TaskRabbit – What Craigslist Should Have Been

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I had no time and desperately needed to get my laundry done yesterday (I was down to my last pair  of underwear!). So I do what I always do when I need some extra help, turn to Craigslist.

I went to the Craigslist section and all of a sudden finding someone to do my laundry became a daunting task. Writing out the job description, figuring out how much I should pay, and then also picking the right person – after all, I wanted to avoid all the weirdos that want to sniff my underwear. Luckily I remembered a friend mentioning TaskRabbit to me.

TaskRabbit is one of the best web applications I have used in a really long time. They made the entire process a no-brainer. Below are the details of what they did exceptionally well.

1. TaskRabbit already knew the top things people ask for. They made it really easy for me to select “Laundry”.

2. Next they answer all the questions I have before I even asked them.

3. This was probably my favorite thing: They show me how much I should pay. I really had no idea how much money to offer. (I decided to pay $41 because I was desperate).

4. I didn’t have to actually write any instructions. TaskRabbit allows you to use other peoples instructional templates and modify them to how you want. Luckily I didn’t even have to modify anything.

5. In minutes of posting my laundry job, I got an email from TaskRabbit saying a guy named Joel is willing to do my task! I was able to check out his profile and reviews to make sure he wasn’t a weirdo. I decided to give him the job (all it took was one click) – an hour later he was at my door… 5 hours later my 3 loads of laundry were clean, folded, and at my doorstep.

TaskRabbit really understands me. They know how lazy I am (for example I don’t even want to do my own laundry!) and so they make it just a few clicks to get the job done. I hope this post inspires you to look at your own company and strive for making it brainless easy.

23 Comments

  1. I desperately want Task Rabbit to come to DC. I would use it SO often. Especially after seeing this I am even more envious of the cities that have it. Great post!

  3. LOL that is the ultimate in laziness – not doing your laundry!

    I am working on a software which would apply a similar template system, but for managing complex business processes. I’m imagining that lazy (or overwhelmed) managers are willing to pay a premium for a process management template for things like Sarbane Oxley compliance.

    What do you reckon?

    • haha yes – possibly the epitome of laziness!

      That sounds like a really good idea. I would start off by asking those lazy managers to see what they need and what their biggest problems are.

      • I definitely will be getting in touch with the lazy managers and seeing what they want done for them.

        Have you ever noticed that it’s hard to get good answers from people during the market research phase? I think it has to do with the ‘What’s in it for me? Nothing? OK then I won’t care’

        • Hey Akash – That is a really great question.

          The market research phase only works if you act like you already have the product and are asking them to pay for it. If they pay for it then you know you have a product that has some legs. If they say no you can dive deeper with them to figure out what they will pay for – the goal is to uncover what problem you can solve for them.

          • Hi Rishi,

            Interesting take. I did that with a test product a while back http://www.popcatch.com – tons of sign ups, lots of annoyed people because there was no product (oops!)

            How would you handle telling the customers who paid that there is no product?

            Regards,
            Akash

            • Hi Akash,

              If the customer is rich enough I would sell the product as a consulting gig and charge the amount it would cost to build it. So ~$100k.

              For PopCatch – did you get any paid signups?

              Rishi

  4. As co-founder of WeGoLook.com, it is exciting to see TR’s success and for “the masses” to learn of cloud labor.
    WeGoLook.com is a nationwide service with over 7,400 agents. We provide custom tasking, reporting, inspections, field services and more. WGL will take current photos, video, make observations, perform variety of tasks, measure, deliver an item to a shipper, arrange transport, provide custom reporting templates for B2B and so much more! Experience the power of the crowd with companies like TaskRabbit and WeGoLook!

    • Hi Robin – I could have used your business a few years ago. I totally got ripped off by this guy in Michigan. Wish I had one of your agents come out and make sure he was legit.

  5. I don’t think not doing your own laundry is lazy. If you’re happier and more productive doing something else, then you should be doing it! Let someone else take care of your laundry so you can focus on better things!

    But, laziness aside, craiglist is horrible. I can’t believe people still use it. (Even though I still use it all the time.) There are so many simple features that craigslist could implement to make it a much better product – starting with better filtering. Making a better craigslist could be an entire post of its own.

    I don’t know what tasks I need to get done, but when I figure them out, I’m going to use task rabbit!

    • Hi Jamie,

      Thanks for supporting me in my decision of doing laundry and not calling me lazy :p haha

      >> Making a better craigslist could be an entire post of its own.

      I think its really hard to make a better Craigslist. What I like about TaskRabbit is they are only going after one segment of Craigslist, which makes it a lot easier to scale.

      • >> Making a better craigslist could be an entire post of its own.

        I think “Status Quo” needs to be challenged as far as craigslist is concerned. Getting ready to launch beta of http://www.SWOOPRZ.com that’ll not only help you with your tasks but will also help you list your product buying and selling needs.

  6. Laziness is a virtue as an entrepreneur. Pay other people to do stuff for you! Very wise, and well done. I hadn’t heard of Task Rabbit. I’m gonna check it out, even though my wife will probably yell at me when I start outsourcing random household stuff 🙂

    • haha

      I just used TaskRabbit again this weekend and I’m thinking of making it a company policy. Every team member brings their laundry into the office every 3 weeks and at the end of the day their laundry will be done via TaskRabbit. You are welcome to get in on it – I won’t tell your wife 😉

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