INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
You probably don&t know how much it should cost to get your home windows washed, yard landscaped or countertops replaced
The startup pairs you with a home improvement concierge familiar with all the vendors, prices and common screwups that plague these jobs
Setter finds the best contractors across handiwork, plumbing, electrical, carpentry and more
It researches options, negotiates a bulk rate and, with its added markup, you pay a competitive price with none of the hassle.
One of the
most reliable startup investing strategies is looking at where people spend a ton of money but hate the experience
That makes home improvement a prime target for disruption, and attracted a $10 million Series A round for Setter co-led by Sequoia Capital
&The main issue is that contractors and homeowners speak different languages,& Setter co-founder and CEO Guillaume Laliberté tells
me,&which results in unclear scopes of work, frustrated homeowners who don&t know enough to set up the contractors for success, and
frustrated contractors who have to come back multiple times.&
Setter is now available in Toronto and San Francisco, with seven-plus jobs
booked per customer per year costing an average of over $500 each, with 70 percent repeat customers
With the fresh cash, it can grow into a household name in those cities, expand to new markets and hire up to build new products for clients
and contractors.
I askedLaliberté why he cared to start Setter, and he told me &because human lives are made better when you can make
essential human activities invisible.& Growing up, his mom wouldn&t let him buy video games or watch TV so he taught himself to code his own
games and build his own toys
&I&d saved money to fix consoles and resell them, make beautiful foam swords for real live-action games, buy and resell headphones —
anything that people around me wanted really!& he recalls, teaching him the value of taking the work out of other people lives.
Meanwhile,
his co-founderDavid Steckel was building high-end homes for the wealthy when he discovered they often had ‘home managers& that everyone
would want but couldn&t afford
What if a startup let multiple homeowners share a manager Laliberté says Steckeldescribes it as &I kid you not, the clouds parted, rays of
sunlight began to shine through and angels started to sing.&Four days after getting the pitch from Steckel, Laliberté was moving to Toronto
to co-found Setter.
Users fire up the app, browse a list of common services, get connected to a concierge over chat and tell them about
their home maintenance needs while sending photos if necessary
The concierge then scours the best vendors and communicates the job in detail so things get done right the first time, on time
They come back in a few minutes with either a full price quote, or a diagnostic quote that gets refined after an in-home visit
Customers can schedule visits through the app, and stay in touchwith their concierge to make sure everything is completed to their
specifications.
The follow-through is what sets Setter apart from directory-style services like Yelp or Thumbtack
&Other companies either take your request and assign it to the next available contractor or simply share a list of available contractors and
you need to complete everything yourself,& a Setter spokesperson tells me
They might start the job quicker, but you don&t always get exactly what you want.Everyone in the space will have to compete to source the
best pros.
Though potentially less scalable than Thumbtack leaner approach, Setter is hoping for better retention as customers shift off of
the Yellow Pages and random web searches
Thumbtack rocketed to a $1.2 billion valuation and had raised $273 million by 2015, some from Sequoia (presenting a curious potential
That same ascent may have lined up the investors behind Setter&s$2 million seed round fromSequoia, Hustle Fund and Avichal Garg last year
Today $10 million Series A also includedHustle Fund and Maple VC.
The toughest challenge for Setter will be changing the status quo for how
people shop for home improvement away from ruthless bargain hunting
It will have to educate users about the pitfalls and potential long-term costs of getting slapdash service
IfLaliberté wants to fulfill his childhood mission, he&ll have to figure out how to make homeowners value satisfaction over the lowest
