Here's the idea: make finding high-quality, relevant professionals way easier than it is now.
I moved to Washington, DC from Chicago in 2006. My finance, Kate, and I didn't really know anyone in DC. We had recently sold our Chicago home and were looking for a place to live in DC.
We started looking through real estate agent profiles to find the right one for us. The process was rather overwhelming. This was pre-Zillow reviews, and in general, agent rating sites were fragmented and inconclusive. Ultimately, we just picked a local brokerage and started looking at the agent bios on their site. We spent days reading through the profiles figuring out which agents worked in which neighborhoods. We probably read the profiles of several hundred agents and ultimately we settled on the one guy we thought would be the best for us and reached out.
That agent we picked said, "Thanks, but I'm not interested. Here's my colleague---use him instead." We were so frustrated and tired from our efforts that we conceded defeat and went with the guy that he suggested. We had a fine experience with that agent and ended up with a great place. But I couldn't help but be frustrated by all the work I put in with an undesired outcome.
Fast forward to now.
I've been working in professional services for over a decade. My wife left her job to pursue her dream of becoming a real estate agent. I've recognized quite a bit was happening in the background of that original interaction that didn't know.
First, I understand more clearly that lots of people can help you get where you're going. But, even if you get there, you may not enjoy the journey. For me, this was an agent that felt pushy and unwilling to listen to my concerns. If multiple people can get me where I want to go, I'd like to work with the one that I also like working with.
Second, the original agent probably wasn't interested in serving customers at my price point. That's fine. I understand as a business person sometimes you make trade offs to focus on your higher value customers. I don't mind that at all. However, I want you to be upfront about that, so I don't waste my time looking through hundreds of profiles only to find half of them weren't going to help me in the first place. Furthermore, agents themselves aren't allowed to tell you they don't work in your price range by law.
So here's the idea: I'm creating a place where people can go to effortless find the people they're looking for. Professionals consultants and trusted advisers that share similar interests as their clients. Matching the right agent with the right client will just make for a better all around experience for both sides. That's what we're going to try to do and we're going to try to make it really easy for everyone to do that.