Confidential

Local services is a $600 billion market that still runs on word of mouth.

FindTalents is the trust-first marketplace for hiring local pros, with payment held in escrow until the work is approved. Web is live. Native iPhone and Android apps are in testing now (invite testers today; store review before public launch). Capital funds supply now: launch Quincy and Greater Boston, and explore a Quincy Chamber partnership to reach local members.

<2%
of home & local services spend has moved online. The category is barely digitized.2
65%
of home-service bookings still happen offline, phone calls and word of mouth.2
$2.0B
serviceable local-services market in Greater Boston alone, per year.5
$400K Pre-seed SAFE at a $5M post-money valuation cap (about 8% if the round converts at the cap). Launch Quincy and Boston now, fill with pros, prove the model. $7,500 friends-and-family already on the cap table.

Five forces are converging on this exact moment.

None of these were true a decade ago. Together they make a trusted local-services marketplace not just possible, but overdue.

01

AI is redrawing the map of work, and it runs straight through local services.

As AI automates desk and knowledge jobs, the work it cannot touch is hands-on and local: you can't offshore or automate a plumber, an electrician, or a house cleaner. That is making skilled trades more valuable and more sought-after as careers, the share of teens considering trade school has more than doubled, 12% to 30% since 2018.4 And FindTalents is built AI-native, using it for smart matching, instant quotes, and trust and safety, where the incumbents were built for a pre-AI web.

02

A skilled-trades shortage is turning into a crisis.

The U.S. needs ~439,000 more trade workers in 2025 alone, 1 in 5 tradespeople are already over 55, and 80% of contractors say they can't find qualified help. The gap could cost the economy up to $1 trillion a year.4 Good pros have more demand than they can handle, and need better ways to fill their schedule.

03

The category is barely online.

Home & personal services is a multi-trillion-dollar global market with under 2% digital penetration, and 65% of bookings still close offline.2 Almost every other category, retail, travel, food, already made this shift. Local services is the last big one left.

04

Trust is the unsolved problem.

Customers hand strangers their home and their money with no protection. No major platform holds payment in escrow until the job is approved. That's the gap FindTalents is built around, verified pros and money that's only released when the work is done right.

05

Discovery went mobile-first.

84% of home-service searches now start on a phone.2 FindTalents ships web plus native iPhone and Android apps from day one (apps are in testing now, then App Store / Play review). Incumbents were built for desktop lead-gen and bolted mobile on later.

Both sides of this market are underserved, and the incumbents made it worse.

Customers are flying blind.

Finding a trustworthy local pro means digging through reviews you can't verify, chasing quotes by phone, and paying upfront with zero protection if the work goes wrong. There's no standard for identity, insurance, or recourse.

Pros get gouged for leads.

Angi and Thumbtack charge pros per lead, often for the same job sold to five competitors, whether or not they win it. Great pros resent it and churn. The economics punish the exact supply the market is starving for.

$1.4B
Angi's revenue, a lead-gen model pros routinely complain about.3
$3.2B
Thumbtack's valuation on ~$2B GMV, still pay-per-lead at its core.3
0
Major platforms that protect the customer's payment in escrow. This is the opening.

Not a pitch for an idea. A finished product, launching the marketplace now.

FindTalents is a full two-sided marketplace: customers post a job or browse, pros get hired and paid. Web is live. iPhone and Android are in closed testing (we can invite testers today) and will go to App Store / Play review before public launch. Escrow, verification, and disputes are working. What is left is supply: get pros into Quincy and Boston and complete the first jobs.

Web app, live iPhone app, in testing Android app, in testing Stripe escrow, built Verification & disputes, built Launching Quincy & Boston now
Escrow-protected paymentsMoney is authorized, held, and only released to the pro when the customer approves the finished work.
Verification & trustID, insurance, license, and background checks, surfaced as trust badges customers can see.
Messaging & custom quotesDirect chat, custom offers, and a full posting-to-hire flow between customers and pros.
Dispute resolutionAdmin-reviewed disputes with structured evidence, because escrow needs a fair backstop.
Reviews & reputationRecency-weighted, per-role reputation for both customers and pros. Trust compounds.
Subscriptions & premiumMembership plans and standing discounts, a second, higher-margin revenue line beyond job fees.

