Adora Cheung

TL;DR

Adora Cheung recounts the three-year journey from a string of failed startup ideas (Pathjoy, a blog network) to founding Homejoy, a home services marketplace. She describes running out of money, becoming her own cleaner to learn the industry, and securing $50k from Max Levchin and Paul Graham at the last moment.

Key insights

• Searching for a great startup idea is like finding a needle in a haystack; most people must examine each piece of hay one by one rather than using a "high-powered vacuum."
• The founders' initial motivation was to make people happier and build a huge business, but they had few personal problems to solve, forcing them to search for a problem.
• They tested a dozen ideas over three years, including Pathjoy (therapist/life coach platform) and a network of SEO blogs, before stumbling on the cleaning industry problem.