Save Time With TaskRabbit – oDesk Meets MyLackey.com

Save Time With TaskRabbit – oDesk Meets MyLackey.com

Fortunately, with TaskRabbit you can delegate these tasks to “runners” who you pay by the hour to help you get things done.

Want to give TaskRabbit a try?  Use the promo code twilio15 to get a $15 credit AND make sure to check out the 50% off deal on LivingSocialfor even more discounted TaskRabbit credit!

How TaskRabbit Works

First, come up with a task, then price it and post it.  Within 30 minutes someone will respond to your task and you can get help with whatever you need same day.

How Task Rabbit Uses Twilio

When you submit a task, TaskRabbit sends SMS messages to the runners available in the area to ask them if they’re available.  They can choose to accept a task directly over SMS, and then the requester gets a message letting them know that the task has been accepted.  This is nice if you’re like me, busy and constantly on the go – no need to wait by your computer for an email.

How did you hear about Twilio?

Who hasn’t heard about Twilio?!  When we were researching how to effectively do a SMS implementation, Twilio, was at the top of the list.  I believe Dave McClure first mentioned it when I was at fbFund last summer.

How did you come up with the idea for TaskRabbit?

Leah and her husband, Kevin, were getting ready to go out to dinner in the South End of Boston. They had already called a cab to come pick them up when they realized they were out of dog food for their 100-pound yellow Lab named Kobe. Read the whole story here…

How do you use Twilio in TaskRabbit?

We’ve created an on the ground network of local TaskRabbit Runners, who get real time alerted when ever a job is posted in their area.  We use Twilio to SMS them direct to their mobile device.  Eventually, we want to do some cool features with the reply – like requesting more information about a job, asking a question, or submitting a counteroffer directly from the mobile device.

What do you think of Twilio?

It is amazing.  Super easy to implement, leverages all the power of a full blow SMS gateway, with the simplicity of a few API calls.  It was important to us to create an agile solution, that we could get up and running quickly, and get some testing and feedback.  Twilio allowed us to keep the code base lean and clean, while being able to utilize a full feature set.

Thanks Leah!!

Testing It Out

Like any self-respecting blogger, I can’t recommend a service without trying it out myself.  But what task to request?  I decide to get coffee for some of my coworkers, since they were experiencing that “3-o-clock feeling” and needed a little pick-me-up.

I posted a new task on TaskRabbit, and within 30 minutes Bob replied via SMS and let me know that he would take care of our order.  I was impressed to find an email in my inbox from him as well, asking if we’d like milk and sugar for our Americanos.  I didn’t respond to the email in time, but he brought it anyway -what an awesome guy!

Hat Tip to @mistermorrill for suggesting the oDesk + MyLackey.com idea.  Another service that comes to mind is Kozmo.com