Hundreds of thousands of users and 7 digits revenues in the first 4 months after launch.
Introducing the Expert.
200+
World-top design talent
+ 400%
Growth in 4 months
100k +
Monthly users and growing
$15 million
in funding
Location
Los Angeles
Sudolabs expertise
Product discovery
UX / UI design
Product management
Development
Testing
Analytics
Product scaling
The Expert was founded by Jake Arnold, a celebrity interior designer who has designed homes for names like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, and Leo Seigal, who has helped launch several startups in Silicon Valley and beyond. The Expert connects anyone, anywhere with top interior designers from across the globe via video consultations.
The Expert breaks down the traditional barriers that have existed between top interior designers and clients, eliminating the need for a high budget or a full-service requirement to gain access to personalized advice, guidance, and support from a top home expert.
The Expert loves Sudolabs! Jozef and the team were there for us from the very beginning when we were just a concept, built out our entire site (front and backend), and now we are entrusting them with scaling out the platform with no foreseeable plans to bring engineering “in house”. They are here for us any time of day and night, they are excellent value for money.
Leo Seigal
CEO, The Expert
Video consultations
to the rescue
The whole idea started during the first Covid-19 pandemic. Jake Arnold, interior designer and one of the co-founders, began receiving hundreds of direct messages on Instagram from people all over the world asking for design advice.
They came up with the idea to create a 1:1 video consultation for a fee for those who are seeking advice from the best designers out there, whether they’re looking for an expert’s eye to help conceptualize their space from scratch or seeking a second opinion to help guide their own efforts. With this idea in mind, Leo and Jake turned to us to build a platform from scratch.
Our technology
approach
The Expert is a complex product, that is still evolving. In addition, in the first weeks after the launch, the product enjoyed unprecedented interest. Hundreds of thousands of users around the globe started consulting their home designs with the experts and The Expert reaches 7-digit revenue in the first 4 months. This brings many technical challenges.
Automated Testing
To be able to release with peace of mind, we covered critical parts of the web app by E2E tests in cypress, unit, and integration tests in Jest.
Performance
We employed best practices in image optimization like usage of "srcset" attributes, progressive loading, and fine-fine tuning our CDN. To minimize the load on our relational database we used GraphQL DataLoaders.
Zoom Integration
We published our OAuth application on the Zoom marketplace. We went through a rigorous due diligence process including user and security penetration testing.
Techstack
Front-end
React.js
Styled Components
Apollo GraphQL Client
Storybook
Back-end
Node.js
PostgreSQL
GraphQL
Ours and client’s
success
In February 2020 we launched The Expert and within the first 4 months, it gained 7 digit revenues and hundreds of thousands of active users. The demand for these consultations was unprecedented.
The platform offers 25- and 55- minutes long consultations that can be booked via the calendar feature on the site. Expert consultations take place on Zoom video calls. Prior to the scheduled consultation, you will receive a link via email to join the video call where you will be met by your Expert. From there, you’ll be able to show your space (via Zoom screen-share or over video), ask questions and get feedback or advice.
7-digit
Revenue in first 4 months
+ 400%
Growth in 4 months
The Expert now features a roster of incredible designers around the world, including Arnold (Los Angeles), Leanne Ford (Pittsburgh), Martyn Lawrence Bullard (Los Angeles), Brigette Romanek (Los Angeles), Joy Moyler (New York), Martin Brudnizki (London), Danielle Siggerud (Copenhagen) and more. These designers have their own profiles on the platform, with their design styles and specialization mentioned.
In April 2021, The Expert has raised a $3 million seed funding round led by Forerunner Ventures, with participation from Sweet Capital, Promus Ventures, Golden Ventures, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo, AD 100 designer Brigette Romanek and CEO/founder of goop, Gwyneth Paltrow.
It was also mentioned in various prestigious digital media, such as The New York Times, Forbes, Tech Crunch, The Wall Street journal and magazines focused on design such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and Business of Home.
Interested in growing with us?
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