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

Homejoy says goodbye

blog.homejoy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 410 posts

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#201

Post by dragonwriter »

moommooo wrote: post #154
aestetix wrote: post #11

If your company cannot afford to stay in the black with real employees (as opposed to contractors), you need to re-evaluate your business model. Edit: and the downvotes are rolling in! Would anyone who has downvoted this comment care to share why?

The labor force participation rate is at its lowest level in 40 years. When companies like Homejoy come in and make it easy for people to pick up gig work, they are making real and substantial contributions to human welfare.

Is there any evidence that Homejoy did anything to substantially increase the number of people working in housecleaning, or the pay in the field?

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#202

Post by Diamons »

outside1234 wrote: post #22

Pretty interesting analysis around how the funding in the sharing economy is drying up after the "they are employees" decision by California.

I read it as: We had 3 years to exploit a loophole with $40MM in the bank and couldn't build a real business, so we're using California's law as a scapegoat.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#203

Post by joslin01 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #168
joslin01 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just as much as I doubt checking me out in a check-out line is anyone's idea of "passion", but it's still rude and unprofessional to not show me courtesy. You don't get a moral blank-check just because you don't like your job.

> You don't get a moral blank-check just because you don't like your job. Whether someone can "feel" your passion about a job isn't about morality. I can do my job well, even if I feel its the equivalent of shoveling horse shit, and have zero passion for it. Whether someone is doing their job well is never a moral question. If someone didn't do the job you agreed to, its contractual; don't pay or pay a reduced rate b…

To expand on what you said below, imagine someone hires you to code up a simple API. You get started, but then decide you just don't like your job so you write 50% tests and hand it back to the client. Let's say the 50% of other tests weren't needed because your code actually ran perfect. "Here" you coldly tell him and walk off. Was it fair that you did a poor job for the client because you didn't like the work? Did you not technically complete the job, but in a shoddy, unprofessional fashion?

This is the equivalent of a cleaner -> programmer acting "immorally" (true morality is nevertheless found outside the realm of work).

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#204

Post by mixmastamyk »

joslin01 wrote: post #156
mixmastamyk wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Failure is the path to success, no?

Yes, but that doesn't mean you should exactly seek out the advice of those who haven't conquered the failures and reached the end of the road of "success". Everyone has their own wisdom to offer, but I would agree with the parent, there's more notable persons to learn from and I personally feel most comfortable with someone who has BOTH failed & succeeded.

Sorry, you can learn from other's failures just like you can their successes... and maybe their big success comes in a few years.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#205

Post by braythwayt »

fraXis wrote: post #7

I used Homejoy and I liked it's ease of use. But after the cleaning lady they sent me was done, she offered me her direct phone # and told me I could contact her directly for any future cleaning needs. I always wondered how this business model was going to work if Homejoy's contractors could just give out their phone # at the end of their first service and the customer could just contact them directly for any future…

Comparing HomeJoy to ridesharing companies, I see that both had telephone analogues: You can call a taxi company, and there are lots of agencies you can call for cleaners.

Besides tapping instead of calling a human (which is annoying), what is the big win for rides? For me, it's the map. When I'm told my taxi will be there in five minutes, I can see the progress on the map. I never believe a taxi company when they say, "10 minutes." Sometimes it's five, sometimes I call them back after twenty minutes to ask where my taxi is.

For the next sharing economy startup founders, ask yourself what you can do in real time for users. This is ridiculous, but for another cleaning company, you might provide the cleaners with GoPros and allow the user to stream what they see, so you can watch them clean.

Technically, you could set that up yourself with nanny-cams, but imagine contacting a service (via app or web page), having them clean your home, and watching it happen (or knowing that they know you can watch it happen). That bypasses the whole "call me personally" problem. If I call the cleaner personally, I don't get the cleaner-cam.

