Homejoy 最初于 2010 年以 Pathjoy 的名字创立,由阿多拉·钟和亚伦·钟共同创立,2013 年更名并转型为一个按需上门清洁服务平台。2014 年由 Google Ventures 领投的一轮 3800 万美元 B 轮融资,把累计融资额推高到 4000 万美元,公司扩张到 31 座城市——清洁工都是以独立承包商身份雇佣的。

这份增长是买来的:19 美元的首单优惠,吸引来的是对价格敏感的顾客,他们很少会以全价再次下单,而清洁工也经常私下拉走自己的客户,脱离平台单干。随后,2015 年 3 月,四起劳动关系错误认定的诉讼接踵而至,清洁工们主张自己应享有雇员身份,以及随之而来的工资和报销待遇。

CEO 阿多拉·钟称这些诉讼是决定性因素:它们冻结了公司存续所必需的 C 轮融资。Homejoy 于 2015 年 7 月 17 日宣布关停,7 月 31 日正式停止运营,成为按需经济劳动关系认定之争中的第一个牺牲品。谷歌招揽了它的大部分工程团队;竞争对手 Handy 向它的清洁工提供 1000 美元奖金以吸引他们转投。

募资 4000 万美元,五年后关停

劳动力模式本身就是利润率所在:承包商身份压低了成本,直到四起诉讼要求确认雇员身份为止

增长是以 19 美元租来的:折扣顾客从未转化为正价客户,清洁工也带着他们一起离开

诉讼冻结了融资:随着 C 轮融资被卡住,这些诉讼从一笔昂贵的开支,变成了致命一击

Homejoy 靠折扣清洁服务和承包商用工实现了规模扩张;诉讼一来,下一轮融资就消失了——在这类平台型生意中,留存率和用工身份认定,才是真正的商业模式。

Homejoy 成了按需经济单位经济模型和劳动关系认定风险的标准案例。谷歌吸收了它的工程师;它的清洁工被竞争对手用奖金挖走。

从这里,追溯依据

参考来源

  1. Forbes, 17 July 2015 — Homejoy Shuts Down, Citing Worker Misclassification Lawsuits (announced 17 July 2015, shutting down end of July; four pending lawsuits from contractor cleaners claiming employee status called the 'deciding factor' by CEO Adora Cheung; backed by Google Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Max Levchin, Y Combinator alum; 2014 revenue $25M; deep discounts cut into revenue, cleaner quality hit-or-miss; Google hired ~20 product/engineering staff; rival Handy offered $1,000 bonuses to Homejoy cleaners) forbes.com
  2. Los Angeles Times, 17 July 2015 — Homejoy shuts down amid lawsuit over worker misclassification (announced Friday 17 July 2015, last day 31 July; class action filed March 2015 by J.C. Iglesias alleging cleaners misclassified to avoid reimbursements and overtime; Cheung: lawsuit a 'deciding factor', unable to raise capital because of it; described as first victim of the wave of misclassification suits against on-demand companies — suits pending against Uber, Lyft, Washio, Postmates, Instacart, Shyp) latimes.com
  3. Ideaproof — Homejoy Shutdown: Why the $40M Cleaning Startup Failed in 2015 (founded 2010 as Pathjoy by Adora Cheung and Aaron Cheung, rebranded Homejoy 2013; raised $40M incl. $38M Series B led by Google Ventures 2014; expanded to 31 cities; $19 introductory pricing attracted one-time users; cleaners poached clients off-platform; four misclassification lawsuits filed March 2015; failed to secure Series C; ceased operations 31 July 2015) ideaproof.io