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We are thrilled to welcome First Round Capital to the TaskRabbit Team.  They’re joining existing all-star investors FLOODGATE Fund (formerly Maples Investments) and Baseline Ventures, who have teamed up before with much success, and we are honored to be supported by this prestigious group of smart and savvy investors.

Invaluable help from Ann Miura-Ko of FLOODGATE and Steve Anderson from Baseline has been crucial to our growth in Boston and recent launch in San Francisco.   With the inclusion of the partners from First Round Capital we are set up to expand even farther, even faster.

Did you see us on The Today Show and Wall Street Journal?  Wow.  We’re still riding the wave of excitement and we’ve been besieged with the same question, “When is TaskRabbit coming to my town?”  From Chicago to Austin, and Orlando to Seattle, we’ve heard from every corner of the U.S., and we also heard from folks all over the world too:  from South Africa to China and Germany to Melbourne.   We hear you and remember, rabbits are really good at multiplying quickly, so stay tuned!

As TaskRabbit’s founder, I am touched knowing that TaskRabbit is resonating with so many people around the world.  I started TaskRabbit a couple years ago in Boston when on a dark and cold night I ran out of dog food and just knew there was someone who would be happy and willing to help me, if I could only just find them.  Now, with TaskRabbit in two cities and planning on expanding to other major cities soon, it seems that not only was my vision spot on, but there are people all over the world who are looking for similar help, and lots of people wanting to help them. Go rabbits, go!

Exactly 2 years ago today (or 63 million+ seconds for the ruby geeks), the idea for RunMyErrand was born.  You may have heard the story before, but it all started with a dog.  A big yellow one.  His name is Kobe, and 2 years later he is our CIO – “Chief Inspiration Officer”.

It was a cold February evening in 2008, when we were out of dog food for Kobe, and came up with the plan for RunMyErrand.  We were meeting my dear college friends at Masa in the South End – Brie, my roommate from Sweet Briar who I hadn’t seen in years, and Jen another SBC alum.  I remember barely being able to contain my excitement over dinner and margaritas that night as I shared our idea with friends.  They were the first to hear about RunMyErrand, and it was wonderful to have their support from the start.

I was still at IBM at the time, and I would have never guessed that two years later, this is where we would all be.  A company launched, funded, with an amazing team (including advisors), behind us.  My house in Charlestown sold – the one we were going to “settle down in” – with plans for a launch in the San Francisco market imminent.  Not to mention a special dog food delivery partnership that solves the original problem that inspired RME!  Craziness!

Reflecting back, I’m not sure I realized at the time, how fast two year would go, and how much work it would be to get to this point.  I myself have learned a ton in this time, expanding my skill set beyond engineering, and finding a passion for entrepreneurship that I realize was always a part of me.  I have never felt more alive.

I am so grateful to advisers, mentors, and new team members that have supported this company, and a very timely update to our team page was just pushed live yesterday featuring then entire RunMyErrand Crew, including our CIO – Kobe.  A celebratory margarita will be made in the Busque house tonight – here’s to the next 31,556,926 seconds ….

ps – You might be hearing from our CIO in the very near future as a guest blogger.  He’s so vain!

Good day RUNmyERRAND! It’s Steve here wishing everyone a season’s greetings from London, UK where I’m studying for the year. Among other things, I’ve been checking out the entrepreneurship scene here and there’s some pretty cool stuff going on! Here’s four companies to give you a taste of what the Brits have to offer. Who knows, you might even start seeing these names in the States soon:

7digital: When it comes to digital music, the market is dominated by iTunes and Amazon, but 7digital is trying to break their dominance. The company has secured rights to a fairly large library with many of the mainstream hits of its larger rivals as well as some indie artists. However, 7digital is trying to differentiate itself with its online locker feature, which remotely backs up all your music. It also has a pretty strong B2B business going and there are plans to add video and ebooks soon. 7digital is available in the U.S., so check it out!

eCourier: This one has a strong American connection (founded by Dartmouth grads) and may be particularly interesting to RUNmyERRAND fans. Unlike traditional family courier operations, eCourier uses GPS, algorithms, and scale to optimize the effectiveness of its courier network. The company’s main clients are banks, law firms, and other business clients who need to send highly sensitive documents. They hope to become the UPS of same day local deliveries. eCourier is only available in London right now.

DIY KYOTO: DIY KYOTO makes the WATTSON, a cool little device for all those environmentally conscious consumers out there. It plugs right into your electric meter and helps you monitor how much electricity you’re consuming. You can also hook it up to your computer and get additional details about your energy consumption and effect on the environment. The WATTSON is not available in the U.S. yet, but as people become more conscious about the energy they use, don’t be surprised if you see this and other devices in a Brookstones in the near future.

Skimlinks: Calling all bloggers and online retailers out there! Skimlinks provides an innovative way to advertise on the Internet. It places links for products mentioned on a certain website to a retailer that sells it. In exchange, the webmaster earns a commission for every successful conversion. This works great for sites and blogs that review products and services. Skimlinks should be available in the U.S., so this could be a good way for some of you to earn some extra bucks!

