

TaskRabbit Turns Grunt Work Into a Game - bootload
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/mf_taskrabbit/

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tectonic
I've lifesourced the following things:

\- wedding envelope stuffing and addressing (TaskRabbit)

\- travel itinerary, safety, and language school research (TaskRabbit)

\- idea generation (Mechanical Turk)

\- scanning of wedding thank you cards (TaskRabbit)

\- wedding photo cleanup (Fiverr)

\- logo design (Fiverr)

\- article research (TaskRabbit)

\- custom octopus-related pottery as a wedding gift (non-Etsy online artist)

\- other custom artwork (Etsy)

I actually own lifesourcer.com, which was intended to be a blog about
outsourcing parts of your life, but I've failed to actually do anything with
it. As to outsource this as well, if you're interested in this topic and want
to write about it, feel free to contact me and we can partner.

~~~
nodata
I'd definitely be interested in reading more about this.

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mrmaddog
"Since many common tasks are carried out in the senders’ homes, runners are
vetted through a three-step process, which starts with an application form and
progresses to an automated phone or video interview that poses a series of
questions designed to weed out deadbeats. Finally, TaskRabbit pays the
database giant Acxiom to perform a federal criminal background check on each
prospective worker."

Sounds like what AirBnB should be doing for both renters and hosts...

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vnchr
I spent 4 months in NYC unemployed and twiddling my thumbs. I would have been
so much happier to run around, putting together desks, dropping off groceries
and waiting in line for people. Ad hoc productivity and pay sounds delightful.

~~~
MortenK
Yeah, probably alot of people of all kinds of backgrounds would find this kind
of "temp" work, to be very appealing. It's a total win-win both for the
runners who do tasks, and the end-customers, who get tasks done.

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Robin_Message
It's interesting that in the UK TV series of the Apprentice, the candidate who
came second lost for having this as their business plan. TaskRabbit have a
better set of suggested tasks than she did though, and a better
demographic/channel (SV intetnet) compared to a UK-wide phone service.

Link: [http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/series7/helen-louise-
milliga...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/series7/helen-louise-
milligan.shtml#ta-person-content)

~~~
ig1
Not really, she was tackling the same problem as TaskRabbit but with a
completely different solution. Her solution was a franchise business of
individuals who did tasks, which has completely different economics to the
marketplace model of TaskRabbit.

~~~
Robin_Message
Yes, you're certainly right that TaskRabbit is tackling the same problem in a
different way. It was similar enough to remind me and achieved the same ends
though.

I guess my point is that ideas really are unimportant, because even what
appears to be the same idea on the surface can be totally different from a
business perspective. All in the execution.

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MortenK
This concept is beyond brilliant. What an unbelievable stress reliever, to be
able to have all sorts of tasks done for you, at a time that's convenient. If
it turns out to be scalable / reproducable, it could be a real disruptor to
parts of the labor market too. This is true innovation. All fingers crossed
for the success of these guys.

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duncan_bayne
This should push so many buttons, in particular those belonging to unions &
folks who still think minimum wage laws are a good idea.

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_delirium
I would expect minimum-wage laws would still apply? I mean, they may be hard
to enforce for short-term cash-only transactions, but that's true with other
informal jobs as well: Craigslist gigs, or even the old-fashioned method of
paying one of the guys standing outside Home Depot for a few hours of
construction labor.

(Though an interesting question would be whether TaskRabbit makes any attempt
to enforce minimum wages, or if that's the responsibility of the buyer.)

~~~
ig1
I imagine the individuals would count as self-employed contractors and so
wouldn't fall under minimum wage laws due to not being employees.

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minikomi
Great idea, and the video is very very well done. The top rated guy seems very
kind, considerate and hard working.. Made me really grin to browse around
their site. Good luck!!

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ableal
The illustration reminded me of a story, seventy years old this month, by
Robert A. Heinlein ( "—We Also Walk Dogs" ,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E2%80%94We_Also_Walk_Dogs> ): "Want somebody
murdered? Then DON'T call General Services. But for _anything else_ , call....
It Pays!"

Of course, this is improved by clever game-style hooks and actual
implementation via internet on a much wider labor pool.

