This Week in Startups E1010: TWiST Live! Thumbtack CEO & Co-founder Marco Zappacosta shares insights on pivoting to optimize for consumer experience, starting a company during the great recession vs. 2019, fundraising tips & the future of Thumbtack
Dec 17, 2019
In this engaging discussion, Marco Zappacosta, CEO and co-founder of Thumbtack, shares his journey of launching the marketplace just before the Great Recession. He reflects on the stark contrasts of running a startup in 2010 versus 2019 and provides insights on optimizing consumer experience. Marco highlights essential fundraising tips, emphasizing the importance of quality investors. He also discusses the gig economy's impact on employment and how Thumbtack is navigating the scarcity of trade workers, all while growing into a multi-million dollar business.
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Thumbtack's Early Product
- Thumbtack's initial product was a request-for-quote engine, which worked but had scalability issues.
- Pros couldn't handle the volume of requests, leading to insufficient customer options.
Supply-Side Contentment vs. Customer Experience
- Pros were content with the initial system as it allowed them to cherry-pick jobs.
- However, this limited customer options and hindered a consistently positive experience.
Automating for Scalability
- Automate processes to improve efficiency and scalability.
- Have service providers define their ideal customer upfront instead of reacting to individual requests.