Even plumbers need software: How ServiceTitan became a billion-dollar start-up

GLENDALE, Calif. - After landing their first major round of investment in 2015, the co-founders of one of L.A.'s fastest-growing start-ups had to make a major decision.

They were flush with cash. It was time to start hiring more employees. But where should they go?

"Some people were asking if we could move to Santa Monica, or move downtown," said Vahe Kuzoyan, ServiceTitan's president and co-founder.

So Kuzoyan called an all-hands meeting and laid out all the potential locations that made sense for the company.

"I said, 'OK, we can go to West Glendale. Or North Glendale. Or South Glendale.' "

Four years later, ServiceTitan has grown to a company valued at $1.65 billion by building a software suite for the plumbers, electricians, HVAC-repair people and garage-door installers of the world.

The tech hubs of Silicon Beach and Silicon Valley have germinated thousands of start-ups serving every imaginable need of the kinds of people who work at start-ups. But they had largely ignored the $400-billion home services economy.

It took two guys who grew up in Glendale helping their fathers work as plumbers