Eden (YC S15) Launches to Offer On-Demand Electronics Repair and Installation

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/28/yc-backed-eden-launches-to-offer-on-demand-electronics-repair-and-installation/

by jdubey • 11 years ago

55 19 11 years ago

jdubey3• 11 years ago

Hi all -- My name is Joe Du Bey, and I am the co-founder and CEO of Eden (YC S15). I am happy to take any questions that you may have (or feedback, which I'd love). Thanks!

late2part• 11 years ago

I hope this succeeds - I'm not fond of geeksquad, and using craigslist has highly variable rates of quality. Joe - how are you sourcing your contractors, and how can I be assured they deliver high quality?

ericabiz• 11 years ago

Depends on where you live, of course, but most towns/cities have independent repair shops that do good, solid work. You can find the ones that have good reviews on Yelp or Google.

Disclaimer: My boyfriend runs one of these in Austin; I've invested in it and am now the co-owner. I'm in full support of using a local independent shop after I spilled tea all over my Macbook Pro and killed it completely. He was able to get me back up and running within a couple hours; this was when I decided to invest in his shop.

jdubey3• 11 years ago

Thanks, ericabiz. That's a good point. There are definitely some fantastic tech pros and business owners who operate at local independent stores. At Eden, we aim to find the very best tech pros, including many who work at independent shops, and provide them with additional compensation for when they are not working their primary jobs. In addition, we have some tech pros who prefer to do most of their jobs through Eden, as we enable them to live good, living wages. That said, we believe there will always be room in this market for shops, small and large, that treat their customers well!

susiexsun• 11 years ago

Hi late2part. I'm Head of Ops here at Eden. All our Tech Pros have at least 5+ years of experience (no junior techs here) and go through a 4 step vetting process that includes skills assessment, in-person meeting, and background check. We accept less than 5% of Tech Pros who apply and customers rate Tech Pros after every job, which creates accountability. Thanks for asking and I hope you'll think of us when you need 5-Star service :)

dandanisaur• 11 years ago

Customer ratings for the pros doesn't create accountability unless there is an action behind it. What are you doing as a company to enforce accountability?

Anyways, congrats on YC and the launch.

EDIT: wanted to say that your site looks awesome and it's definitely nice to see the language around how you are picking your hires.

kolev• 11 years ago

Direct link to the website: https://www.edentech.co/

jdubey3• 11 years ago

Thanks, kolev!

flipmonk2• 11 years ago

There is a nagging horizontal scroll bug on your site. I think one of the DIVs is overshooting the width.

guymorita4• 11 years ago

Thanks for the feedback, flipmonk. What's your OS / Browser / Resolution? Maybe I can repro.

flipmonk2• 11 years ago

OS X, Chrome 43, 1920x1200

jordigg2• 11 years ago

If I understand well you set up a time with the customer, it's not "a la Uber" right? Minimum 6 hours in advance.

I have read one of the founders had that pain with his family. Does any of the founders work or have worked as IT Technician before? Have you ever experienced the service by yourselves and perform the service before going live to make sure you have a good workflow? There are many right now in this space but, none seems to have the background to really make a difference.

As a "tech pro" myself is there a place to find more information about working with you? How much does the tech earn x service? Is it related to the final rating?

How do you compare yourself against Geekatoo, Techy, HelloTech, Convoy, Boomtown...

Thanks and best of luck!

guymorita4• 11 years ago

Thanks so much for your question Jordigg. I’m one of the co-founders at Eden. Each of the founders have been serving as tech support for their families for their whole lives. Half of our team is very technical and we have been building computers since middle school. While we have not worked as IT technicians, we know our way around. In addition, Susie, our head of ops was previously at Instacart where she had the experience of managing / coordinating 100’s of contractors. We have tech pros in our office on a daily basis and learn more about the how to improve our processes. We very much have the intellectual curiosity, technical skills and operational background to deliver a great experience to both our customers and tech pros.

In terms of employment, we would love to talk to you. We are bringing on the bay area's best tech pros at the moment and it sounds like you have experience! Compensation wise, our tech pros are all earning market rates and increasing their total compensation through a greater volume of jobs. Please email me at guy@edentech.co. I’d be happy to chat more and tell you what makes us different.

jordigg2• 11 years ago

Thanks for your answer unfortunately I'm not from SF, not even from the US but hope I can move soon. I'll be happy to give Eden a try once it's available close to me. Continue the good work this summer :)

justizin• 11 years ago

I do think the original commenter has a point that there are things people who professionally support IT understand about how non-technical people process and understand things differently.

Knowing you, Guy, I've no doubt you are all going to rock this, but maybe consider one of your next hires being someone who does this sort of work, which is also disappearing as available work, as in-house IT becomes, "Sign into Slack on your phone and here's a laptop with pre-configured VPN." (leaving problems for someone like Eden to solve at home)

Every disruptive business should seek to employ some of the people who work for companies it wants to do away with, or to find people who have a skill fit, but not the strategic vision.

Anyway, best of luck!

enigami• 11 years ago

Eden Team,

Congratulations on the Launch!! Though I personally cannot utilize your service as I am staying far from where you guys are operating (India), I would love to see such a professional solution available in my city. Any plans of expanding to other countries like India, where the potential is huge (considering the number of Smartphone, Computer and Other electronic gadgets users). Let me know if you have any plans and I'll be happy to assist you. Good Luck!!

chilleezz• 11 years ago

Lets say a tech pro comes to my house and he does a repair and the job is well done. Now I tell him that next time I am gonna call him directly so that he doesn't have to lose his commission to Eden. He agrees. How have you tackled this situation?

Eden (YC S15) Launches to Offer On-Demand Electronics Repair and Installation

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