The opportunity
Salon operators live with a stack of tools that don’t talk to each other: a booking app, a separate POS, a spreadsheet for stock, and no discovery channel beyond Instagram. Each tool charges a subscription. None of them share data.
The thesis behind iCut: unify the operator stack into one product, then add a customer-facing marketplace that actually sends salons business. Tool for the day; growth lever on top.
What we built
Operator app (mobile-first)
POS, calendar, staff management, inventory, client CRM — one app the owner runs the day from. Designed for a phone in an apron pocket.
Customer marketplace
Discovery, reviews, booking, payments. The consumer side of the same backend — so availability, pricing, and staff are live-synced.
Payments & payouts
Stripe Connect for multi-party payouts. Card present, Apple Pay, Google Pay. Tip distribution across stylists.
Scheduling engine
Multi-staff calendars with service durations, buffers, block-outs, recurring appointments, no-show protection.
Reporting & operator analytics
End-of-day reconciliation, staff performance, service profitability — the numbers owners actually check.
Infrastructure for two-sided ops
Listing ranking, availability search, review workflows, dispute handling — the mechanics a marketplace needs to work.
How we built it
Mobile-first from the ground up: React Native across iOS and Android for operator and customer apps, shared component and data layer. PWA fallback for quick-access admin.
We built the operator app first, got real salons onto it, and only then shipped the marketplace — keeping the two-sided flywheel in sequence rather than chasing both at once.
Outcomes
iCut operates today as a live platform for salon owners, with the POS + marketplace duality intact. Operators run the day on it; the marketplace continues to drive inbound bookings to them.
What this means if you're hiring us
- We’ve built two-sided marketplaces past the chicken-and-egg problem — not in a whiteboard session.
- We’ve shipped mobile apps that salon staff use hundreds of times a day.
- We’ve integrated Stripe Connect, tips, payouts, disputes — the messy parts of payments.
- We’ve built the reporting and operator data layer that actually keeps customers around.