Of course, one thing we don’t have here is RUNmyERRAND! With the crazy London weather and traffic, I sometimes wish we did. For those of you in Boston, take full advantage of it!

Have a safe and happy holidays everyone! Cheers!

Well, it happened. The dreaded cold/flu season came and took a victim in me. Hi, it’s Rebecca, Marketing Guru at RME. (Picture, by the way, as I write this I am taking 5 minute breaks to lie down.) I have been lucky. I am not one who gets sick often (knock on wood). And so, when I started to feel my head get heavy, my throat scratchy and my nose tingly, I thought by the morning my body would have fought off the virus. No such luck.

One of the challenges with not getting sick often is locating medicine when you need it. It is amazing how much you need on hand when sick. Just being on the couch or in bed requires tools and supplies. Here’s a list of the items that have kept me going for 3 days:

- chicken soup
- cold medicine daytime
- tissues
- tomato soup
- tea
- vapor-rub
- cold medicine nighttime
- oatmeal
- airborne
- left over Halloween candy

Besides the candy, none of this was on hand 3 days ago (or at least none that had not long been expired). Is there anything worse than going out to the pharmacy or supermarket when you do not feel well? Bright lights. Musak. Long lines.

Stock up now. Save yourself. Or, if you find yourself sick and in need of life-saving supplies, reach out to a friendly RME runner who will gladly run to the store for you.

What are your favorite cold remedies?

Boo! Happy almost Halloween.

Hi, Robbie Vorhaus here, RunMyErrand’s chief storyteller, back to talk about my favorite subject: great stories and, of course, RunMyErrand.

Let’s go back a couple years to my best Halloween costume ever. I wrapped my entire head in white gauze, stretching the last layer thinly across my eyes so my head appeared completely covered behind very dark sunglasses. I wore my grandfather’s felt Fedora hat from the 1920s, a deep blue double breasted suit, white button down cotton dress shirt and conservative rep tie, and after I covered my wrists with more gauze, I wore black leather gloves. Not an inch of skin showed anywhere on my body; I was the Invisible Man.

There was no identifiable part of my body, I couldn’t talk, and aside from my posture, there was no way to know I was me. I attended several parties that night, closing the evening on a friend’s roof deck, a little chilled from the night air, although enjoying my anonymity.

Just before I was ready to leave, a 20-something, red haired woman dressed in a Cinderella costume asked me to dance. She grabbed my hand just as the music changed to a slow tune. She said only one thing, “My name is Amanda, and I don’t care who you are. Just hold me close, say nothing, and when this song is over, walk away.”

Cinderella and The Invisible Man intimately dancing under the stars on a cold Halloween night, not saying a word, yet connected by a warm, intimate, anonymous embrace. I never forgot that tender dance with a stranger I will never know, and it reminded me of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 bestselling book, The Invisible Man, as he expressed how society often discounts the unknown – the invisible – yet for those who believe in opportunity and potential, there is great power, almost super power, in the unseen.

There was, indeed, a short time when RunMyErrand was invisible, but no more. We’ve been discovered and it feels so good.

Since this summer, on an invitation from Zipcar’s CEO, Scott Griffith, we’ve been based in Cambridge, operating and incubating out of Zipcar’s headquarters.  Also this summer, our founder and CEO, Leah Busque (our superhero), won Facebook’s prestigious fbFund Rev 2009 incubator program, and spent most of the summer in Palo Alto, CA, working alongside Facebook’s leadership, investors, mentors and other entrepreneurs. And get this: RME was the only east coast company to win!

Scott Kirsner wrote a fabulous piece about us in the Boston Globe, and Robin Hauk featured Leah and RME in her popular blog, Misstropolis.

And while I’m tooting our horn, Leah Busque was named 2009 Hall of Fame Start-Up/Small Business honoree for the Boston Herald’s Women’s Business Hall of Fame. You go, girl!

And also now great companies like IBM, Caturano and Company, Mass General Hospital and Zipcar are offering RME discounts to their employees. More to come!

I’m still trying to decide what to wear for this year’s Halloween, so if you have any ideas, please let me know. Also, tell us about your best Halloween costume. Share with us your favorite RunMyErrand story. Or just take a minute and tell us why you’re happy being alive. We love your stories, and can’t wait hearing more about your adventures.

Hi, its Rebecca, Marketing Guru at RME. I think of myself as a very busy person (hence the recent lack of blog posts) but I was humbled and put to shame by the entrants who participated in the 2 contests RME sponsored. One was the “Busiest Mom in Boston” contest we developed with Boston.com and the other was to find the “Busiest Elite Yelper” in Boston. We received hundreds of entries, rich with detail about day-to-day life,  and filled with funny anecdotes, frustrations, hopes, empathy, surprises and gratitude.

Beneath the frantic typing was the sense that although life is busy, our entrants would not want it any other way. Almost all ended their 250 word limit by declaring that life is busy, but happy. “My life is crazy and hectic, but I wouldn’t change it for anything, I would however, love a little help!”

