To our customers,
In early 2024, after three years building infrastructure for electric vehicles, the two of us set out to build something new. For two months we tried idea after idea from a small room in San Francisco, and none of them stuck, because none of them started with a real person and a real problem.
So we closed our laptops and started knocking on doors. We knocked on 140 of them: plumbers, electricians and HVAC shops across the Bay Area. Most were too busy to talk. They were out doing the work that keeps our homes running.
On June 11, 2024, we walked into Armstrong Plumbing and met CEO Marcelle Flowers. She was one of the few people who gave us her time, and she gave us far more than that.
For three months, we worked out of Marcelle’s office every day. We sat beside her while the phones rang. She’d say, “This is broken.” We’d ask, “What if we could do this?” Then we’d build it, right there. In under three weeks, we had a product answering real calls for a real business. Even Broccoli’s purple color comes from those days. It’s Marcelle’s favorite color, and AJ’s too.
Then Any Hour took a chance on us. As our first enterprise customer, they trusted a small team with a young product to answer calls for the people who count on them, and that trust pushed us to build bigger and better.
We still build that way. Every Broccoli product and feature started as a request from one of you. An office manager wanted dispatch fees handled exactly her team’s way, so we built dispatch fee rules. A shop needed to serve Spanish-speaking callers, so we built a Spanish-speaking agent. A marketing lead wanted to reach customers six and nine months after their last job, so we rebuilt how outbound campaigns find the right people. A call center was tired of hunting for new bookings, so every booking now comes with an alert that links straight to the job in their CRM.
Some requests seemed simple. Some seemed impossible. We took each one as a chance to push further, and every late night was worth it if it gave you a little more peace of mind and a little more time back.
You gave us ruthless feedback. We listened, changed and tried again. And again. We trusted you to tell us what you needed, and we hoped we were earning your trust in return.
Every one of you took a chance on us. You opened up your businesses, sat with us in your offices, let us ride along in your trucks and even invited us into your homes. You trusted a young company with your brand and your reputation.
So today, we want to say thank you. Broccoli exists because of you, and everything we build next will start the way it always has: with you.
As our community grew, we had to grow, too. We’ve worked hard to build a team of people who care, people who are grounded, excited to build, and deeply invested in this industry and the people who make it what it is. To our team: thank you for jumping in with both feet and showing up every day with passion, energy, and empathy.
Our community has grown right alongside our team. We’re grateful for the industry partners who share our belief that everything we do should center on the people we serve. To our trade show family, the best practice groups who have supported us, and the events that have welcomed us, and everyone in between: thank you for being a sounding board, making room for us in this industry, and having our backs.
We believe the future is bright for Broccoli, and it’s bright because of the trust you’ve placed in us. For that, we’ll always be grateful.
We can’t wait to keep building and growing alongside you all.
With gratitude,
AJ Jain & Adi Ketkar
Co-founders, Broccoli
Read more about our latest funding round in Fortune.
