No, Angie Hicks made her fortune the old fashioned way, with a good idea, and a healthy dollop of good luck. In case you're not familiar with her name, Angie Hicks is the "Angie" of Angie's List, the popular website that collects reviews of various service industry providers in the hopes of serving as a "word of mouth" database on which consumers can find information on possible contractors. What distinguishes Angie's List from other review websites can be summed up in one word: Exclusivity. While sites like Yelp! and other review sites allow for anonymous reviews, Angie's List only allows paid subscribers to post reviews, resulting in many cranks and biased reviewers being weeded out.
Hicks started the service in 1995 as a result of her search for a reliable contractor for her friend, venture capitalist Bill Osterle. The two saw they had a great idea, so they moved to Columbus, OH to start Angie's List, which began as a call-in service rather than a website. From those humble beginnings, the organization grew to the place it is today, with more than 1.5 million subscribers. Angie's list survived the post 2001 dot com bust and nearly 10 years later is planning to go public which will almost certainly make Angie Hicks' net worth sky rocket.
