A new startup by the name of FindProz that competes with TeachStreet and is looking to become the “eBay of private instruction” has moved from Provo, Utah to Seattle. The company was started by Tyler Pack and Dave Owen who met at Brigham Young University.
They chose to relocate to Seattle after tying for first place in the Social Innovation Fast Pitch event, a competition hosted by Social Venture Partners in October.
“…We realized it was a better environment to build our business than what we were finding in Utah,” said Pack, who started his first Internet company at the age of 17.
FindProz operates an online directory of classes, allowing instructors to advertise their skills and students to find teachers who might be a good match. The directory includes classes related to music (guitar, piano); athletics (golf, swimming) and tutoring (math, languages).
That’s similar to TeachStreet, the Seattle startup backed by Madrona Venture Group. Pack acknowledged that there are similarities between the two companies, but he also said that they differ in some ways too.
“The difference is we don’t try to create a new website and direct the world’s traffic to the site, but rather partner with the local retail channels that instructors and students already use to advertise the instructors at the local level,” he said.
The fact that retail channels are larger in Seattle also played a role in the company’s decision to relocate to Seattle.
