Curated
Curated launched in San Francisco in 2017 to solve a problem anyone who has bought golf clubs or skis online knows well: too many choices, and no one to ask. The answer was a person. Shoppers chatted one to one with a vetted expert, often an athlete, a coach or a lifelong enthusiast, who asked about their level, their goals and their budget, then recommended the right gear.
How the expert model worked
- Matching. Software matched each shopper with an expert in the right category.
- Vetting. Candidates answered a set of questions and were reviewed by other experts on the platform before they ever spoke to a customer.
- Honest advice. Experts were paid from the sale and could be tipped, and they had no incentive to push any particular product.
- Curated owned the order. It bought gear from manufacturers at wholesale, sold it at retail and shipped it itself, so the promise an expert made was Curated's to keep.
How it grew
Investors backed the model at every stage. After a $5.5 million seed round, Forerunner Ventures led a $22 million Series A in 2019, as the only venture firm in the round. Greylock led a $39 million Series B in April 2021, and CapitalG, Alphabet's growth fund, led a $75 million Series C that November, with Forerunner and Greylock investing again. In all, Curated raised $141.5 million.
By late 2021, Curated had:
- 300% growth year over year
- More than 1 million people who had shopped with an expert
- More than 1,000 experts, from camping enthusiasts in Texas to ski instructors in Montana, with experts recruiting their friends
- Eight categories, grown from skiing, golf, camping, hiking and biking, with plans for 15 to 20 more, including coffee and home goods
- Brands like Callaway, Burton and The North Face scaling on the platform
- Reviews averaging 4.96 stars, more than 80% of customers tipping their expert, and returns of 1 to 2%, far below the norm for online shopping
- A team of about 100 people, with plans to double it
In July 2024, Flip acquired Curated for $330 million in stock. Curated's CEO joined Flip as COO, and Curated was set to keep operating independently.
Where our team fit
About half of our current team worked at Curated before employmagic, across the parts of the business that kept the expert model running.
- Merchandising and sales strategy: Alex, Head of Merchandising. Set the sales strategy and the analysis behind it, and kept merchandising in line with it, so each category carried what customers and their experts actually needed. With categories growing from five sports toward many more, the assortment had to keep pace with what experts recommended.
- Operations and merchandising: Chance. Ran operations across the business, the processes and tools that kept merchandising, fulfillment and support working as one, and worked with merchandising on the catalog. With experts, customers, brands and fulfillment all moving at 300% growth, keeping them in step was the job.
- Fulfillment and support: Kiet, Head of Fulfillment and Support. Led the teams that got orders out the door and looked after customers before and after a purchase. Because Curated shipped the gear itself, fulfillment and support were where an expert's promise was kept.
- HR: Pam, HR generalist in charge of hiring and communications. Hired and onboarded the people behind the platform and kept the team informed and aligned. With a team of about 100 set to double after the Series C, hiring never stopped.
What Curated taught us
- Vetting is the product. A marketplace of experts only works if every expert is good, which is why Curated's experts were reviewed by their peers first. We vet our specialists in four steps before they meet a client.
- One standard, many people. Experts and staff worked from the same playbook, so customers got the same quality whoever they reached. Our specialists are trained before they start and work from written steps, so quality does not depend on who picks up the work.
- Honest advice builds trust. Curated's experts had nothing to gain from pushing a product, and customers trusted them for it. We publish our starting rates, and there is no lock in: you can cancel anytime.
- Operations keeps the promise. A great recommendation is worth little if the order arrives late. Merchandising, fulfillment and support made sure what the expert promised actually happened.
What it means for clients
Curated ran on vetted people helping customers decide, backed by the operations that made every promise good. employmagic runs on the same idea. We find, vet and train specialists who work inside your tools and in your hours, and we handle attendance, check ins, performance and replacements, so you direct the work and we handle the rest. The people doing it helped build a company that sold for $330 million.
Sources: TechCrunch, October 30, 2019 and November 8, 2021; CapitalG, November 11, 2021; Business Wire, July 9, 2024.