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Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

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Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#41

Post by shostack »

tcbawo wrote: post #31
smnscu wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Holy shit, this. If I could get a contractor or a remodeling project like I would an Uber, with a reputation and history system, I'd choose it in a heartbeat, even at a premium. I wonder how they deal with people bypassing the system to avoid their fees (e.g. AirBnb).

This is notoriously hard to do, if not impossible. Every home project is unique, where unknown and unforeseen issues arise all the time. Plus, like many service companies, they have turnover and a growth arc which makes them a moving target. I've used Angie's list before, which was valuable, but with ultimately mixed results. They seem to promote a model of getting good quality, but where price varies from inflated t…

Everything you stated is true, but just points to how much value there would be to unlock for a company that could crack this nut.

But most of the attempts refuse to take on any liability for themselves, and half the reason to use such a company would be accountability and reduction of personal risk.

For the various home projects I've done before, it always feels like such a gamble with a ridiculous amount of information asymmetry, although thankfully the internet has made great strides in fixing that part of the equation.

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#42

Post by wavefunction »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #36

Huh. I just realized I didn't really know what Houzz was. Not even sure if I still do. As an interior design enthusiast, I come across Houzz all the time. It's one of my least favourite sites in that regard, after Pinterest. The problem for me is that it mostly serves to obscure. It's full of pictures of furniture and other design objects that are usually impossible to source -- just like Pinterest, which itself is o…

It's aspirational renovations. Their target audience is those that aspire to the images they're shown.

I admit I'm partially susceptible to this siren's song but in realizing that this is a staged picture of many of a curated ideal then I feel more comfortable with reality.

They got professional lighting!!!

I have to rely on the sun and whatever nonsense the previous owners put into my place which at this point is a fair amount until I get around to changing it.

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#43

Post by wavefunction »

smnscu wrote: post #25
owenversteeg wrote: post #19

Houzz is one of a few bigger unicorns that I actually believe has a chance in the long run. First of all, it doesn't depend on being sexy or trendy like a social network, so there's no reason why the business will fail eventually. People almost certainly won't be using Snapchat in 50 years, but they will be buying houses. Additionally, houses are an absolutely massive market. Housing is the largest expense of most pe…

Holy shit, this. If I could get a contractor or a remodeling project like I would an Uber, with a reputation and history system, I'd choose it in a heartbeat, even at a premium. I wonder how they deal with people bypassing the system to avoid their fees (e.g. AirBnb).

If you're in the Austin area please let me recommend my friends' startup Quick Residential Rescue[0]

Some great gentlemen who realized that for skilled-tradesman, the real bottle-neck is lead generation. And more importantly, they respect and treat their partners and customers with the utmost of care and regard.

UT picked them up for a major "refreshment" of thousands of units of campus housing and they've completed some stunning work in the short-term-rental market here in Austin with investment properties.

The last time I talked to one of my friends over there, they were focused on the short-term-rental/AirBnB reworks of investment properties as it was lucrative and exploding.

They've only experienced organic growth from what I know which is really remarkable considering their success so far. I'd love to see them meet up with a formidable equity partner and see what they could do at an even larger scale...

[0]https://www.yelp.com/biz/quick-residential-rescue-austin-2

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#44

Post by TimeToFly »

jianshen wrote: post #13

Shameless plug since I rarely see us mentioned on HN: We're hiring for a large range of engineering roles including some more specialized positions in research (writing classifier models and machine learning operations) and 3d (computer vision, photogrammetry, rendering). There's a lot more behind the scenes than just pretty pictures. http://houzz.com/jobs and mention HN

So, will you comment back, or you just wanted to get some free ad?

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#45

Post by ziikutv »

blairbeckwith wrote: post #33
ziikutv wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow I'm sorry to hear this. I am not applying anymore thanks for saving me time.

Why would you allow one anecdote from five years ago stop you?

Because one is enough. It tells about their hiring practices does it not?

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#46

Post by ben174 »

ziikutv wrote: post #23
ben174 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hah, I had a phone interview scheduled with you guys like five years ago and the phone call never came in. I was a bit crushed :-P

Wow I'm sorry to hear this. I am not applying anymore thanks for saving me time.

A testimony from some random internet stranger tilts your judgement of such a huge life decision as a career change?

How can you be sure my story is accurate? For all you know I might have given them the wrong number or some other error on my part.

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#48

Post by CardenB »

ziikutv wrote: post #45
blairbeckwith wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you allow one anecdote from five years ago stop you?

Because one is enough. It tells about their hiring practices does it not?

Hiring practices change drastically in five years. Not sure if srs

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#49

Post by jnicholasp »

wavefunction wrote: post #42
lobster_johnson wrote: post #36

Huh. I just realized I didn't really know what Houzz was. Not even sure if I still do. As an interior design enthusiast, I come across Houzz all the time. It's one of my least favourite sites in that regard, after Pinterest. The problem for me is that it mostly serves to obscure. It's full of pictures of furniture and other design objects that are usually impossible to source -- just like Pinterest, which itself is o…

It's aspirational renovations. Their target audience is those that aspire to the images they're shown. I admit I'm partially susceptible to this siren's song but in realizing that this is a staged picture of many of a curated ideal then I feel more comfortable with reality. They got professional lighting!!! I have to rely on the sun and whatever nonsense the previous owners put into my place which at this point is a…

I don't know if you've done any home wiring, but in case you haven't and it seems like something you'd have to hire an electrician for, it really isn't. Swapping light fixtures, at least, is super easy, and so are things like installing dimmer switches. You can make a big difference in your home's lighting in a couple hours, and Google and Youtube can answer any questions you might have.

Just a vote of confidence from somebody who cares about not having shitty lighting at home :)

Re: Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

#50

Post by dirtyaura »

jarjoura wrote: post #27

Houzz is interesting because all the photos are of homes with limitless budgets. So you have to set your expectations of your remodel, or just enjoy dreaming big if that's your cup of tea. They're all gorgeous though and they do an amazing job of classifying them. A+ Filters! Still, I find their professional market section to be a extremely frustrating and they will need to figure out how to scale that down market if…

>Houzz is interesting because all the photos are of homes with limitless budgets.

I don't think this is true. There are tons of Ikea kitchens in Houzz. We got a lot of inspiration from Houzz when renovating our apartment. I really like that it has a mix of high-end and Ikea, because many times those high-end ideas can be implemented with cheaper alternatives.

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