A co-founder of Vancouver technology success story NowPublic.com is launching a new venture today that bills itself as being as simple as Twitter, as secure as eBay and as useful as Craigslist.
Michael Tippet launched the citizen journalism website NowPublic.com in 2004, grew it and then sold it in 2009 for a reported $25 million.
His new Ayoudo.com is intended for people who need help doing chores such as raking the lawn or disposing of an old couch. It has nearly 1,000 members so far.
Members type a task they need done into a search box along with how much they are willing to spend. Other members then respond to say that they are willing to take the job.
Members who take the job are then given a rating by the person who hires them. That is similar to the rating system on eBay.
Half of the 14 employees are based in Vancouver. Others are based in Paris, San Francisco, New York and India, Tippet told Business in Vancouver February 1.
The company’s chief technology officer, Eric Burin Des Roziers, was a co-founder of the successful travel website TripAdvisor.com.
“We have a world-class team and our ambitions are big,” Tippet said.
“We’re launching in Vancouver, but we will soon branch out to other parts of Canada and then internationally. Once we understand how the dynamics of how the community interacts, we can roll it out in a bigger way.”
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom