Archive for the ‘TaskRabbit Partners’ Category

TaskRabbit Partners with Bravo TV to Launch our Austin Community at SXSWi

March 1st, 2012

You may have heard some of the buzz already, but today, I am thrilled to officially announce that TaskRabbit is launching its Austin market at SXSWi, March 9-13th! To celebrate our newest TaskRabbit community, we’ve partnered with our friends at Bravo and Watch What Happens Live to throw a weeklong launch party!

We have tons of awesomeness planned.  We’ve taken over an outdoor venue about 100 yards from the convention center, and transformed it into our very own TaskRabbit Park. Consider it an oasis of fun for the entirety of SXSWi.

Here’s a snapshot of the festivities we have planned:

  • Friday, March 9: Kickoff Backyard BBQ –Join us for some delicious grub from Franklin BBQ and enjoy live music by The Lumineers (4:30-8pm)
  • Saturday, March 10: SXSW by Bravo – Come have some cocktails with TaskRabbit & your favorite Bravolebrities, like Top Chef Head Judge, Tom Colicchio and Watch What Happens Live Host, Andy Cohen (6-8pm)
  • Sunday, March 11: Sunday Fryday – It’s all things fried! Come fry up some bananas, pickles and Oreos – and wash it down with some cold brews (4:30-8pm)
  • Monday, March 12: Detox Day – Tired yet? Yeah, we thought so. Join us for an afternoon of R&R, with fresh juices from The Daily Juice and yoga classes all afternoon (4:30-7pm)
  • Tuesday, March 13: March Madness Party – Swing by and celebrate day one of March Madness with cold beers and a pop-a-shot tournament (4:30-8pm).

We’re not stopping there… Throughout the SXSWi, there will be TaskRabbit street teams, sponsored by Bravo, handing out cool gear and helping you with all your SX-related Tasks – like waiting in line or delivering a late-night snack for you and your buddies.  And keep your eyes out for our “TaskRabbit bombs” as you are hanging out at the Driskill or Jo’s Coffee or just walking down Second Street. Our TaskRabbits will be “bombing” some of Austin’s favorite treats – like mid-morning coffee and donuts from Gordough’s and late-night pizza from Home Slice.

Come hang out with us in Austin and help us celebrate our Austin launch! The TaskRabbit Park is located at 307 East 2nd Street. See y’all there!

Oh, and did we mention that one of our favorite NYC TaskRabbits, Neville C, will be featured on Bravo’s late-night series Watch What Happens Live? Check it out on March 8th at 11 pm EST/PST. Neville will be Tasking away as the WWHL bartender, serving up some tasty cocktails for Andy and his guests.

 

Want to know more about Bravo?

Bravo is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been an NBCUniversal cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980.  For more information, visit www.BravoTV.com. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BravoPR.

 

 

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Posted in: Community + Neighborhoods, TaskRabbit News, TaskRabbit Partners | 1 Comment »

A Note from the CEO: New Funding, Expanded Leadership & Job Opportunities

May 4th, 2011

In 2008, I left my Software Engineering job at IBM in Boston and decided to build a little site called RunMyErrand.com.  Three years later, I find myself living in a new city (which just happens to be across the country), managing a company with a new name and brand- TaskRabbit.com, and building a presence in two major markets.  It has been quite a whirlwind.  One of the most important aspects of our success to date has been the truly amazing people I have been lucky enough to surround myself with.  I’ve written many posts on how important it has been to assemble the right team.  As an engineer-turned-entrepreneur, I’ve been so grateful for the amazing advisors and investors who have supported TaskRabbit’s growth along the way.  Today, I am thrilled to announce that Shasta Ventures has led our Series A round of investment and Sean Flynn will be joining the TaskRabbit Board.  The new capital will be used to grow our Service Networking platform and support aggressive expansion into new cities.  I could not be happier having Sean and the entire Shasta team as part of the TaskRabbit movement.  Beyond the capital, we have a shared vision for the business and, as an entrepreneur, this was the most important factor when deciding which firm to work with.

I have also enjoyed continued support from our original investors Floodgate, Baseline, and First Round Capital.  Ann Miura-Ko, will remain on the Board as well, working closely with Sean and me.  I am also excited to bring some new folks into the mix, including Collaborative Fund, 500 Startups, and Lisa Gansky, author of The Mesh.  As I look at the group we’ve assembled and how they view and write about the space, I realize we have all the right pieces in place to make this a huge business.  This is beyond thrilling for me as the founder and CEO.

We’ll be hiring folks in all areas of the business, from engineers, to marketing and community management.  We are establishing a very special corporate culture, just ask @sourjayne or @etxeba.  People are the most important thing, whether it is your investors, your team mates, or the members for whom you are building the product.  Come join us as we take this Service Networking movement to the next level.

-Leah Busque
CEO, TaskRabbit

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Posted in: TaskRabbit News, TaskRabbit Partners, TaskRabbit Team | 3 Comments »

TaskRabbit Perk Program

November 2nd, 2010

TaskRabbit has recently been working with a few companies to offer our service as a great perk to their employees.  News broke last week on Gawker regarding a partnership we are exploring, where employees can use TaskRabbit to get laundry done, dry cleaning picked up, help around the house, grocery shopping, etc.

The perks are obvious – employees get the extra help they need and some work life balance, while companies get happy and loyal employees that are more focused on their work (without the stresses of the “little” stuff). Popular posts by people include taking shoes to the cobbler, getting Ikea furniture assembled, bags of donations picked up, and groceries delivered.

