USA Today recently named their top entrepreneur of the year. The main criteria for receiving this award, according to USA today, were leading a company that exhibited significant growth over the past year and solving a common consumer problem. The award went to Matt Ehrlichman, who is the CEO of porch.com.

The best way to summarize what porch.com is all about is in the words of Ehrlichman himself (I’m quoting from the USA Today article): “Whether it’s to clean your gutters or fix an electrical problem, we’re busy building a network of certified professionals with whom we’ve pre-negotiated pricing so there’s no surprise on that front…. We hope it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever been frustrated by home repair work.” So, that explains the common consumer problem that this company solves. According to the article, Ehrlichman came up with the idea in the first place when he was encountering frustration in the home building and remodeling process himself.

As far as exhibiting significant growth, porch.com went from 30 to 300 team members this year. The biggest boost for the company came from Lowe’s, the huge national hardware store, which incorporated porch.com’s software in all of its stores.

The article ends with a couple of pieces of advice from Ehrlichman for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs, and I think they are worth sharing here. First, build a good team, and be selective about who you hire. Also, be passionate about your product. These are both pretty obvious pieces of advice, but good to keep in the forefront of your mind.