Innovation
The emergence of the sharing economy?

Leah Busque ... One Task Leads to Another

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

One Task Leads to Another

Eight years ago I started a company with an idea. Once upon a snowy night in Boston, I became an entrepreneur based on a notion that forever changed my life, and I can’t envision it any other way. That idea has since turned into what we call the sharing economy and allowed me to lead a company, build a soon-to-be profitable business, and chair our Board. I consider myself extremely blessed.

Along the way, TaskRabbit has built a lot of things. Tried and failed. And more often than not, succeeded. I’ve dedicated myself to joining forces with some amazing people to make a difference, and it’s time for those people to lead the company and allow me focus on strategic initiatives. Professionally, I’m stepping up to be the Executive Chairwoman of TaskRabbit. Personally, I’m leaning into a few other causes I’m passionate about, including my family. Mostly, I’m again focused on the long-term future of the business.

This change is well-timed. Q1 was our best quarter ever. March was the best month in the company’s history. We continue to grow 4x YoY. It’s all pretty damn exciting. We pioneered the sharing economy and I expect us to lead it moving forward. I have asked Stacy Brown-Philpot, our current COO, to step into the role of CEO, she’s accepted, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Leadership is one of the many reasons startups succeed and we’ve never had such a high functioning team in place. Along with Stacy’s promotion to CEO, we’re also promoting Ian Arthurs, VP of Marketplace Operations, to the role of COO, so the executive team will not skip a beat!

Over the past three years, Stacy has helped TaskRabbit evolve the platform, launch in international markets and recruit talent at all levels of the company. Since she joined three years ago, we’ve more than doubled revenue every year (16x), added operations in ten additional markets (including our first international market in London) and helped Taskers increase their earnings by more than 200%. Her reputation is well-deserved. I’m sure she will have more to say in the coming weeks and months. Expect big things.

I’ve always loved to build things. I love the early stages of a company, when there is an impossible problem that needs to be figured out. A problem that keeps you up all hours of the night wondering how you’re going to make progress the next morning. Something no one has solved before. TaskRabbit is in a very different place today than it was eight years ago. Of course, there are many more strategic challenges to solve, but they are very different from the early days. The industry is much more developed and we’ve learned a lot while paving the way. With this move, I can be more focused on the next wave of challenges facing the company that we haven’t even thought of yet. TaskRabbit will remain my top priority for the foreseeable future. I’ll still be in the office every week and also doing a lot of traveling on behalf of the company. I will remain on the Board taking a leadership role advocating externally with investors and strategic partners, and providing guidance on high-level business decisions such as partner and expansion opportunities. I’m looking forward to freeing up my time once again to focus on the long term future of the business, while also pursuing other passion projects I have developed personally.

One thing that I have learned about myself throughout this journey is that I’m a mission-driven person. It’s not enough to me to make money or build a profitable company. It has to have meaning. TaskRabbit’s mission to revolutionize everyday work and empower our users to be their most productive selves every day is meaningful. Every startup founder says they want to change the world, but how many of them actually do it? I feel proud of what we have accomplished to date.

TaskRabbit is my family — I consider it my first-born — and since then, I’ve welcomed my two and a half year old daughter and my third (a boy!) is on the way. Of course family has influenced this move, but I also made this decision long before I was pregnant. I have been getting the pieces in place for this transition for a long time. First and foremost, this is about my functional role at the company, and where I am excited about contributing going forward. I wholeheartedly believe in “Leaning In” to my career, and for anyone who’s read Sheryl’s book, you know that it means being bold enough to choose your own path, on your own timeline, and not leaving before you’re ready to leave. I’m ready, I’m choosing my own path, and I am looking forward to having more space in my schedule to balance other interests and goals including taking care of my growing family. Truth is, I’m leaning into the next chapter of my life as a business leader, passionate activist, and mother.

Funny thing I remember about that night eight years ago is a sense of real purpose. A feeling that I could change the world. It gave me goose bumps thinking about the endless possibilities. This change makes me feel that exact same way again. TaskRabbit will continue to change the world — let’s go revolutionize everyday work.