HomeDNB is a US-based startup that allows out-of-state investors to renovate online. I solved critical issues across brand, product and growth.

Problem

When I first arrived, the product looked healthy: campaigns running in several states, enquiries arriving daily. But underneath that, sales were spending all their time saying no to leads. The real problem sat upstream (in the acquisition funnel).

Discovery

I interviewed stakeholders across sales, delivery and operations. Then mapped acquisition, qualification and delivery as one system. The failure sat in the space between them: campaigns running multi-state while contractors could only serve a 3-hour radius.

Principles

The operating model became the design spec. The budget floor, 3-hour radius and sales capacity were requirements the product had to enforce, rather than restrictions to design around. A product ignoring them would rebuild the original problem at a much higher cost.

Constraints

The team’s capacity to sell was the binding constraint on growth. Reframing made 3 trade-offs easy to defend: everything that reduced noise at the top of funnel returned capacity to the leads that were valuable.

Fewer Markets

Feasibility mattered. Every market without contractor coverage multiplied waste, so I pushed to concentrate on Ohio, where delivery was already proven. Marketing gained a precise target and sales a recognisable lead.

Harder Qualification

The comfortable option preserved volume: keep the funnel broad and let sales sort it out. I pushed back because sorting is spending; every mismatch burned real hours across sales, delivery and operations. Hard qualification at entry was kinder to everyone, including the lead.

Narrower Positioning

The service distinction (i.e. full renovation management rather than contractor matching) had to be clear immediately. I narrowed every headline to an out-of-state investor’s situation. Adding clarity here was the difference between traffic and pipeline.

Solution

I redesigned every surface between first click and a sales call: the landing page, the qualification flow and a design system built to communicate credibility.

Landing Page

The landing page calls out the remote owner’s situation, before it attempts to offer anything. An out-of-state investor will recognise their problem in the first 5 seconds, helping us buy more of the right attention.

Qualification Flow

The flow productises the judgement sales were making by hand. Is this project viable? Encoding the criteria, radius and budget floor meant every lead reaching a human already carried feasibility.

Design System

Renovation brands usually sell the dream kitchen. HomeDNB sells something more complex: the management of getting one built from 3 states away. So I built a design system that signals competence: type, tone and spacing that make complex information feel handled.

Outcome

After the redesign, sales conversations started from yes and average project value went from $5,000 to $50,000. The startup gained a qualified pipeline and a working model for its first market, the base it’s now expanding from.