Nathan Evans is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Sweet Deeds Inc.

The idea for what became SweetDeeds.com resulted from his experience as a general contractor specializing in historic preservation. Once while driving ninety miles to pick-up a gilded gaslight shade, He thought, “this level of attention to detail is very time consuming…I imagine enthusiastic homeowners must feel overwhelmed at times trying to preserve an interesting old house the right way.” He saw a solution as an online forum for builders and homeowners to find each other to exchange information and build rapport through portfolios they create about their triumphs, distresses and follies. This is especially appealing when homeowners feel that they are on an equal footing with pros. “Websites devoted to obscure architectural details exist but, they are not optimized nor kept up-to-date because these websites frequently are built on the cheap. As a result, my clients can’t get to the information they need in time to keep projects moving. We’d get bogged down choosing molding profiles or the owner would see the work they ordered done and say that they didn’t think it would look like that. I saw a desperate need in construction to improve access to information on materials, historical context, and services. It’s particularly desperate for the small pros, which are the interesting players. They live on referrals and binder full of old project photos.”

The turning point toward envisioning what SweetDeeds will become occurred when the direction became creating a web application that’s totally inclusive. “We designed to encourage participation at all levels by creating a social networking experience but, with purpose because real estate and home improvement come with stakes and experience counts.”