TaskRabbit CEO and co-founder Leah Busque is stepping down as chief of the company, set to take on a new role as executive chairman of the startup’s board. TaskRabbit’s chief operating officer Stacy Brown-Philpot will become the company’s new CEO.
Busque founded TaskRabbit with her husband, Kevin, in 2008 to connect consumers with workers, dubbed “taskers,” who would conduct random errands and tasks, such as picking up dry cleaning or hanging a picture.
As the on-demand economy started to take off, TaskRabbit went through a period of huge growth along but also suffered growing pains. In 2011, Busque briefly stepped down and handed the CEO hat to Hotwire co-founder Eric Grosse. A year later, she took back the rains.
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TaskRabbit tried its hand at supplying taskers for enterprises and business clientele as the startup shifted its strategy and aborted the ability to bid for tasks. Eventually, the company also suffered layoffs.
Currently, TaskRabbit is focuses on helping connect consumers with household help. Earlier this year, TaskRabbit unveiled a new service to allow people to access home cleaning services, handyman tasks, and moving help within 90 minutes of a initial request.
The company also is facing competition from delivery companies such as Postmates and even Uber, both of which aim to deliver food and other goods to mobile consumers with the tap of a button. Home services startups like Handy and Thumbtack also provide help in the home. These smaller brands are being joined by tech giants Google and Amazon in establishing similar services for connecting customers with professionals for household maintenance and chores.
But as an on-demand economy veteran, TaskRabbit has tried to streamline its business, and it is forecasting profitability later this year. The company didn’t reveal exact revenue numbers, but TaskRabbit did assert revenue grew 300% in the past year.
After launching expedited services in March, TaskRabbit had its best month yet—in terms of revenue—in its eight-year history.
For more about the on-demand economy, watch:
Expansion for the brand is continuing, especially to new markets outside the United States, said Busque in an interview, emphasizing that is why Brown-Philpot is the best executive for the next phase of TaskRabbit’s growth.
Brown-Philpot, who was named to Coins2Day‘s 40 Under 40 list in 2015, spent nearly a decade heading global operations for some of Google’s most widely used services, including Search. She also oversaw online sales and operations for Google India. More recently, Brown-Philpot was appointed to the board seat at HP Inc., the printer-and-PC business spun off of Hewlett-Packard last fall.
Brown-Philpot reiterates she’s going to be helping expand TaskRabbit to international markets and focus on advancing mobile efforts. While the company has raised $50 million and is focused on profitability, she notes TaskRabbit will consider new funding as it continues to grow.
Aside from serving as executive chairman, Busque won’t be going far. Although she won’t full-time, Busque is planning to help with TaskRabbit’s business development and strategic goals, including meeting with prospective investors.
“The challenges we are facing today are different than eight years ago,” says Busque. “Now’s right time to put Stacey in a key leadership role.”
