The very best startup ideas tend to have three things in common: they're something the founders themselves want, that they themselves can build, and that few others realize are worth doing. Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook all began this way.
New to the area, P.J. and his wife, Laurie, wanted to rent a house near Berkeley, CA. They started as most people do, emailing each other links from the usual sources such as Craigslist, Zillow and Trulia. In addition, a local realtor provided rental listings from the local MLS. Renting in the San Francisco Bay Area is complicated and competitive, so many houses needed to be considered. With 3 contributors and complicated work and open house schedules, things quickly got messy. P.J. searched for a tool like Jibebuy, but none of the existing collaboration services fit well enough to use.
Like most of us, P.J. has been involved in many collaborative purchases with family and friends over the years. P.J. realized that that the same type of collaborative buying tools he imagined for home shopping would work well for other types of purchases, such as cars and colleges. After vetting the concept with co-workers and friends, P.J. and Ken co-founded Jibebuy. Jibebuy currently works out of co-working spaces in San Francisco and Berkeley. We are proud and happy that we have been able to hire smart, fun and enthusiastic interns from UC Berkeley to help us build and grow our startup.