Many applied on behalf of their moms, wives, co-workers, daughter-in-laws and sisters. I hope those nominated were able to read what their nominators said about them. Stories of inspiration and awe and love and admiration. Many deserving women, all in need of the RunMyErrand community and a spa treatment or two! And one husband, on behalf of his wife, lovingly wrote that after cataloging her day for our contest he “does not know how she does it all.”

Our Yelpers were equally busy leading hectic professional and social lives all over Boston. One entrant works full time, is studying at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts at night, practices cooking techniques, completes homework, plays in a band, volunteers at The Boston Food Bank, got married a month ago and tries to see his mom and his in-laws as often as possible.

Reading the stories of busy Bostonians made me wonder what else I could fit into my day. How else could I contribute to not only the enrichment of my life but of others as well. I am encouraged by their ability to squeeze every moment out of their long days but discouraged by their belief that help is a luxury. It is not a luxury – it is widely available!   That is the essence of the RME community — lend a helping hand, be a good neighbor, support those in need.

To the busy Bostonians who entered the contests and those who were even too busy to enter… ask (for help) and  you shall receive!

Last week, I caught up with Founding Runner Michael U, who was gracious enough to fill me in on what got him started working with RME.

He joined the site because he moseyed on over to runmyerrand.com and was impressed by Leah’s idea and wanted to help get this ’small business’ of sorts going. As a professional with an IT and legal background, Mike has worked with a handful of small companies and businesses, and was interested and excited to join another start up effort.

We reminisced about favorite errands, crazy errands we’ve run, and even crazier ones that we were surprised anyone ran at all…all the while, connecting because our common link is that we run errands for RME when we have the chance, and we’re truly enjoying making things easier for people in our community.

Mike also had some awesome suggestions on how RME can further develop this site to become more of a web community. As we continue to grow(psst! calling all developers!), one of his ideas was to allow runners to include skills or job types in their profile, so that errand senders can “Select a runner” based on their strengths.

Mike himself would specialize in computer-related errands, such as document formatting, HR/Payroll-related jobs, and quick deliveries; he shares a car with his girlfriend, but during specific day parts, he would be able to get items where they need to go, fast.

So, if you need any of the above, you can add Mike as a favorite runner by clicking here!

Stay tuned to learn more about our errand running team, and as these fall days find us busy with work or too tired to cook when we get home, remember that we can help by running those errands you just don’t have time to get to!

Cheers,

allison r.

Hello, fans of Run My Errand!

I’m allison r, a self-designated “Super runner,” here to help introduce you to me, and other members of the Founding Runners team.  Who are the Founding Runners, you ask? We’re the ten or so crazy kids (and adults) who jumped on board with Run My Errand pretty darn close to its inception, and have been running errands with gusto ever since. We’re constantly suggesting new features to Leah, we can post our own runs(like trips to Home Depot and Target), and we even have a super secret handshake.

Going forward, check this blog compulsively for profiles of and interviews with our fabulous Founding Runners. For today, though, you’re stuck with some interesting facts about me!

I’m a 25 year old graduate of Bowdoin College with a BA in German and Film Studies trying to find my niche in the working world. I’m really good at driving places fast, picking up stuff, buying stuff, delivering stuff, and coordinating times to pick up, buy, and deliver stuff. Enter Run My Errand, the perfect outlet for my (until now) unused talents!

Seriously, though, I work a couple of part-time jobs, so I have a flexible schedule, and I’m all over the city. Living in Somerville, working in Watertown and Brookline, and making frequent trips to Metrowest makes an errand in almost any corner of the city feasible for me.

My favorite errand to date, though, was an Ikea run for a man who runs a home improvement business in Somerville. The errand required much haggling over the fee and the enlisting of a friend with a Subaru to make the trip to Stoughton to purchase and deliver over $1500 worth of kitchen cabinetry! We had to wait over an hour for Ikea to even pull the items from their onsite warehouse…good thing they have a great food court with 50 cent hot dogs, and lots to browse to pass the time!

Neither party anticipated the errand would take as long as it did, but I didn’t mind, and Brad (the Sender) was very understanding, and grateful we completely his mammoth errand! My friend and I left sweaty, tired, a few dollars richer, and glad we were able to help. Because that’s what it’s all really about, right? We’re a bunch of young professionals who are enterprising, creative, tuned into the community, and here to make your life easier. Rock on!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more runner anecdotes, top-secret Run My Errand tid-bits, and maybe even some chances to get hooked up with cool RME gear!

Cheers,

allison r.

Last week, after working in the office all day Monday, Steve and I thought we’d get out and run an errand on Friday. I offered to help carry some of the boxes, but Steve wouldn’t have it. With my hands free I decided to try out the video recording on my iPhone. Enjoy.

Side note: In the process of posting the video, I discovered Youtube’s AudioSwap feature. It allows you to legally use music in your videos. The bands benefit from an ad which makes it easy for viewers to purchase the song on iTunes and Amazon. There isn’t the biggest selection, but I managed to find one of my favorite groups: Brand New. I’m happy to see that these guys get it and aren’t locking down their content. Although I doubt I’ll put them at the top of the iTunes chart like Jill and Kevin did for Chris Brown, I hope I send some people their way.