Jon Grishpul

I help homeowners find great contractors.

I help great contractors find great homeowners.

Jon Grishpul, co-founder of GreatBuildz and co-CEO of Maxable, Los Angeles.

Does
Contractor vetting, remodeling and ADU guidance, digital marketing, SEO, web and tool building
Since
2019
Based in
Los Angeles, California
Studied
B.S. Business Administration, marketing. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

I work both sides of a remodel.

Since 2019 my team at GreatBuildz has evaluated more than 20,000 California contractors and let fewer than 5% into our network. We have helped more than 2,000 homeowners hire one.

I grew up around construction. My grandfather was an electrical contractor and I worked alongside him as a kid. I studied marketing at Cal Poly, managed customer experience accounts at Oracle, then spent two years as a leadership consultant. In 2019 I co-founded GreatBuildz with Paul Dashevsky to fix the part of remodeling that goes wrong most often, which is who you hire. In 2023 I became co-CEO of Maxable, which helps homeowners plan and build ADUs.

The other half of my job is marketing. I built both companies' websites and many of the systems behind them, and I run their SEO, content, Google and Meta ads and YouTube myself. I've also written more than 300 articles for GreatBuildz, Maxable and other outlets. So I know the industry from the homeowner's side of the table and from the contractor's.

The short version of the career

Work

  • GreatBuildz, co-founder and co-CEO2019 to now
  • Maxable, co-CEO2023 to now
  • BidCompare AI, creator2025
  • The LA Realtor Podcast, producer2022 to 2023
  • Alpha Epsilon Pi, leadership consultant2016 to 2018
  • Oracle, account manager2015 to 2016

Ask me about

  • How to vet and hire a contractor
  • Reading and comparing contractor bids
  • What remodels and ADUs cost in California
  • Contractor scams after storms and fires
  • SEO and local marketing for contractors
  • Staying visible as search moves to AI
Jon Grishpul, smiling, in a grey shirt against a concrete wall

Great contractors are hard to find. They shouldn't be.

A homeowner can't tell a careful contractor from a careless one by reading a bid or a website. And the best builders I know are often the worst at marketing themselves.

So the cheapest bid and the loudest ad win more often than they should. My work comes at that problem from both ends: checking contractors on behalf of homeowners, and helping the good ones get seen.

For homeowners

I help people find a contractor they can trust.

  • I set the barI helped build the screening every GreatBuildz contractor has to pass, and I still take calls from homeowners myself.
  • I write the guidesI've written more than 300 articles on costs, hiring and what to ask before you sign.
  • I built the bid checkerBidCompare AI is a free tool I made that lines up contractor bids and shows what each one leaves out.
  • I teach ADUsAt Maxable we help homeowners research an ADU, plan it and find the architect, lender and builder. I host our webinars, which are on YouTube.

For contractors

I help great contractors get found by the homeowners they want.

5,000+
homeowner leads through websites I built and run
$25M+
in completed jobs for contractors in our network
300+
articles written for GreatBuildz, Maxable and others
  • I know how homeowners chooseWe've matched more than 2,000 homeowners with contractors. I've seen what makes them pick one company and pass on another.
  • I know what the best do differentlyI've been part of evaluating more than 20,000 contractors. Fewer than 5% made our network, and I know what set them apart.
  • I do the work myselfSEO, websites, Google and Meta ads, content. I've done each one by hand for two companies of my own.
  • I build the systems tooCRM, intake and lead follow-up. A lead nobody answers is wasted, so I build that part as well.
  • I keep you visible as search changesHomeowners find contractors through Google, Maps, reviews and now AI assistants. I work across all of them so you show up wherever they look.

Contractors have asked me for years to run their marketing directly. If that's you, send me a note.

What I've told reporters

The Los Angeles Times, LAist, the Los Angeles Business Journal, WTOP News and Spectrum News 1 have quoted me on contractors, bids and ADUs.

Jon Grishpul being interviewed on the set of Good Business San Diego on FOX 5
On set at FOX 5 San Diego, 2025.Watch the interview
“Meeting with contractors is sort of like speed dating.”
On why a first meeting tells you little. News10NBC, Rochester, January 2026
“Even the best of the best contractors would benefit from some oversight.”
On staying involved once work starts. WTOP News, Washington, August 2025
“Homeowners aren't just spending more – they're experiencing more regret.”
On the renovate or relocate decision. Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, September 2025
“They want to keep grandma close and they want to reduce expenses.”
On why families build ADUs for relatives. WDBJ7, February 2026
“It's significantly more affordable than buying a new home.”
On ADUs and millennial families in Los Angeles. LAist, March 2024

The record

Every name here is a piece that quotes me, interviews me or carries my byline, and each links to the original. Coverage of the companies is on the GreatBuildz press page.

Where the work happens

The GreatBuildz home page
The Maxable home page
The BidCompare AI upload page

greatbuildz.commaxablespace.combidcompareai.com

Away from work

Most of my free time is spent outside: rock climbing first, then backpacking, camping and hiking.

I also foster dogs through Wags and Walks, a rescue in Los Angeles. Ten have come through our home so far. One of them, a chihuahua named Ferris, never left.

Jon sitting on a granite boulder in climbing shoes, laughing, with desert scrub behind him Jon bouldering on an overhanging rock face Jon in a red shirt bouldering low on a desert rock, crash pads below Jon with trekking poles at the Mount Baldy summit marker A small black and white dog standing on Jon's shoulder by a window

Get in touch

For interviews and podcasts, send the topic and your deadline. Contractors, tell me your trade and where you work.

Or message me on LinkedIn.

Message me on LinkedIn