Choosing a north star and guardrails for a homeowner-to-contractor services marketplace

Imagine you are the product manager for a home services product in the style of Angie's List, where homeowners look for local professionals such as plumbers, electricians or cleaners, check their reviews and hire them. How would you set the product's goals, and which metrics would tell you whether it is succeeding? ```hint Value on both sides The product only works when a homeowner's job gets done well by a professional who finds the work worth paying for. Define the goal around that outcome before choosing any single number. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - How does the product make money: homeowner memberships, fees that professionals pay per lead or per booked job, advertising, or a mix? - Does the product only help homeowners find and compare professionals, or does it also handle booking and payment, so that a completed job is visible to it? - Are these goals for the whole product, or for one team or stage, such as launching in a new city versus growing an established market? - Which kinds of jobs matter most: frequent, lower-cost work like cleaning, or rare, high-value projects like roofing? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal grounded in the product's mission and business model, with both homeowners and service professionals represented. - A north-star metric that captures value actually delivered, with a justification and an honest look at its weaknesses. - Supporting metrics along each side's funnel, plus marketplace health such as coverage of professionals and response time. - Guardrails for trust and quality, such as fake or skewed reviews, poor work, disputes, lead spam and professional churn. - How measurement works when much of the job happens offline, and how goals shift with business model, season and market stage. ### Follow-up Questions - Much of the hiring and payment happens off the platform. How would you measure completed jobs anyway? - Leads sent to professionals rose sharply while professional retention fell. How do you interpret that, and what do you do? - How would your goals and metrics differ for a newly launched city compared with an established market?