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

techcrunch.com

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

#21

Post by justin »

sloop wrote: post #18
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…

any immediate plans for service outside of san francisco area?

Yes, soon. We want to know for a fact that we understand how to consistently provide excellent service before expanding anywhere.

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

#22

Post by geoffschmidt »

bvi wrote: post #7

I'm quite surprised TechCrunch didn't mention Exec's similarity to TaskRabbit.

Instead, they covered the interesting part, which is the differences between Exec and services like TaskRabbit (I've used several.)

> Unlike other services, it doesn’t make users manage a bidding process and vet offers.

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

#23

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

DrMcFacekick wrote: post #8
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.

My take on it is that less time doing fiddly errands = more relaxation time away from work, which results in happier workers who are more productive when they are at work. If I knew that every second of my free time was open to possibility, and that I didn't have to set aside two or three hours a week to do the "grown up" stuff, I would absolutely be a happier and more productive person overall.

That's why I started out by saying it's a nice perk.

What I objected to was that it sounded more like "instead of grocery shopping after work, now you can stay at work longer" whereas "we will do the tiresome parts of life for you so you have more free time outside the office" is what I want.

The very few errands I can't do outside of working hours can't be outsourced: going to the dentist, etc.

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

#25

Post by emmett »

throwaway1979 wrote: post #15

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

No, but the average developer costs the company $150k/year at least. Fully loaded employee costs are much higher than salary.

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

#26

Post by justin »

workhorse wrote: post #24

I would be weary of relying on Exec for anything substantial to my company because if they get acuihired, they could disappear overnight and leave a gaping hole in my business that could be very difficult to fill.

I definitely understand this given all the acquihiring going on in tech right now -- it makes it hard to rely on something for your business.

That being said, for a few reasons I don't think we're likely to go away through an talent acquisition:

1) The majority of our headcount won't be engineers and product, it will be operations. This is necessarily the case because we are such a local service. This means that anyone who wants to buy a team to work on product is paying a massive premium for all these other people they probably don't want (at least, traditional tech firms won't want them).

2) I think Justin.tv / TwitchTV will already make me very wealthy. I didn't start Exec to make money. I started Exec because I want to build something that will take over the world. I want to be Facebook of labor -- not as in "a company that opens up your social graph around work" but as in "a company that fundamentally changes and expands the category it is in, and becomes ascendent in that category".

That said, it is easy to talk. Watch what we do and draw your own conclusions.

As a side note, if any readers are interested in contributing to this vision check us out: http://iamexec.com/hiring

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

#27

Post by rhizome »

justin wrote: post #12
dirtyaura wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So, "quality control?"

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

#28

Post by justin »

rhizome wrote: post #27
justin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So, "quality control?"

yes

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

#29

Post by carguy1983 »

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.

Here's a tip for when you first get started: practice giving the throttle very small amounts of gas.

In fact, when you first start out - don't even touch the gas. Idle the car on a flat parking lot in neutral and just let out the clutch very slowly and smoothly after shifting into 1st - you'll start moving forward.

Everyone always tries to learn how to perform a powered start right off the bat and that's a recipe for disaster.

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