JustAnswer
Type of site | Q&A site |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California , United States |
| Area served | International |
| Founder(s) | Andy Kurtzig |
| Key people |
|
| Website | www |
JustAnswer is an online question and answer site that connects customers with experts across 700 categories including tech support, legal, mechanic, home improvement, veterinary, medical and more, 24 hours a day.[1][2][3][4] The company was founded in 2003 by Andy Kurtzig.[5] Kurtzig came up with the idea for JustAnswer so that his then-pregnant wife could talk to a doctor anytime she wanted.[4][2] Kurtzig sought to bring some percentage of the professional services market online so users could get advice faster and more cheaply than they could on their own.[1] [2]The company grew without outside cash or support until 2011.[6]
Users can connect with one of 12,000 experts on the JustAnswer site.[7] After users send their question to "Pearl", an automated assistant, an appropriate expert has a chance to review the conversation before responding.[3] Users might answer a few follow-up questions from "Pearl", and then they get connected with an expert in an appropriate field.[3] The messaging system allows users to send photos as well as text.[3] Users can get free second opinions from other experts.[3]
Experts must have recognized credentials in their fields, such as a professional license or years of experience working in a particular specialty.[3] Experts have their backgrounds checked and have to go through an eight-step process to qualify to serve JustAnswer users.[2] After an expert is approved, he or she is subject to customer ratings, peer reviews and secret shoppers.[3] JustAnswer uses an algorithm to remove experts failing to meet certain standards set by an advisory board.[3]
Kurtzig started his first company, Anser Corp., while still in college at UC Berkeley.[2][5] After Anser Corp. was acquired, Kurtzig and his mother and brother founded venture-backed eBenefits in 1996, an online provider of human resources services, that was sold in 2002 to Online Benefits Inc.[2][5][6] Andy is the son of Sandra Kurtzig, the first woman to take a Silicon Valley company public (ASK in 1981).[1][2][4][6]
JustAnswer’s Board of Directors includes Charles Schwab; Sandy Robertson, founder of Robertson, Stephens & Company and Montgomery Securities in Silicon Valley; Larry Sonsini, partner of Silicon Valley law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Bob Finocchio, who was CEO of Informix, President of 3Com and is currently a Director of Broadcom.[1] Former Rolm founder Ken Oshman, who died in 2011, was also on the board.[2]
JustAnswer is operational in 196 countries, 22 currencies and 4 languages.[4] There are no ads on the site.[7]
History[edit]
In 2004 the company changed its name from ExpertAsk to JustAnswer and established its headquarters in the Presidio of San Francisco, California.[1]
In 2012 the company received $25 million in Series A funding from Glynn Capital and Charles Schwab, along with other angel investors.[2]
In 2017, JustAnswer introduced “Pearl,” a virtual assistant to answer simple questions and qualify leads for the experts. Pearl was in beta testing for three years and was trained on 16 million questions and answers in the company’s database.[7] The bot can recognize more than 100,000 variables in conversation, ask context-specific follow-up questions and operate as an intelligent routing engine. [7]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Robinson, Relentless Bill; ContributorBusiness; Technology; Politics; Journalist, Rock 'n Roll (2012-06-19). "A Pearl (.com) Comes Out of JustAnswer.com". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Gage, Deborah (2012-06-19). "Andy Kurtzig Raises $25M To Take Expert Services Online With Pearl.com". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "JustAnswer Review: 5 Things to Know Before You Sign Up". Clark Howard. 2020-01-09. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "JustAnswer Becomes Pearl.com, Raises $25 Million Series A". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2012/11/16/from-kurtzigs-spare-bedroom-to-85m.html. Retrieved 2021-04-06. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 www.bizjournals.com https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2012/06/justanswer-now-pearlcom-raises-25m.html. Retrieved 2021-04-06. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Answer engine JustAnswer now uses bots to route questions to human experts". Search Engine Land. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
External links[edit]
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