Founder Interview - Adam Messner
Q&A with the Co-Founder of Yardzen
Company Quick Facts
Founded: 2018
Industry: Design
Location: Sausalito, CA
Tagline: Landscape Design, Reimagined
Website: yardzen.com
Social: @yardzen
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 from Sausalito, CA
ZK: Tell us about your journey to ultimately launching Yardzen.
AM: Our story started shortly after the 2017 Tubbs Fire wreaked havoc on the North Bay. My co-founder and wife Allison and I have a house in Calistoga and the fire burned right through our property – luckily, our house survived, but the landscape was destroyed and we were left to rebuild and pick up the pieces.
We really had two options available to us – find a local designer or hire a landscape architect. But we couldn’t quickly find a local designer we liked and architects were cost-prohibitive. We knew we had our own visions and wanted a tech-enabled solution that sat somewhere in the middle, but that didn’t exist. So it inspired us to build Yardzen, which is the company that we wish had existed when we went through our rebuild.
ZK: That’s so powerful that your own personal experience led to this idea and innovation. How exactly is Yardzen working to change the way landscapes are renovated?
AM: We set out to empower and inspire homeowners that might not have otherwise hired a landscape designer or architect. Our design process is entirely online yet still fully custom and thorough. The process is simple – clients shoot photos and videos of their space and then use our web portal to upload info about their goals and style. We then use satellite imagery, 3D rendering software, and plant and data science to create actionable designs that consider a client’s budget and priorities and put sustainability front and center.
Yardzen clients are typically working professionals with demanding jobs and busy schedules so an asynchronous process really resonates. On the backend, we have a support team of account managers, talented architects, designers and horticulturalists touching every single project -- our tech and process is top notch, but our people and their passion for helping others is what I think sets us apart.
ZK: So Yardzen produces this design – do you also then help the homeowners execute upon them and build?
AM: Absolutely. One of the biggest challenges right now, especially in Sonoma where we are still recovering from these natural disasters, is finding trustworthy, reputable and experienced contractors. On the other side, from a contractor’s perspective, it can be hard to separate the clients who are ready to begin a project from those who are just considering it. This disconnect leads to lots of inefficiencies and wasted time in the process, so we’ve developed a managed marketplace that both educates and connects contractors and clients.
ZK: Where is your solution available right now?
AM: We’re now designing in 32 states as we’ve seen incredible growth in recent months – but we started with our first clients right here in Marin. My wife Allison, who is my co-founder and the CEO of Yardzen, made a single post to Nextdoor in southern Marin that teased an online landscape design service for $250. In 24 hours, we had 32 paying clients – and that’s how we got off the ground in mid-2018! To this day, we are especially grateful to our earliest North Bay clients.
ZK: I love that story! Given the strong connection between Yardzen and the Marin + Sonoma market in terms of your founding and customers, can you share with us more about what it means to you to be a North Bay entrepreneur?
AM: We’ve found the North Bay to be an incredible place to build a startup company. We have everything we need here to be successful – much of our talent is from here, many of our key investors live in this community, our earliest customers are here, and we of course have built our lives and are raising kids in this community. I think that’s a big piece of what makes Marin so unique and why we are so thrilled to be building Yardzen embedded in this community.
For us, work is not a place you go but a thing that you do. Marin has so many incredible outdoor spaces and the weather is absolutely perfect, and we as a company and workforce have taken advantage of that both pre-pandemic and during this past year. We are building a creative enterprise in one of the most aesthetically pleasing physical locations there is and it definitely provides us with a boost in our building of this company.
ZK: You have offices and are headquartered in Sausalito – what does the geographic dispersion of your employee base look like in this age of remote work?
AM: Like so many companies, we have employees all over the country who do incredible work. Our headquarters is in Sausalito and with all the great things this area has to offer, we don’t ever see that changing. We find that when people move to Marin + Sonoma, they tend to put down strong roots, and that is very comforting for us when we see our colleagues also investing in the community and starting and raising families here. Allison and I are not going anywhere and are very proud to be building this company here in Marin.
The North Bay was a perfect place for us to start Yardzen. One of Yardzen’s longest-tenured employees was born and raised in Mill Valley, and our first technology hire and Head of Engineering is based in San Rafael. He’s also put down roots, as evidenced by his growing flock of chickens.
ZK: I find that sentiment, the chickens included, is shared by so many North Bay founders. They are deeply committed to building here and wouldn’t think of building anywhere else.
AM: It’s also why we’re thrilled that Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures exists and that you’re putting such thought, structure, and resources behind this local entrepreneurial community. We really do have needs that are unique and are not the same as startups in San Francisco, and I’m excited that there finally is a movement here to bring together all of the pieces so this community can reach its potential.
You’re building this the right way by bringing together founders and connecting them with other founders and seasoned entrepreneurs who have done it before. This builds up a positive, collaborative culture that ends up building upon itself over time, and it’s why I’m so optimistic for what is ahead for this region in the years ahead.
Zachary Kushel is Founder & Managing Partner of Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures.
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