The only one that protects the customer's money and treats pros fairly.

Incumbents optimized for selling leads. We optimized for completed, trusted jobs, which is what actually grows a marketplace.

  FindTalents Angi Thumbtack TaskRabbit
Payment held in escrowYesNoNoNo
Pro pays only on completed jobsYesPay per leadPay per leadCommission
ID / insurance / license verificationYesPartialPartialPartial
Built-in dispute resolutionYesLimitedLimitedLimited
Native mobile + web from day oneYesRetrofittedRetrofittedYes
Local-first, partnership-led launchYesNational adsNational adsMetro-broad

Take rate: a flat commission on completed jobs (targeting ~15%, vs. TaskRabbit's 15%3), with no pay-per-lead fees, so pros keep more and stay. Subscriptions add a second revenue line.

A national tidal wave, entered through one winnable city.

We size honestly, bottom-up, and start where we can win: Greater Boston.

TAM · U.S.
$600B+
U.S. home & local services, growing ~10%/yr toward $1.4 trillion by 2030.1
SAM · Greater Boston
$2.0B
Serviceable local-services spend per year across 1.97M metro households.5
SOM · Target
$100–400M
GMV at 5–20% of the Boston market, the range modeled below.

How we get to $2.0B for Greater Boston

1.97M
metro households5
× 40%
hire a local service each year (conservative)
× $2,500
avg. addressable spend / household / yr6
= $2.0B
serviceable GMV / year

Reference points: Boston-area households average $105,320 in annual spending; professional cleaning alone runs ~$2,722/yr for households that use it.5 This SAM covers cleaning, handyman, repairs, moving, landscaping, tutoring, beauty and pet care, and is deliberately conservative.

What Boston looks like at 5, 10, 15, and 20% share.

On the $2.0B Greater Boston market, at a ~15% take rate. Marketplaces compound: every pro brings customers, every job builds trust, trust wins the next job.

Annual platform revenue by market share
5%
$15M
10%
$30M
15%
$45M
20%
$60M
Market share GMV / yr Platform revenue Active customers Active pros Jobs / yr
$100M$15M~67,000~2,500~400,000
$200M$30M~133,000~5,000~800,000
$300M$45M~200,000~7,500~1.2M
$400M$60M~267,000~10,000~1.6M

Illustrative long-term model, not a forecast. Assumes ~15% blended take, ~$250 average job, ~$1,500 GMV per active customer/yr, and ~$40K GMV per active pro/yr. Near-term proof is smaller: see the launch-now milestones on The ask. And this is one metro: the same playbook across the Northeast's dense metros (Providence, Worcester, Hartford, Boston's collar cities) multiplies every number here.

Win a neighborhood, then a metro, then a region.

Marketplaces die from thin liquidity spread too wide. We do the opposite: saturate one small area until it works, then repeat. We start where the founder already lives and works: Quincy.

Now · Launch

Quincy & Greater Boston

Web is live; iPhone and Android are in testing (invite testers now, then store review). We launch supply immediately in Quincy and Boston: recruit pros, invite customers, and explore a possible partnership with the Quincy Chamber of Commerce to reach their members, plus local trade groups. A dense market the founder knows first-hand.

Next · First 12 months

Prove density

Stay focused on Quincy and Boston until liquidity is real: active pros, completed escrow jobs, repeat hires, and reviews that compound.

Then · 12 to 18 months

The Northeast

With a working playbook, expand to adjacent metros (Providence, Worcester, Hartford and collar cities) on the same local-first, trust-first model.

