I think you misunderstand our business model. We don't hire anybody; we're just a marketplace. A request comes in, we connect it wi

by jeremyt 11y ago

Cofounder of thumbtack here. I think you misunderstand our business model. We don't hire anybody; we're just a marketplace. A request comes in, we connect it with qualified professionals, and then they bid directly on the job. At no time have we gone out and hired "MBA students or aspiring actors" to fill our provider directory. From day one all of our providers were actually working in their industry prior to signing up with us. Further, I would say that we don't have the same quality problem that Homejoy does. If you submit a request on our site, you'll get a choice between several providers at different price points and quality points. You choose the provider. Poor providers will get low ratings and will either have to lower their prices or exit the system.

mbesto 11y ago
Fair enough, thanks for clarifying. I'm having a hard time finding the article but I believe a FastCo/Wired/etc (one of those sites) did a longform article about how many of those type of workers (students, actors, etc) existed on Thumbtack, which was further backed up by someone who had interviewed with you. That was the basis for my conclusion. Out of curiosity, given you're a marketplace how do you handle reoccurring work then? Or do you focus entirely on net new business?
- jeremyt 11y ago
  Interesting. I haven't seen the article, but if it says what you say it does then I think they've got it wrong. To be clear, I'm not saying that an MBA student or an aspiring artist can't decide to start a home cleaning business and sign up with our service. I'm no longer with the company, but I will say that the entire time that I was there, at no point was our business model based on recruiting/training unexperienced people to fill our verticals. In fact, our biggest worry was getting enough high-quality experienced providers. I'm not privy to future plans, but currently any recurring work is just an added benefit to our service providers.

by jeremyt 11y ago

mbesto 11y ago

Fair enough, thanks for clarifying. I'm having a hard time finding the article but I believe a FastCo/Wired/etc (one of those sites) did a longform article about how many of those type of workers (students, actors, etc) existed on Thumbtack, which was further backed up by someone who had interviewed with you. That was the basis for my conclusion. Out of curiosity, given you're a marketplace how do you handle reoccurring work then? Or do you focus entirely on net new business?

jeremyt 11y ago
Interesting. I haven't seen the article, but if it says what you say it does then I think they've got it wrong. To be clear, I'm not saying that an MBA student or an aspiring artist can't decide to start a home cleaning business and sign up with our service. I'm no longer with the company, but I will say that the entire time that I was there, at no point was our business model based on recruiting/training unexperienced people to fill our verticals. In fact, our biggest worry was getting enough high-quality experienced providers. I'm not privy to future plans, but currently any recurring work is just an added benefit to our service providers.