Welcoming Llibert Argerich, our first-ever Chief Marketing Officer.

By: Marco Zappacosta, Thumbtack’s Co-founder & CEO

Llibert Argerich recently joined Thumbtack as our first-ever Chief Marketing Officer, where he will lead the marketing, brand, and communications teams. He brings more than 20 years of experience leading global teams — having worked across the U.S., the U.K., France, Switzerland and Spain. Llibert is a growth architect who has helped some of the largest marketplace businesses on the world scale. Most recently, Llibert spent five years at Udemy. As Senior VP of Marketing, he was directly responsible for the consumer side of the business, leading expansion and growth efforts into new geographies, products and services, and strategic partnerships. Prior to Udemy, he held leadership roles at eBay and Expedia Group.

Llibert and I caught up in person at our San Francisco Library to talk about what drew him to Thumbtack and what he’s most excited about as he digs into his role.

Marco: What initially sparked your interest in joining Thumbtack?

Llibert: I remember when we first met, we got to talking, and a few things really stood out to me. One is that I make it a point to try to work for mission-based companies. At Udemy, it was improving lives through learning. At eBay, we were helping sellers build their businesses and reach a global audience. And at Thumbtack, you have something very similar: you’re helping pros grow their businesses and helping homeowners optimize the biggest investment that most people will ever make, buying a home. So that really spoke to me as a strong, crisp vision and mission.

The second thing was the culture — one that’s based on empathy and collaboration. I do find that generally the people who work at mission-based companies genuinely care about the people they’re serving, and that translates into the way they interact with each other and communicate. It was very clear from the interview process that this is the case at Thumbtack.

And the third thing that piqued my interest is the sheer business opportunity. For me as a marketer, it’s a bit of a dream opportunity to take a well-established company like Thumbtack and help build the brand as the most important partner for homeowners and pros. To let both audiences know that they are not alone: Thumbtack is with them every step of the way. I think the current context and stage of the company provide a golden opportunity to tell that story.

Marco: Are there particular experiences from your past roles that you expect to draw from in your new role?

Llibert: Oh, absolutely. When I started at Udemy, online learning was still very much in its infancy. People thought of learning as something you do sitting across from a teacher at a desk. The pandemic accelerated that transformation, of course, but now we’re all very used to learning on our commute, in our car, from a mobile device… I see a similar trajectory for Thumbtack. For ages, when homeowners needed a pro for their home, they would only ask neighbors for recommendations. It’s an offline process and the results are hit or miss. I think Thumbtack has the opportunity to usher in a transformation in the way we define caring for our homes, and really bring trust, confidence, and ease to the process.

Marco: Thinking back on your career, do you have a favorite campaign that you’ve worked on?

Llibert: It’s difficult to choose one! I always favor anything where our customers are the hero. A couple of years back at Udemy, we made a video about a learner, a Syrian refugee. He learned coding on Udemy and when he was able to get to Germany then landed a job as a developer at a tech company. Udemy and the instructor teaching the coding courses quite meaningfully changed the course of his life. We filmed his reunion with the instructor and it went viral. It was just an incredibly heartwarming story, and, yeah, one of my favorite campaigns of all time.

Marco: How would you describe your leadership style?

Llibert: I subscribe to the concept of servant leadership. To me, leading means helping your team and cross-functional partners be successful. In my position, my job is less about getting into the weeds. My role is to set forth a vision and provide the context on why we are doing everything we do. To understand the direction of the company and make sure that marketing is supporting that trajectory. Everyone in my team are domain experts, my job is to enable them to do their best possible work by removing barriers, providing resources, and setting clear expectations on how to succeed.

Marco: What Thumbtack value resonates with you most?

Llibert: Lead with why, for sure. As a marketer, I need to always be asking myself why — why is this relevant to our homeowners, why is this relevant to our pros, why are we doing this, what’s the reason … If you don’t understand your audience and their motivations and pain points, you can’t come up with good solutions. So that one speaks to me so loudly.

Marco: Switching gears: If you were a pro, what would be your specialty?

Llibert: Honestly, I struggle at everything that involves making things with my hands. My dad and my brother are electricians, so I would absolutely have furthered my family’s tradition if it were an option. But I’m telling you, I do not have the skills to do it. I’m really a disappointment to them all!

Marco: What accomplishments are you most proud of outside of work?

Llibert: Family-wise, I’ve been with my wife for 24 years now. Anyone in a relationship knows: that’s a lot of work and a lot of commitment. So I’m very proud of nurturing my relationship. We’ve lived together in five different countries on two different continents and love traveling the world.

I also consider myself an amateur athlete: I do triathlons. I try to complete three half Ironmans every year. It’s really important to me to keep a sense of balance and believe in the Latin phrase mens sana in corpore sano (which essentially means that only a healthy body can support a healthy mind). If I don’t have that balance, I just don’t function as well as I need to.Welcoming Llibert Argerich, our first-ever Chief Marketing Officer.

Want to learn more about open roles at Thumbtack? Visit careers.thumbtack.com.

Originally published at https://blog.thumbtack.com on August 22, 2023.