The plan to get pros into the system

Supply first, and it is what this raise funds. Direct outreach to local pros, a possible Quincy Chamber partnership to introduce FindTalents to members, trade-group relationships, referral incentives, and pro-friendly economics with no pay-per-lead fees. Demand follows: verified, escrow-backed pros are something customers actively want, and every completed job seeds reviews, referrals, and repeat hires that lower acquisition cost over time.

Ralph Francois, Founder and CEO

Ralph Francois

Founder & CEO · Quincy, MA

Ralph has spent 23 years in technology, with roles at Nasdaq, ABB, and digital agencies, and today runs Responsab, a software studio that ships production web and mobile products. He first sketched FindTalents in 2012. The technology, the market, and the moment caught up, so he built the platform himself: web, native iPhone and Android apps, Stripe escrow, and verification and dispute systems. At pre-seed, that is unusual: a technical founder who lives in the launch market and has already shipped the product.

Lives in the launch market

Based in Quincy, MA, the exact city where FindTalents goes to market first. Local relationships, local knowledge, and a founder the first pros can meet in person.

23 years in technology

Nasdaq, ABB, and digital agencies, plus Responsab today. Deep enough to build this entire platform solo, and to run it.

Raising $400K to launch Quincy and Boston and fill them with pros.

We launch now in Quincy and Greater Boston: onboard pros and customers, explore a Quincy Chamber partnership, and prove liquidity. The 12 to 18 month runway funds density and the next Northeast step, not waiting to open Quincy. Web is live; iPhone and Android are in testing and heading to store review. This capital buys supply and speed. Terms are on the next slide.

Use of funds
Talent & customer acquisition45%$180K
Growth & marketing20%$80K
Servers & infrastructure15%$60K
Product & operations15%$60K
Contingency5%$20K
What $400K buys
1
Launch Quincy and Boston now.

Recruit verified pros, open bookings, and pursue a possible Quincy Chamber partnership to reach members, plus local trade groups.

2
Prove liquidity.

Target ~100 active pros, hundreds of completed escrow jobs, and early repeat hires and reviews.

3
Public apps.

Keep inviting testers on iPhone and Android, then submit for App Store / Play review and open wider download.

4
Set up the seed (12 to 18 months).

A measurable Boston run-rate and playbook that make a $2 to 4M Northeast-expansion round easy to lead.

Raise size and allocation are a starting framework. Final paperwork and any lead-investor adjustments come with the SAFE.

$400K on a SAFE with a $5M valuation cap.

Investors get about 8% if the full round converts at the cap. A SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) is standard pre-seed paperwork: it converts at the next priced round, or at the $5M cap when that is more favorable under the agreement.

$400K

The check

Pre-seed runway to launch Quincy and Boston now, recruit pros, open demand, and prove completed jobs over 12 to 18 months.

$5M

The cap

Ceiling on conversion price. Standard post-money SAFE: $5M valuation cap (no discount unless a lead investor requires one in writing).

~8%

The ownership

About 8% if $400K converts at a $5M post-money cap. Enough stake for angels; room left for a seed.

Why these terms

You are investing after most product risk, not before it. Web is live; iPhone and Android are in testing and headed to store review; escrow and verification are working. What is not proven yet is Boston liquidity. A $5M post-money cap and about 8% reflect that: a real platform, still early on marketplace proof.

About the $7,500 already in

An early friends-and-family check for about 5% common equity, issued before the product shipped, on a much earlier valuation. It stays on the cap table as issued equity. This $400K pre-seed is a separate post-money SAFE at the $5M cap above.

The last great offline market is going online. Whoever earns trust first, wins it.

FindTalents has the product (web live; iPhone and Android in testing), the model, and a founder in the launch market. This raise funds supply and speed so we can fill Quincy and Boston now, before someone else does.

$400K SAFE · $5M post-money cap · ~8% · Quincy & Greater Boston · investors@findtalents.com