Our co-founder Jacob Gabriel sat down with host Zander Sprague on EPIC Begins With 1 Step Forward, a show about people who took the first step on something new. The episode aired on October 8, 2026. Jacob talked about starting Renovation Bridge at 18, what actually happens when a homeowner calls us, and the mistake he sees most often when people pick a contractor.
The full conversation runs about 30 minutes and is on YouTube. Here are the parts homeowners asked us about most.
How it started
Jacob and I met when I was working at a clothing company and reached out to him, since he was making music at the time, to promote it. We were both working for other people and kept asking each other what it would take to start something of our own. About a month later I called him and asked if I could come over the next morning. In Jacob's words, I showed up “with a contract ready, with a presentation,” and he signed it that day.
The idea came from our own families. My dad worked as a general contractor, and growing up I heard the same complaint over and over: he wished he could find more homeowners who were ready to renovate. Jacob's family had the opposite problem. They were looking for a contractor and, as he put it, “they didn't know which contractor to choose. They were overwhelmed with the options.”
“I think we can simplify this. I think we can bridge the gap.”
That's where the name comes from.
How a match works
Zander asked the question most homeowners start with: who do I hire, and who do I trust? Jacob walked through what happens after you reach out. You tell him about the project, whether it's a kitchen, a bathroom, an ADU or something else, along with your timeline and budget. He takes that to the contractors in our network.
“Only the ones that say yes, I can do this job at this price. I then book the appointment and make the connection, and it's a completely free service for homeowners.”
He also said what a lot of people are thinking when they first hear that: many homeowners assume it's too good to be true and ask where the catch is. Homeowners never pay us. Contractors pay Renovation Bridge a fee when we connect them with a project.
How we vet contractors
Jacob didn't give away the whole list, but he covered the core of it. We start with the California State License Board and check whether a contractor has been sued or is under an active investigation. Then we go see the work: job sites in progress, where you can see how the crew works and whether the site is run safely, and finished projects, where you can check that everything lines up and works. We talk to past homeowners about whether the contractor was on time and professional.
The step he called the most important is the one most people never think to take:
“The homeowner isn't going to see through all the cracks. Who really will is the workers and the people working under that contractor. So we ask them on ongoing sites, have you been paid on time?”
A contractor who falls behind paying their crew or subs usually shows it there first. You can read the full list on our vetting process page.
Not a lead list
Jacob was clear that we don't sell homeowner information. “We never sell leads,” he said. “We're not a lead generation service.” On a lead site, your name and number go to several contractors at once and the calls start. With us, Jacob reviews the project with contractors first and only connects you with the ones who said yes.
“The only person from Renovation Bridge that the homeowner will hear from is me until I make the connection with the contractor.”
Comparing bids
Once homeowners have bids, Jacob sits down with them to compare “apples to apples as opposed to apples to oranges”: what each contractor is charging for labor, for rough materials, and how long each says the job will take. Bids for the same project rarely line up on their own, so this is where a lot of the real decision gets made.
He also explained why the lowest number deserves a second look:
“If we get you four bids, they're all within the range of $60,000 to $90,000, and someone else is saying they can do it for $45,000, there's something going on there. The labor alone or the materials alone is going to cost more than that.”
The cheapest bid is usually skipping something. Jacob added that the most expensive bid isn't automatically the best one either. And he pointed out what cutting corners can cost: an unlicensed contractor or a job done without the right permits can mean work that has to be torn out.
Jacob's two tips for homeowners
Zander closed by asking what homeowners should do before they hire anyone. Jacob gave two answers.
- Get multiple bids, and talk to each contractor about how they run the project. Don't only compare numbers. “These are people that might be at your house from weeks to months to the better part of a year,” so make sure you like working with them and your values line up.
- Trust your gut. “If you are leaning towards going for a cheaper bid, but something tells you it's a little bit off, it's off. It's not worth it.”
Thanks to Zander Sprague and the EPIC Begins team for having Jacob on. If you've been putting off a project because you don't know who to trust, that's the conversation Jacob has every day, and it costs you nothing.
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