SMB-focused home services startup Jobber registered a win today by announcing that SMB SaaS veteran Gail Goodman will join its board of directors. This brings experience and perspective to Jobber, given Goodman’s rap sheet of leadership and director roles at Constant Contact, MindBody, Hubspot and Shopify.
Jobber, for those unfamiliar, provides home services management software for SMBs. This includes automating functions like appointment scheduling, project management and payments. It works with 100,000 home services pros and boasts cumulative service to 12 million+ households across 47 countries.
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Product Positioning
As noted, Goodman brings a wealth of experience to this role. To go deeper into her background, she’s held several leadership roles, most of which are in the SMB-services realm. Most notable is her 16 years as CEO of Constant Contact. She also currently holds board seats at Shopify and Hubspot.
This career-long SMB focus should provide valuable perspective and product direction. Building services for SMBs is an endeavor that’s often underestimated in its pitfalls and product-positioning nuances. Judgment is clouded by the size of the market, while challenges like market fragmentation are missed.
Goodman has a firm grasp on these and other SMB-market challenges, which will help the earlier-stage Jobber refine its strategic positioning. That includes everything from SMB sales to pricing to software UX. The latter is an area where Constant Contact evolved greatly under her watch (take it from a longtime user).
All of this could be especially valuable at Jobber which serves the smaller end of the SMB spectrum. Also known as very small businesses (VSBs), this includes sole traders and shops. Specifically, jobber serves 50 subcategories of home services — everything from plumbing to landscaping to electrical work to cleaning.
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Future Dealings
Other Constant Contact milestones under Goodman’s watch include growing to 650,000 SMB customers, and frequent appearances on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list. She herself has achieved Executive of the Year at the American Business Awards and the New England Regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
During her tenure at Constant Contact, Goodman also led the company through its IPO and subsequent eight years as a public company. Then in 2016, she was at the helm during its acquisition by Endurance International. Beyond the above product experience, these M&A trials could help in Jobber’s future dealings.
On a personal note, Goodman’s character and intellectual drive was validated for me years ago at a Kelsey Group conference keynote. Deviating from the common practice of swooping in for her presentation then leaving with her entourage, she stuck around for hours to intently learn from other panel discussions.
Meanwhile, this appointment comes at a momentous time for Jobber as It continues to grow its SMB customer base. As we examined back in January, the Edmonton-based company also raised $60 million in funding led by Summit Partners, with participation from OMERS Ventures, Version One Ventures, and Tech Pioneers Fund.
