Adi Tatarko

Adi Tatarko's story isn't your typical Silicon Valley tale. No dorm room startups or dropout founders here. Just a regular couple trying to renovate their house.

Tatarko grew up in Israel, the daughter of a real estate agent mom and a Holocaust survivor grandmother. She met her husband Alon Cohen on a tour bus in Thailand. They moved to Palo Alto in 2000.

"We are not typical founders. We are simple people. We don't come from privileged backgrounds," Tatarko says.

In 2006, they bought a fixer-upper. The renovation was a nightmare. Finding professionals, getting quotes, visualizing designs - all of it was frustrating and time-consuming.

That's when the lightbulb went off.

"We thought, 'There has to be a better way,'" Tatarko recalls.

So they built one. Houzz started as a side project in 2009. Tatarko was working at an investment firm while raising three kids. Cohen coded in his spare time.

"We never thought it would become a business," Tatarko admits.

But it did. Big time.

The early days weren't easy. Tatarko and Cohen bootstrapped the company. They worked long hours. Juggled family responsibilities. Faced skepticism.

"People told us, 'You're too late. There are already big players in this space,'" Tatarko says.

They persevered. Focused on the product. Listened to users.

Slowly, Houzz gained traction. Homeowners loved the inspiration. Professionals saw it as a marketing tool. The community grew.

By 2011, Houzz had raised its first round of funding. $2 million. Then came rapid growth. More funding. International expansion.

Today, Houzz is a $4 billion company. It has over 40 million monthly users. 2.5 million active home professionals. Offices in 14 countries.

Tatarko is now one of the few female CEOs of a unicorn startup. But she's not your stereotypical tech boss.

"I refuse to live by any other standards," she says about balancing work and family.

She credits her success to staying true to herself. Not following the typical startup playbook.

"You need to set up rules the way that work for you. It doesn't need to be perfect or be exactly like what someone else has built," Tatarko advises.

Her journey shows that great ideas can come from everyday problems. That you don't need a fancy degree or insider connections to build a billion-dollar company.

"Everything is possible. As long as you stay true to yourself, as long as you live by your own standards, not by other people's standards," Tatarko says, echoing her grandmother's wisdom.

Houzz has transformed the home renovation industry. Made design more accessible. Created opportunities for professionals worldwide.

But perhaps Tatarko's biggest impact is showing that there's no one path to success. That you can build a tech giant while prioritizing family. That being "atypical" can be your greatest strength.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Don't rush to monetize. Adi and Alon resisted the urge to monetize Houzz early on. They focused on building a great product and community first. "We didn't want to monetize at all for a long time," Tatarko says. This patience paid off. When they did introduce revenue streams, they were based on user needs, not just profit. Your product will tell you when it's ready to make money.

Lesson 2: Embrace being atypical. Adi didn't fit the mold of a typical Silicon Valley founder. She was a mother of three, starting a company in her 30s. But she turned this into a strength. "Maybe I'm not the typical founder or CEO," she says. "But this is me, this is my company, and this is how I want to do it." Your differences can be your biggest assets.

Lesson 3: Create your own work-life integration. Adi rejected the idea that success meant sacrificing family time. She created a culture where it was okay to prioritize personal commitments. "I refuse to live by any other standards," she says. Your company culture starts with you. Set the example you want others to follow.

Lesson 4: Focus on the core, not the competition. When copycats emerged, Houzz didn't panic. They doubled down on what they did best. "The best thing is to focus on what you are good at," Tatarko advises. Don't let competitors distract you from your mission.

Lesson 5: Build a lean board. Despite multiple funding rounds, Houzz kept its board small - just four members. This allowed for quick, agile decision-making. Big boards can slow you down. Keep yours lean and mean.

Adi Tatarko Quotes

On bootstrapping: "We didn't have vacations... we kept it very lean and we learned how to do everything by ourselves."

On staying true to your vision: "Don't enter just to exit, love what you are doing."

On work-life integration: "You need to learn how to switch between the two. I have three children, each of them their own universe, their own startup."

On company culture: "Founders dictate the culture of the company."

On strategic focus: "Until the end of 2012, there wasn't even one finance person in the company. I really, really focused on, 'Let's continue expanding on this community, synergy, flywheel, professionals, homeowners, and the content we create with them and for them.'"

On seizing opportunities: "The one thing that I learned: never say never, stop making these declarations, always look at opportunities when they come your way, and make the best decision from that moment going forward versus just justifying what you said in the past."

On perseverance: "If you have the mindset that something big is there waiting for you and you have the conviction in this, you can't give up."

On dealing with competition: "There will always be some copycats once you become successful. The best thing is to focus on what you are good at."

On global expansion: "What we didn't anticipate beyond the inspiration and the global community growing is that people not just literally leverage the pictures to get the ideas and transfer them crossing borders, but also the services and the products and materials will cross borders."

On product development: "We wanted to make sure that when we choose from many different options on how to monetize this robust community and platform that we built, we're going to choose something that would be in line with what our community wanted."

Speeches and Interviews

1. Adi Tatarko (Houzz) at Startup Grind Silicon Valley
2. Houzz's Adi Tatarko On Building A Multibillion-Dollar Business
3. Co-founders of Houzz, Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen, on "Valley Girl Show"

Further Readings

1. Adi Tatarko Biography | Booking Info for Speaking Engagements
2. Adi Tatarko | Keynote Speaker | AAE Speakers Bureau