It is a competitive market to keep employees happy, and TaskRabbit as a perk helps to differentiate one work environment from another.

We’ve started four-week pilots to test the offering with employees, the goal is to find out how the program works internally, what tasks would employees use, and the overall response from employees.  The response has been overwhelmingly positive throughout these pilots.

TaskRabbit is about harnessing the power that has always existed in a community, and empowering both sides of a marketplace to get things done by creating a trend we call Service Networking.  Our visionary partners, are always looking for new ways to reward and support their employees, and we are proud we can offer TaskRabbit as an exciting and innovative addition to their perk programs.  Are you interested in rewarding your employees with TaskRabbit as a perk?  Drop us a note, we’d be happy to chat: info at taskrabbit dot com.

Posted in: Community + Neighborhoods, TaskRabbit Partners | No Comments »

From a dog's perspective

February 15th, 2010

Hello friends.  Kobe here, the 100-lb yellow lab, that was the inspiration for RunMyErrand.  I’ve been begging my mom to let me write a blog post, but she is such a control freak.  I finally managed to convince her.

My life has changed a lot since that cold February evening in 2008.  I remember it vividly, because I was starving and my parents were buzzing around the house getting ready to go somewhere.  I’m not sure where, but the frantic running around is common in my house.  All I wanted was my kibble and bits (and bits and bits), so I sat there staring at them with a stoic demeanor … that always grabs their attention.  Finally, papa went to fill my bowl, but something was wrong … there were no more bits in the bag.  Panic.  Attack.  I mean, seriously guys, I can’t go without two hearty meals a day … I’m not some little chihuahua.

As the parents tried to figure out how they were going to feed me, the idea for RunMyErrand was born.  I actually never got my dog food that night (sad face), BUT I did get a bowl full of dog treats.  That was a sweet score.

One of my favorite places on earth is Polka Dog Bakery.  I’ve been in a few times to sniff around, and they’ve got some fancy stuff.  Their homemade treats are just the thing to satisfy my complex pallette.  Okay, I lie, I’ll eat anything you put in front of me, but man do those treats always looks SO GOOD.  One of the best things that has come out of RunMyErrand is a partnership with Polka Dog Bakery, so I get my dog food automagically delivered to our door every 6 weeks (you can chose the right amount of time for you).  No need to rely on the parents anymore to remember (because they won’t), it just shows up and I get fed.  No interruptions.  No mess (except for the one I make with my nom-noms).  It’s brilliant!

ps – I dig new technology, you can follow me on twitter here: @kobebusque

Posted in: Kobe, TaskRabbit Partners | No Comments »

We’re Not Invisible Anymore

October 18th, 2009

Boo! Happy almost Halloween.

Hi, Robbie Vorhaus here, RunMyErrand’s chief storyteller, back to talk about my favorite subject: great stories and, of course, RunMyErrand.

Let’s go back a couple years to my best Halloween costume ever. I wrapped my entire head in white gauze, stretching the last layer thinly across my eyes so my head appeared completely covered behind very dark sunglasses. I wore my grandfather’s felt Fedora hat from the 1920s, a deep blue double breasted suit, white button down cotton dress shirt and conservative rep tie, and after I covered my wrists with more gauze, I wore black leather gloves. Not an inch of skin showed anywhere on my body; I was the Invisible Man.

There was no identifiable part of my body, I couldn’t talk, and aside from my posture, there was no way to know I was me. I attended several parties that night, closing the evening on a friend’s roof deck, a little chilled from the night air, although enjoying my anonymity.

Just before I was ready to leave, a 20-something, red haired woman dressed in a Cinderella costume asked me to dance. She grabbed my hand just as the music changed to a slow tune. She said only one thing, “My name is Amanda, and I don’t care who you are. Just hold me close, say nothing, and when this song is over, walk away.”

Cinderella and The Invisible Man intimately dancing under the stars on a cold Halloween night, not saying a word, yet connected by a warm, intimate, anonymous embrace. I never forgot that tender dance with a stranger I will never know, and it reminded me of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 bestselling book, The Invisible Man, as he expressed how society often discounts the unknown – the invisible – yet for those who believe in opportunity and potential, there is great power, almost super power, in the unseen.

There was, indeed, a short time when RunMyErrand was invisible, but no more. We’ve been discovered and it feels so good.

Since this summer, on an invitation from Zipcar’s CEO, Scott Griffith, we’ve been based in Cambridge, operating and incubating out of Zipcar’s headquarters.  Also this summer, our founder and CEO, Leah Busque (our superhero), won Facebook’s prestigious fbFund Rev 2009 incubator program, and spent most of the summer in Palo Alto, CA, working alongside Facebook’s leadership, investors, mentors and other entrepreneurs. And get this: RME was the only east coast company to win!

Scott Kirsner wrote a fabulous piece about us in the Boston Globe, and Robin Hauk featured Leah and RME in her popular blog, Misstropolis.

And while I’m tooting our horn, Leah Busque was named 2009 Hall of Fame Start-Up/Small Business honoree for the Boston Herald’s Women’s Business Hall of Fame. You go, girl!

And also now great companies like IBM, Caturano and Company, Mass General Hospital and Zipcar are offering RME discounts to their employees. More to come!

I’m still trying to decide what to wear for this year’s Halloween, so if you have any ideas, please let me know. Also, tell us about your best Halloween costume. Share with us your favorite RunMyErrand story. Or just take a minute and tell us why you’re happy being alive. We love your stories, and can’t wait hearing more about your adventures.

Posted in: TaskRabbit Partners, TaskRabbit Team | 3 Comments »