Angie’s List Turns 20

Indy Chamber News Archives

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Two decades after launching as a call-in and newsletter service connecting homeowners to local service companies, Angie's List, (NASDAQ: ANGI) celebrates a milestone anniversary.

"To paraphrase an old ad campaign, 'we've come a long way' since I was knocking on doors in Bexley, Ohio," said Angie Hicks, founder of Angie's List. "We're still that hometown service; we just serve much more value to many more home towns."

Over the years, Angie's List has built on its platform of trusted reviews, using that wealth of information to dramatically expand service offerings and value while staying true to its mission to deliver the best possible outcomes for consumers. Among the latest company advances:

• Mobile apps that take the hassle out of hiring. 
• An online marketplace where all consumers can shop for thousands of pre-packaged local service offerings. 
• Snapfix where Angie's List steps in to find local contractors to handle consumers' projects start-to-finish. 
• An award winning, weekly digital magazine that's topping the download charts.

Hicks and her co-founder, Bill Oesterle, founded the company in 1995. She recruited members door-to-door and, working from a card table in a rented 100-square-foot office, she developed a list of highly rated service companies, handled ad sales and wrote the monthly member newsletter.

Today, the company is publicly traded, serves more than 3 million members, employs nearly 2,000 workers and is headquartered on a 4-city-block campus on the near east side of Indianapolis. Last week, it hosted some of its best-rated companies at its second annual Festival of Service conference, and sponsored the Angie's List Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hicks talked with dozens of service companies at the conference where the focus was on the need for local service to embrace the digital marketplace. But a recurring theme from the companies was how their first Angie's List consumer review had sparked business growth and continues to push them to keep earning high grades by providing value and consistently superior service.

"I love hearing these stories. They make all of us even more committed to continuing to deliver the best consumer outcomes possible," Hicks said.

Angie's List helps facilitate happy transactions between more than three million consumers nationwide and its collection of highly rated service providers in 720 categories of service, ranging from home improvement to health care. Built on a foundation of authentic reviews of local service, Angie's List connects consumers directly to its online marketplace of services from member-reviewed providers, and offers unique tools and support designed to improve the local service experience for both consumers and service professionals.

Source: Angie's List Inc.