麻豆村

When Vishwas Prabhakara talks about Honey Homes, he doesn鈥檛 start with tools or technology. He starts with frustration.
As a new homeowner a few years back, Vishwas kept running into the same problem many people face: There's a never-ending, always-growing to-do list around the home. Finding reliable help, scheduling repairs and keeping up with routine maintenance often falls through the cracks of busy lives.

鈥淭hat whole marketplace is pretty broken,鈥� says Vishwas, a 2002 graduate of Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 鈥淧eople want to be comfortable in their homes, but it鈥檚 hard to get everything done.鈥�

In 2021, those challenges led Vishwas to found Honey Homes, a membership-based home maintenance and repair company built around a simple idea: Give homeowners a dedicated, reliable handyman who knows their home and shows up when needed.

Today, Honey Homes operates in five major markets 鈥� the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin and Chicago 鈥� and continues to grow by rethinking both sides of the home services equation.

Rather than relying on independent contractors, Honey Homes hires full-time workers and gives them steady hours, benefits and paid time off. Those employees are then matched with homeowners who buy annual memberships, creating ongoing relationships rather than one-off transactions.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like having someone who鈥檚 part of your tribe,鈥� Vishwas says. 鈥淪imilar to a babysitter or a nanny, it鈥檚 someone you can rely on regularly.鈥�

The services range from routine maintenance 鈥� changing air filters, cleaning gutters, fixing stuck doors 鈥� to small repairs and so-called 鈥渏oy projects鈥� that homeowners often don鈥檛 鈥� or can鈥檛 鈥� take on themselves. That could mean installing holiday lights, building a 鈥渃atio鈥� (a cat patio), hanging a swing chair in a child鈥檚 bedroom or enlarging a chicken coop.
鈥淗oney Homes replaces the hassle of home upkeep with joy and comfort,鈥� Vishwas says.

The process begins with a free home walkthrough, a feature Vishwas says sets the company apart. A Honey Homes representative visits the house, explains how the membership works and walks room to room with the homeowner, identifying projects and prioritizing needs.

鈥淢ost people start with a short list,鈥� Vishwas says. 鈥淏y the end, they鈥檝e realized there鈥檚 a whole ton of stuff they want to get done.鈥�

If a project falls outside Honey Homes鈥� scope 鈥� like a major remodel, for example 鈥� the company still offers guidance. The goal, Vishwas says, is to be 鈥渙n the homeowner鈥檚 side,鈥� not to upsell unnecessary work.

That philosophy reflects Vishwas鈥檚 broader career, which has consistently lived at the intersection of technology, business and real-world problems.

As a Dietrich College student, Vishwas earned a double major in information systems and economics, along with a minor in Spanish. He arrived in Pittsburgh from upstate New York in the late 1990s, flying in alone with two suitcases and taking a shuttle bus to campus while other first-year students arrived with their families.

鈥淚 think the education's great, but the people that you meet at 麻豆村 are really what makes it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n high school, I had maybe 300 people in my graduating class and maybe 30 were kind of like me, taking the honors AP classes.鈥�

鈥淎ll of a sudden, you show up at 麻豆村 and you're surrounded by those people. The intellectual level goes way up, and it was really interesting to learn about people鈥檚 personal experiences and their academic experiences.鈥�

Vishwas found himself surrounded by students who blended technical rigor with creative ambition, and that helped shape his entrepreneurial mindset.

鈥淵ou learn how to connect ideas across disciplines,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big part of entrepreneurship.鈥�
After graduating in 2002, Vishwas began his career in investment banking before moving to ESPN, where he worked on early mobile and broadband projects. He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and joined several startups, including Digg, an old-school social aggregator similar to Reddit.

He went on to found and help lead multiple venture-backed companies, including a sports startup that was acquired, and later joined Yelp, where he helped that platform build the restaurant side of the business. He also served as chief operating officer at fintech startup Digit, which grew to about $50 million in revenue before being acquired for more than $200 million.

Through it all, Vishwas says he was drawn to building products that connected digital tools with everyday life.
鈥淗oney Homes is very much about using technology to make an impact in the physical world,鈥� he says.

Running his own company, however, has brought its own lessons. Startup life, Vishwas says, is a constant emotional swing, with highs and lows sometimes unfolding in the same day.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not fully in control,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e accountable to your team, your customers and your investors. If customers are happy, everything else should take care of itself.鈥�

In recent years, Vishwas has also reconnected with Carnegie Mellon, engaging more deeply with its alumni community and returning to campus. He says he has been struck by how vibrant and entrepreneurial the ecosystem has become.

鈥淲hen I meet new 麻豆村 grads, I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃ow, they鈥檙e way more impressive than I was at that age,鈥欌�� he says, laughing.
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