Request for Startups — August 2018
I’ve been thinking about some of these spaces and discussing them offline, but decided to flesh these ideas out in the open. I’m happy to collect feedback and thoughts.
Home Buying and Renting Templates
I recently stumbled upon an compelling new company — Northstar Money. They’ve built templates that automate procedures for various stages and points in a person’s financial life (recent grad, starting a family, etc). They’ve integrated with a host of other fintech products and platforms to not only offer a set of steps, but also act on your behalf.
I’m curious to see what a product such as this looks like in the context of home buying and renting, which both come with their own sets of complex challenges from brokerage to mortgages to insurance. For a more in-depth primer on the processes associated with home buying specifically, I would recommend A16Z Partner Angela Strange’s piece “Making Sense of Mortgages.” My hunch is there are overlapping and common steps different personas take trying to find a place to live. Here are a few examples.
- A recent grad moving into their first apartment in a big city (renter’s insurance, landlord negotiations, paying your rent, saving x% of income)
- A young family moving into their first home in the suburbs (prepare documents for mortgage, figure out what insurance needs to be in place, etc.)
- An elderly couple moving into a smaller home or retirement community (having enough cash on hand, budgeting what money is coming in, etc.)
I even could see simple checklists that can be productized over time through partner integrations with lenders, listing sites, and brokers over time. A membership model might not work well for this type of solution, so the comp with Northstar breaks down a little bit, but I believe someone could get creative about pricing.
Marketplace for Pet Grooming and Boarding
The Rover+DogVacay merger and the recent Wag raise suggest that investors are willing to put serious dollars to work in the pet industry. According to an IBISWorld report, Pet Grooming and Boarding in the U.S. was an $8B industry with 6.6% revenue growth in 2017. Additionally, market supply is highly fragmented, making this space suitable for an Internet marketplace.
There are a few companies that provide practice management software for pet grooming and boarding centers, but I think a next reasonable move is to tie that into a marketplace where consumers can book appointments for their pets (dogs, cats, etc.), make payments, and rate providers. Single player mode (where one side of the marketplace could operate on its own) is a great way to stay lean and ultimately scale customer acquisition on the demand side. The most notable example of this is OpenTable (which A16Z partner Jeff Jordan describes below), and another company to keep an eye on that uses this model is Sawyer.
On the slightly crazier side, is there even a ClassPass-like model that could come into effect here? What if you bundled local providers for walking, daycare, training, sitting, grooming, etc. and offered a tiered membership similar to ClassPass?
Willis Towers Watson 2.0
For those unfamiliar with Willis Towers Watson, it is a global risk advisory and commercial insurance brokerage firm. Their market capitalization sits around $20B and last year, they did $8B in revenue. The company, along with larger competitors like Marsh & McLennan and Aon P.L.C., helps large corporate clients manage risks across their organization. Their services often come in the form of human capital benefits delivery + administration, and commercial insurance brokerage. Here’s a breakdown of the major business functions from their 2017 10-K.
Now, there are more modern, digital-first commercial insurance brokerages appearing. The most notables ones are Embroker and Abe. I believe these players will most likely continue to service the small business market, which is smart because P&C insurance executives are increasingly talking about the importance of SMBs. Justworks is another company to keep an eye on, especially if you believe in the future of PEOs.
Will startups eventually be able to leverage their competitive advantages in data and technology to undermine or replace companies like Willis Towers Watson in the world of corporate risk management? Managing risk and brokering insurance looks a lot different for PepsiCo than for the mom and pop pizza shop on the corner. There needs to be increased innovation around customer acquisition and integration into insurers. For example, I really like what Tally is doing in the personal lending space.
The Unbrand Pharmacy
At this point, I’ve written quite extensively about direct-to-consumer healthcare, but that’s because I do believe there is some real opportunity in this space. Along similar lines to Brandless or Movebutter in home goods and grocery, what if you offered generic over-the-counter medication and health products to consumers through a private-label brand distributed over the Internet? You could offer items like cough/cold or allergy medication directly online through purchases or subscriptions. You probably won’t win solely on price (most OTC medication is pretty cheap), but perhaps the creation of a playful and fun brand can build trust with consumers.
Lightweight Programming and Slack Bots
I’m interested in ways non-technical people can leverage the power of programming to a greater extent. The recent launches of companies like Parabola and Retool demonstrate that this is a growing trend.
Slack bots can be useful tools for internal analytics and automated processes. So instead of paying for an outside service that gains access to a company’s proprietary data or bugging an engineer to build one, what if business or product people within an organization could create a Slack bot through conversational NLP with a ‘master’ Bot that issued new ones? The concept is a little abstract, but worth pursuing.
I've written a few Requests for Startups now, and I want to hear what people like about them along with what people don't like. What can be improved? What would you like to see more of? Please reach out at aashaysanghvi[at]gmail.com. 
