Twitter Bootstrap + Subtlepatterns \m/
Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
51–60 of 76 posts
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was a beta user for Exec. I used the website to order a task ahead of time - delivering a burrito to my boyfriend on Valentine's Day! The coolest part was being able to watch the delivery happen in real-time on my iPhone (super cool). It was an adjustment for me to think of an everyday task that I could outsource. In general, I think that if people can make the mental switch, Exec will be a game changer.
randomly noticed. happy 1000th day birthday on HN!
Please don't do this. It does not contribute to the discussion.
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#53This sounds pretty damn cool. It's like a more humane, more generous implementation of the vision of Mechanical Turk. When is it coming to London? I'll sign up.
It's not real-time but you might be interested in okhired.com - my (London based) startup. Would love some feedback if you have a minute.
The fact that they interview the workers is a big plus from my point of view. From your "About us" page:
> Anyone can join the site but we are currently only focusing on the London and the surrounding area so this is probably where most of the jobs will be. However, you're welcome to sign up and create an alert to notify you when jobs become available near you.
That doesn't sound like there's much vetting. A service like this lives or dies on being able to convince the buyer that there won't be any trouble that ends up costing even more time and money.
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#54Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#55I'm blown by how basic the site looks right now. This attitude of launching something which probably doesn't even do much yet is really hard for me to digest. Also, Justin's comment on keeping features to a minimum is interesting. Everyone always talks about it, but few manage to pull it off because you need the right features. Justin, can you comment on how you chose your feature set?
Don't confuse "simple" with "doesn't do much yet."
Exec does plenty. It planned an awesome weekend biking trip for my girlfriend and I, found me a great-sounding (and surprisingly affordable) stereo amp for my bedroom sound system, got me a new iphone (after minimaxing all of the plan options based on my historical usage and international travel plans), researched all of my options for cloud photo storage and got me set up, found me the most styling archival-quality inventor's notebook ever, helped me box up stuff and move it to storage, stocked our office with drinks.. gosh, probably some other things I'm forgetting. All in about a week and and a half. It rocks.
This was enough for Justin to sell me on offering a $100/month Exec credit to all of our employees (who am I kidding, I sold myself without any work whatsoever on their part.) So that quota-based, employer-pays billing system was the other thing they prioritized.
Like Uber, the genius of Exec is precisely that it is one text box and one button. More stuff on the webpage would probably make it worse.
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#56Having found Exec in the AppStore, I noticed that they have 11 other apps for specific restaurants ... is Exec a pivot from another idea?
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#57Justin, What's involved in the interview process? What are the different stages?
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
The multitasking founder is an interesting emerging trend - Jack Dorsey being the most prominent example, and Steve Jobs before him. If an effective founder is the rarest commodity, and their role at mid-to-large startups can be reduced to its most essential elements, it makes a lot of economic sense.
It's probably an anti-pattern. The only great example, Steve Jobs, took the CEO title at Pixar but my sense is that he played more of a Chairman's role there, he only really did the full CEO thing at Apple. Even Jobs had to neglect huge portions of Apple itself to focus on developing new products like the iPhone. One reason it probably can't really work very well: http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html
I think Jack Dorsey (and now Justin Kan) are pretty good examples, too. Why are you excluding those two?
Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#59Re: Justin Kan Launches Exec (YC W12) For Real-Time Mobile Jobs
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's probably an anti-pattern. The only great example, Steve Jobs, took the CEO title at Pixar but my sense is that he played more of a Chairman's role there, he only really did the full CEO thing at Apple. Even Jobs had to neglect huge portions of Apple itself to focus on developing new products like the iPhone. One reason it probably can't really work very well: http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html
I think Jack Dorsey (and now Justin Kan) are pretty good examples, too. Why are you excluding those two?
Because neither has proven that it can work yet.
I can think of multiple counter-examples as well. People who are trying to run multiple organizations and doing rather poorly (as judged by results). I wouldn't want to single them out publicly though. Besides, it's rather difficult to judge the cause and effect for things like this.