Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 40 posts

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#11

Post by justin »

mikeryan wrote: post #10

Its funny the Y-Combinator mafia (and I mean that lovingly) can really be such a great tool for these personal services companies like ZeroCater and Exec. I doubt they're forced to participate but its such a great source of initial users. I think for some of these companies this may be a bigger Y-combinator benefit then the mentoring/cash or VC intros.

Our early customers were probably 50% or more YC and we got a bunch of great initial feedback. So yes, this helps a lot.

There is a pay-it-forward mentality -- Justin.tv serves as an early customer for many YC startups.

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#12

Post by justin »

dirtyaura wrote: post #5
justin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of our customers are using Exec as a way to provide their team members with more leisure time. The way I normally pitch it is that if you want to go grocery shopping to get ingredients for a special meal you are going to cook and you will enjoy, then by all means, go for it. If grocery shopping is a chore that you don't look forward to, then outsource it. You should outsource the things you don't want to do to l…

Justin, I love the idea of Exec. What have been biggest challenge to get it working so far?

Just making sure that every single customer has an amazing experience. It is the core of what we do and there is nothing more important.

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#13

Post by stevenj »

delinka wrote: post #9
stevenj wrote: post #2

That's pretty interesting. One of the things I've always wanted to learn is how to drive a stick shift. I'd definitely pay someone $25/hr to learn.

Check my profile. If I'm close, I can help with that.

Thanks, but I'm in Seattle.

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#14

Post by kiwidrew »

FelixP wrote: post #6

I really like the approach of trying to reduce friction as much as possible. The main problem that I have with TaskRabbit, fiverr, etc is that while those services might be able to help me outsource things I don't want to do myself, they create additional, new work for me in making me draft a proposal, vet people, and so forth, which is (partially) self-defeating.

That's pretty much the precise reason that I don't tend to use these so-called "collaborative consumption" services more: it takes a lot of effort to ensure you get a quality experience. It's great that Exec is doing all that work up front so I won't have to.

It seems to me that a lot of startups go the two-sided marketplace route because they're unable (for fear of becoming a party to the transaction, as well as often lacking the resources) to take control and directly manage the supply side. Airbnb is a great example of this: while they provide a platform to connect hosts and guests, that's pretty much where it ends. They don't even require their hosts to keep their availability calendar accurate, which kind of defeats the point. At least when I go to hotels.com I know that I'll have a room waiting for me when I arrive.

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#16

Post by alain94040 »

throwaway1979 wrote: post #15

Are average developers really getting paid 150K in the valley these days? (figure mentioned in the article)

At $150K, you are not "average", you are a good developer, with some specialized skills that make you hard to replace quickly.

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#18

Post by sloop »

justin wrote: post #4
HeyLaughingBoy wrote: post #3

It's a nice perk, but "distracted" by dry cleaning or grocery shopping? What's next, distracted by sleeping or having a life outside work? I'd take this kind of thing a lot more seriously if it was at least not pitched as a way to spend more time in the office.

Lots of our customers are using Exec as a way to provide their team members with more leisure time. The way I normally pitch it is that if you want to go grocery shopping to get ingredients for a special meal you are going to cook and you will enjoy, then by all means, go for it. If grocery shopping is a chore that you don't look forward to, then outsource it. You should outsource the things you don't want to do to l…

any immediate plans for service outside of san francisco area?

Re: Justin Kan’s Exec Starts Running Errands For Companies And Startups Today

#19

Post by suhail »

mikeryan wrote: post #10

Its funny the Y-Combinator mafia (and I mean that lovingly) can really be such a great tool for these personal services companies like ZeroCater and Exec. I doubt they're forced to participate but its such a great source of initial users. I think for some of these companies this may be a bigger Y-combinator benefit then the mentoring/cash or VC intros.

A large part of our success thus far is due to that at Mixpanel as well. The founders in our batch gave us tons of feedback for everything they could want.

In fact, 60-70% of every new Y Combinator batch is generally using Mixpanel prior to launch - Exec being no exception ;)

Post reply on HN