Finding a trustworthy local service provider is way too hard. Asking friends and family might net you a recommendation for a babysitter, but if you need a good Hungarian tutor, you could be out of luck. And even when a consumer does identify a service provider, the interaction isn't straightforward: there is no simple way of comparing their prices,schedules, or reputations.

Amazon and eBay have moved the buying and selling of products fully online--and in the process, made these transactions much more transparent--but local services are largely isolated in the physical word: service providers still advertise with flyers on telephone poles! Even where services have moved online, the marketplace is paltry and highly fragmented. Thumbtack will fill this void by creating an online marketplace for local services of all kinds.

Thumbtack is a trusted online marketplace for local services, from handymen and cleaners to tutors and errand-runners. For service providers,Thumbtack offers a virtual home, verifiable reputation, transaction support, appointment management, and marketing tools. For consumers,Thumbtack provides a central marketplace to easily find, compare, and purchase local services.

Thumbtack.com is currently in alpha but will be launching into beta later this year.

According to the Department of Labor Consumer Expenditure Survey, the local service market is greater than $500 billion.

Thumbtack has three primary revenue streams from this gigantic market:

1. We provide marketing tools to service providers that allow them to find and recruit new customers. These tools include products such as business cards, doorhanger printing and delivery, and customer relationship management.
   
2. Service providers may also access identity verification tools which verify identity, residence, licensing, and screen a number of state and national criminal databases. 
3. Finally, Thumbtack will facilitate the transaction by providing online booking and payment tools and will eventually earn revenue from a small transaction fee. However, transactions will remain free for early users.

There are a few ways to find local service providers today, but they are all limited in important ways:

• Word of mouth is of course the most time-tested method for finding a local service provider. But while your friends might know a local babysitter or handyman, what if you are looking for a babysitter who can also teach your child Chinese, or a handyman who specializes in your specific project? More importantly, word of mouth allows for no way to compare price, quality, or calendar availability. Finally, if you have recently moved to a new area - and your social network has been disrupted - word of mouth breaks down entirely. Thumbtack allows you to find a myriad of great service providers that are outside your social network, and additionally allows you to compare these providers in a number of important ways that are not possible by word of mouth alone.
  
• Craigslist has a deep and active network but is very poorly suited for services. Craigslist is primarily designed for the one-time exchange of goods; it doesn't make sense for a service provider to re-post their information every few days. If you are a guitar instructor today, you still are next week! Most importantly though, Craigslist is not trustworthy. It has been designed to be anonymous and there is no way to verify someone's identity or reputation. Thumbtack solves the first limitation by giving service providers their own permanent webpage where they can upload photos and videos and even choose their own URL. Thumbtack solves the issue of trust by offering a powerful combination of identity and reputation tools.
• AngiesList offers a large database of service provider reviews. But that's it. The transaction must happen entirely off line, and if you don't find what you're looking for on AngiesList there is no way to leave a wanted ad so service providers can contact you. Thumbtack facilitates the transaction as well, and also helps a consumer find a service provider even if they are not listed in the database.
• Finally, there are a number of narrow verticals which have had some success in childcare (SitterCity), home repair (ServiceMagic), and virtual services (oDesk and eLance). These verticals are limited to their narrow niches, and leave large swaths of the service marketplace un-served. Like eBay the local service space has many characteristics of a natural monopoly, and there is no reason for there to be dozens of verticals serving narrow niches. Just as there are not a dozen eBays, we believe there is a need for a broad marketplace to serve a significant portion of the local service space.

MarcoZappacosta, Co-Founder & CEO

• Prior to Thumbtack, Marco worked for Students for Saving Social Security, a non-profit student advocacy group in Washington, DC that represented the student voice in the Social Security debate with over 10,000 student members on over 300 campus chapters nationwide.
• While studying Political Science and Neuroscience at Columbia University, he and two friends hatched the vision for an innovative local services marketplace which eventually became Thumbtack.com.

JeremyTunnell, Lead Developer

• Prior to Thumbtack, Jeremy was Director of Web Operations for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributers and prior to that was Director of Technology for Students for Saving Social Security.
• While working in DC, Jeremy also developed Rostr, a suite of software to manage membership, web content, communication, and information in a small to medium organization.
• Jeremy received his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

Our patent submitted January 2009 is currently pending.

The patent protects our innovative search technology which cross-seeds the marketplace by using a matching engine to turn searches into wanted ads and wanted ads into searches.

The idea for this patent was sparked when we realized that a search and a wanted ad are primarily different in their time horizon. If you search for a specific service and are unsuccessful, that information should be converted into a wanted ad so that your search can become permanent rather than one-time look-up.

• Meliza Solan October 08, 2009

  Nice video pitch :-)
• Gregory Bail October 06, 2009

  I'll definitely check out your service, but with an eye for friendly UI. This space is getting crowded with different types of startups. How will you compete?
• Bambi Francisco October 01, 2009

  Great video pitch. It would have been nice to get a quick 10 seconds on how the company plans to make money. Here's one positive testimonial: I went on the site to find a piano teacher that gives lessons at home in my area. Thumbtack gave me some of the better results I've found. And, I've been looking all over the Web at a bunch of services to find a piano teacher. So, nice job Thumbtack.
• Kim Holland September 28, 2009

  People like me need companies like Thumbtack!
• Simon Ruspent September 28, 2009

  Thumbtack's idea of building a strong link between service providers and potential clients is a great example of innovation and improvement.
• Audrey Meyer September 28, 2009

  Currently one satisfied client of this trustworthy company. Thumbtack is one of the best so far!
• Brian Palmhood September 28, 2009

  A great way to find work and service at the same time!
• Erick Clairemonde September 28, 2009

  I can see Thumbtack helping freelancers like me find more jobs and customers in the future. Way to go Thumbtack!