Marketplaces Advisory

Redbeacon Drives New Interest in SMB Appointment/Price Quote Services
Peter Krasilovsky , 10/1/2009

Summary: Several new Marketplaces vendors are betting they can improve the directory business model by providing SMBs with appointment/reservations capabilities and price quote delivery. These are typically either “horizontal” services covering many small-business categories or “vertical” services targeted to a specific group of providers. The horizontal appointment/price quote services include HourVille, BookFresh, Zawoot, LocalPrice and Sears’ ServiceLive. The vertical services include OpenTable (restaurants), TeachStreet (personal interest classes) and WeddingBook (Wedding Vendors). Eventually, as with all disruptive technologies, there is likely to be overlap and product extensions. The newest entrant to the horizontal mix is Redbeacon, a start-up founded in early 2009 by three Google alumni: Ethan Anderson, Yaron Binur and Aaron Lee. The company, which takes 10 percent of job fees in exchange for providing leads that actually get the job, won the recent TechCrunch50 contest, a distinct honor that brings with it a $50,000 cash award. It is the first time that a “local” entrant has won or even seriously competed.

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