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Houzz raising $400M at $4B valuation

techcrunch.com

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

#61

Post by mi100hael »

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).

Doesn't Angie's List already basically do that? I'm getting a fence right now and it's been easy to send a quick message to a few contractors and schedule estimates.

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

#64

Post by ziikutv »

CardenB wrote: post #48
ziikutv wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

Fair point. I generally think edge cases are still a good indicator. How do you treat those not worthy than those who are. I bet they just hired someone else so did not bother following up.

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

#65

Post by pg_bot »

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).

Just hire Homepolish if you want an interior designer to help you remodel your space. Best kept secret in the startup world. https://homepolish.com/

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

#68

Post by stevesearer »

jasode wrote: post #57
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 full of pictures of furniture and other design objects that are usually impossible to source -- just like Pinterest, [...] It's so hard to source design. I get your frustration but keep in mind that you're running up against the intended ethos of the Houzz website. - Pinterest photos are mostly about "things" and a social network of sharing "collections". - Houzz design photos are about "professionals" -- even…

I run an office design website and have a bit of experience with this type of thing.

Often architecture and design firms aren't interested in answering questions about products on Houzz because the people asking for the information will almost certainly never be a client of theirs. Plus depending on the size of firm, they aren't staffed to sit around answering questions from random people online.

In addition, it is often the case that the products used in custom homes or projects can't be sourced and purchased easily online which makes it difficult to earn any sort of affiliate revenue. This is likely why many photos on Houzz show similar products but not the exact product.

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

#69

Post by cm2012 »

prklmn wrote: post #40
askafriend wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying this with knowledge of Houzz's financials and growth numbers or are you just randomly saying things to say them? Would love to hear why you think the bubble is all to real.

Here's why the bubble is all too real. Let's compare Houzz to another company in the housing space with a $4 billion valuation that's not swept up in the tech bubble, US Gypsum. Last year USG, a company that has survived for 116 years, made about $400 million in profit. That's not make believe non-GAAP BS, that's actually profit. I'm not privy to the intimate details about Houzz's financials, however I'd be surprised…

Houzz probably has 100s of millions in profit per year right now.
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