What The Home Team does

The Home Team is a privately held company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, that was founded in 2016 by Troy Stevens. Originally, it operated as a two-sided marketplace platform designed to connect customers with local, vetted service providers for labor-intensive tasks such as moving and related home services. The company is reported to have had between 101 and 250 employees at its peak, and it raised $385,000 from Hillman Accelerator in August 2018 alongside participation in the gbeta accelerator program earlier that year.

In 2024, The Home Team executed a full strategic pivot, discontinuing its labor marketplace operations in favor of becoming a content publishing business under the operating name Hire Home Team. The platform now runs exclusively on hirehometeam.com, a WordPress-based blog that publishes first-person product reviews and buying guides across a broad set of consumer categories — including beauty, home improvement, electronics, outdoor equipment, and lifestyle goods. Content follows a consistent "I Tested..." editorial format structured to capture organic search traffic from product-research queries.

Monetization is entirely dependent on Amazon's affiliate program. Every product recommendation embeds tracked Amazon links (tagged ?tag=hopeber-20), and the platform earns commissions on qualifying purchases routed through those links. As of data collection, the site contained 235 pages of blog content with roughly 10 reviews per page, suggesting several thousand published articles since the pivot. The company does not sell products directly, operate a marketplace, or maintain any disclosed advertising or sponsorship relationships outside of the Amazon affiliate arrangement.

Name

The Home Team

Website

https://hirehometeam.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Home Team (operating as Hire Home Team) is a WordPress-based content publishing platform that monetizes first-person consumer product reviews through the Amazon affiliate program. Founded in 2016 as a labor marketplace, it pivoted in 2024 to SEO-driven affiliate content across diverse consumer categories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Product Review and Affiliate Content Publishing

akta.pro primary industry

Home, Garden & DIY Magazines (MPAJAEAG)

Keywords

• Product review blog
• Affiliate marketing content
• Consumer buying guides
• First-person product testing
• Lifestyle recommendations

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Affiliate Marketing: The platform generates revenue through Amazon affiliate links embedded in product reviews. Each product recommendation includes tracked affiliate links that earn commissions on qualifying purchases. This is evidenced by the ?tag=hopeber-20 affiliate tags throughout the site.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Home Team operates a content publishing platform (hirehometeam.com) that publishes first-person, hands-on product reviews and buying guides for consumer goods across categories such as beauty, home improvement, outdoor equipment, and electronics. The platform does not sell its own products; it monetizes each review through tracked Amazon affiliate links that earn commissions on qualifying purchases made by readers.

Product overview

The Home Team (operating as Hire Home Team) is a content publishing platform that operates hirehometeam.com. Originally founded in 2016 as a marketplace connecting customers with local labor help for moving and various tasks, the company pivoted in 2024 to focus on personal product analysis and firsthand usage reviews. The platform publishes in-depth reviews of consumer products across diverse categories including home goods, electronics, personal care, outdoor equipment, and lifestyle products. The company does not manufacture or sell its own products; instead, it provides editorial reviews and recommendations for third-party consumer goods available on platforms like Amazon.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AmazoncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Amazon affiliate partnership where The Home Team embeds tracked Amazon product links (?tag=hopeber-20) in reviews and buying guides. The company earns commissions on qualifying purchases made through these affiliate links, representing their primary revenue stream.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Wirecutter: New York Times' product review and recommendation site with rigorous first-party testing methodology. Closest large-scale analog to The Home Team's "I Tested" editorial format, monetized via affiliate links, but backed by NYT brand authority and a multi-million-dollar testing operation.
• The Strategist: New York Magazine's product recommendation vertical covering beauty, home, fashion, and lifestyle categories with affiliate links. Directly comparable to The Home Team's category breadth and editorial commerce model, but supported by a major publisher.
• Reviewed: USA Today's product review division with a dedicated testing lab producing hands-on reviews across electronics, home, and appliances. Operates the same first-person testing-and-affiliate model as The Home Team but at significantly greater scale.
• Tom's Guide: Future plc-operated consumer technology review site with affiliate commerce and review-style editorial. Comparable in testing-first content approach and Amazon monetization, though more focused on tech than The Home Team's broader category mix.
• BuzzFeed Reviews: BuzzFeed's product review vertical using listicle and hands-on review formats with affiliate links. Comparable in casual voice, broad category coverage, and affiliate-driven monetization model.
• The Spruce: Dotdash Meredith-operated home and lifestyle recommendation site with affiliate commerce. Comparable as a category-broad review-and-recommendation platform, particularly within The Home Team's home improvement and outdoor categories.
• Apartment Therapy: Independent home and lifestyle editorial site publishing recommendations and reviews with affiliate links. Comparable editorial commerce model focused on home categories that overlap with portions of The Home Team's coverage.

Direct peers

• Best Products: Hearst-operated product recommendation site publishing listicles and reviews across diverse consumer categories with affiliate commerce. Highly comparable in format, category breadth, and monetization to The Home Team.
• Gear Patrol: Independent men's lifestyle publication covering gear, home, and outdoor products with affiliate commerce. Comparable as an independent, voice-led review publication monetized through affiliate links rather than owned inventory.
• Heavy.com: Independent general-interest content site operating as a Display & Video 360 monetization partner with broad category coverage. Comparable as an independent, broad-category content property relying on display and affiliate monetization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hirehometeam

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Home Team