To me, if you're going to give me an app or a web page, give me something in real time that I care about.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#206

Post by throwaway239842 »

Posting with a throwaway to address a few realities:

1) I used Handy to book a cleaner for the first time -- I loved her, she did a great job, and I immediately cut out the platform and hired her directly. I felt a little bad about it, but not enough to not do it. Handy got a single transaction out of me, for what is now approaching a year of work. Transaction-fee marketplaces work best where there isn't a natural inclination towards an ongoing relationship (Uber, AirBnB, eBay).

For example, on AirBnB, I'm actively looking for a different adventure each time, so it's hard to cut out the platform. When I'm traveling on business, it's the exact opposite, I'm looking for a reliable, consistent experience with no surprises. That's why hotel chains try very hard to ensure a completely consistent experience between stays, and even between hotels -- so that I can book a Westin anywhere in the world and know that I will be getting the exact same bed: https://www.westinstore.com/westin-heavenly-bed.aspx

2) Homejoy is at a disadvantage because they cannot hire illegal immigrants, and cannot pay them under the table. Under-the-table payment, and illegal immigrants, are common in all cash service business, this is no exception (My cleaner is not an illegal immigrant, since she was able to work through Handy, but she always shows up with a different partner, and very few of her partners speak any English -- I suspect that at least some of them are not licensed to work legally). I also suspect that she does not report everything, or anything, on her taxes.

3) Home cleaning is a high-trust business and one where I'm likely to want the same cleaner each time. The marketplace is interested in sending me a different cleaner each time. The company's needs are in conflict with its customers needs.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#207

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

acabrahams wrote: post #38

I never used the Homejoy service, but I was in the audience for the Startup School Europe talks last year where Adora gave a fantastic speech (Notes: http://theinflexion.com/blog/2014/07/26/notes-from-startup-s... ) about going through so many ideas and working so hard to get to Homejoy. The talk's ending had a 'And look, we made it, so you can too' feel, and I had no idea that they were doing anything but crushing i…

Success comes primarily from doing the right things, not working hard. If you work hard, but are doing the wrong things, your chances of success are slim to none.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#208

Post by enraged_camel »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #92
ivankirigin wrote: post #79

Cofounder Adora Cheung is worth following. The story is a great example for founders. Check out her lecture at Sam Altman's startup class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP176MBG9Tk

This was a good talk but I can't help to think that she should have spent more time working on the business than doing these types of speaking engagements (because she had done quite a lot of them, not just this one). Though the time spent doing these engagements and preparing, maybe that was worth it for the advertising? Not sure but they don't sit right with me.

One of the primary responsibilities of a CEO is building (and maintaining) relationships with external parties, such as prospective clients, partners, or even potential employees. Speaking engagements are a great way to do that because it gets you in front of such audiences and helps you demonstrate authority, which builds trust.

So I'd say that she was simply doing her job.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#209

Post by _ea1k »

austenallred wrote: post #197
mycroft-holmes wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question to ask in this case is whether those regulations should be there in the first place.

Disregarding the competitive aspect, it's absurd to me that people praise banning Uber and Tesla for the "consumer safety" of taxis and car dealerships.

There is a significant consumer safety element to the way Taxis are regulated. The fact that this is used to protect a monopoly is a separate issue and I agree that it is a real problem.

The Tesla analogy is perfect, though. I've never felt like car dealerships being independently owned was a useful benefit. I don't see any reason why both models can't coexist.

Re: Homejoy says goodbye

#210

Post by ilyagr »

jasonwilk wrote: post #129

I wanted HomeJoy to work and tried to use the service a few times. What the failure came down to: 1. The cleaners were not professionals. It felt like they were just recruiting anyone who wanted a job. You could really feel this with the lack of passion from the cleaners and the severe lack of quality cleaning. Most of the people complained and were quite rude sometimes. Cleaning is very much a skill as much as it is…

I've had the opposite experience: the many different Homejoy cleaners I got were all very good or excellent. Perhaps that is because I live in the south of Chicago, where there are many people desperate for a decent job.
Post reply on HN