Strategy & Live Prototypes
The Moat
Not a generic feed. We own verified identity, trusted neighbor endorsements, and strong commercial intent in the context of neighborhood needs.
The Tension
Adding ad slots is the obvious way to lift yield, but it taxes the feed. Add user value, improve ad quality and relevance, and yield will increase.
The community is the one asset we cannot rebuild. The mandate: monetize the graph without spending it.
Pillar 1
More revenue per impression, no new ad slots.
Pillar 2
High-margin Pro Subscriptions and data, beyond advertising.
6 interactive prototypes · click to explore
Q&A Recap
The five questions from the session, with the answers.
How do you engage Pros who rarely open the app?
CPMs vs. subscriptions: how do you price?
How does Watch & Browse raise revenue?
What happens when paid Pros do bad work?
Can the map events prototype work without the map?
Q&A Recap · Question 1
They asked: "How do you engage Pros who rarely open the app?"
SMBs don't browse apps. Local operators work in the field, not on their phones. In-app discovery won't drive upgrades, so reach them on the off-platform channels they use, by stated preference.
High Urgency
Immediate intent alerts. Highest open rate, highest cost.
"3 neighbors in Culver City need HVAC quotes right now."
Rich Data
Weekly digests. Low cost, room for detailed metrics.
"4 jobs near you went to a competitor this week."
Low Friction
App-installed baseline. Zero cost, but easily ignored.
"You received a new local endorsement. Tap to view."
Consent is the constraint, not an afterthought. Every channel is opt-in: express written consent for SMS at profile claim, channel by stated preference, one-tap opt-out (TCPA / CAN-SPAM). The alerts reflect real demand, actual open projects and leads nearby, not manufactured scarcity.
Q&A Recap · Question 2
They asked: "CPMs vs. subscriptions: how do you price?"
Plumbers, Tutors, Landscapers
Local pros are not media buyers. Bidding CPMs is friction. A flat subscription is predictable.
The $99/mo math · illustrative:
3 intent leads → 1 closed job → $500 average ticket.
One closed job covers 5 months of the subscription.
Illustrative blend. Payback still clears at lower close rates once repeat work is counted.
Dealerships, ISPs, Real Estate
Mid-market brands have sales floors to feed. Passive organic intent is not enough volume. They run an active push model.
The Core Ads / CPL model:
Watch & Browse video units drive demand.
Premium CPL/CPM, since they have the CRM to handle volume.
Q&A Recap · Question 3
They asked: "How does Watch & Browse raise revenue?"
Neutral
Impressions & Clicks
Positive
Conversion Rate (CVR)
Higher
Pricing Power (eCPM)
Tapping an ad today opens a slow web view that lowers conversion. Low CVR pushes advertisers to bid lower CPMs to hold their target cost per acquisition (CPA).
Hold impressions and clicks flat. Willingness to pay per click tracks the value per click, which tracks conversion rate. A ~20% lift in post-click CVR makes each click worth ~20% more, so the auction clears a ~20% higher eCPM at the same advertiser ROI, with no new ad load.
That is the ceiling. Real capture is partial and ramps as advertisers re-bid against the improved performance.
Q&A Recap · Question 4
They asked: "What happens when paid Pros do bad work?"
Rankings in intent search and sponsored placement are dynamic. Pros with high dispute rates, unanswered messages, or flagged behavior are suppressed programmatically.
Signal capture: response time, completion rate, neighbor flagging, endorsement flow.
Suppression is transparent and appealable. A bad Pro's subscription is refunded rather than left to erode trust.
Q&A Recap · Question 5
They asked: "Can the map events prototype work without the map?"
If groups or events gain traction organically, users do not need to be forced into a separate map view to discover them.
The map is one surface; the feed remains the primary distribution channel.
A flexible carousel unit in the feed handles both organic traction and sponsored placements. It surfaces trending local events and groups natively.
A seamless way to shift feed traffic to other valuable surfaces.
Appendix · Sizing the Subscription
$99 is a ceiling, not a floor. The number comes from data and from what survives churn.
Set the range from data
Output: a per-vertical band, then price-test inside it.
~$25–50 solo operators. Up to ~$99 where lead density is high.
The math: ceiling vs. what survives
≈ $60M ceiling
50,000 subscriptions × $99/mo × 12
Assumptions · to validate with data
~45–60% claim to paid · ~55–70% retained · blended price < $99
≈ $10–25M
Realistic net-new ARR · illustrative
8-in-10 retention is too optimistic without high DAU. Retention is the variable, not the headline.
Retention tracks lead flow. Return-to-app rate tracks the number of active leads delivered per Pro. Too few leads and the subscription churns. Against Thumbtack and Angi the difference is intent depth, not volume: fewer leads, higher conversion, less time per closed job. Lower time per lead is what sustains renewals.
Appendix · Sizing the Opportunity
Three inputs set where a Core Ads bet pays off.
Input 1
How much traffic flows through it.
Input 2
How much attention and intent the surface carries.
Input 3
Whether the lever is CTR (demand) or CVR (post-click).
In practice: rank by traffic
Start where the traffic is. Spend the optimization budget on the highest-traffic surfaces first.
The advertiser-value equation
On those surfaces, improve impression to conversion and lower CPA. Higher conversion at the same spend raises willingness to pay. Yield without new ad load.
Appendix · Sizing the Opportunity
Two engines, two ways to size them.
See subscription sizing slide
Anchor the band to each vertical's marketing budget, then price-test the floor within it. A micro-SMB and a regional brand value a subscription differently.
Test how many delivered leads justify $25, $50, or $99.
Data licensing
No new feed inventory. Sizing is the value of the verified graph as deterministic match data, licensed into third-party media planning.
High-margin data licensing. The asset is the audiences themselves.
Appendix · Tradeoffs
Add a native placement and let demand decide when to reduce the affiliate. No forced cutover.
A newsfeed Discovery unit, an endorsement-ranked carousel of recommended local Pros, runs as net-new inventory in the existing feed.
Additive, not a teardown. It gives Pros more discovery and a clean read on native intent.
Affiliate remains the backstop on its current Hire-a-Pro surface for low-density queries, so neighbors keep a full result set and the revenue continues during the test.
Nothing is switched off on day one.
The read: measure native conversion and Pro-supply liquidity surface by surface. Where native clears, reduce the affiliate and capture full transaction margin, closed-loop data, and trust. A reversible path to removal, earned by the data.
Appendix · Resource Strategy
A near-term tilt, not a permanent rule. Over-index on the proven engine while it carries revenue certainty, then rebalance toward New Bets as Pro retention proves out.
70%
Weight the team toward post-click optimizations like Watch & Browse. Ad load is constrained and feed trust is fragile, so yield comes from existing inventory.
The Mandate
Capture conversion value already leaking from today's funnel. A one-time step-change in yield, not a perpetual growth engine. No net-new ad load.
30%
Price the Pro subscription to match the convenience it provides. SMBs pay to stop scrolling the feed for leads.
The Mandate
Build the durable growth engine: recurring Pro revenue and B2B utility, separate from feed impressions.
Appendix · Prioritization
Projects optimize for two out of three: time, revenue potential, or execution cost.
Low execution cost. Uses existing surfaces and data. Warm Start feeds the subscription funnel.
Requires testing pricing, retention, and lead density before scaling.
High data engineering lift, legal scoping, and counterparty readiness.
Appendix · Outcomes