Adi Tatarko

Adi Tatarko and her husband, Alon, bought their first home in Silicon Valley in 2006. A ranch house built in 1955, the place needed a lot of repairs. Tatarko and her husband were excited to take on the remodeling project—at first, anyway. As costs mounted and they experienced more problems with contractors, Tatarko found the whole process to be a nightmare. “Renovating a home together is much more challenging than running the company together,” she says.Finding professional designers was difficult and expensive, and the couple—both from Israel by way of New York—quickly became frustrated. Tatarko shared her story with fellow homeowners, who had stories similar to theirs. They realized that there was a huge need for a more transparent remodeling marketplace.In 2009, the couple started Houzz. First it was a pet project, with close friends and family as their first customers. Their goal was to make it easier for homeowners and contractors to collaborate on home remodeling projects. In 2010, the company evolved from a nights-and-weekends side job to a full-fledged business. Since then, the company has grown quickly to 20 million unique monthly visitors and 400,000 professionals—contractors, architects, and the like—with a foothold overseas.