Get Paid To Get Things Done With Boston Startup TaskUp INTERVIEW

Taskup,Boston startup,startup,startups,startup interviewWant to get things done the old fashioned way? You pay somebody to do them. Want good results? Pay for them. Got bad results? Make them pay. These basic principles are what guides Boston startup TaskUp to be the first web and mobile based task list startup with cash incentives.

TaskUp co-founders Divesh Gidwani and Andrei Oprisan use two basic ideas to fuel their startup:

1. monetary rewards the customers upon timely task completion and
2. penalties when tasks become ‘overdue’.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that folks.  Incentivize the task list with money. Gidwani and Oprisan are no strangers to this task space. They realize there are a good 250 other startups toying around in the same space.  On their blog Gidwani says “Motivating people to get shit done with cash rewards just might do the trick.”

We got a chance to talk with Gidwani. Check out the interview below.

What is Taskup?

TaskUp is a task management application that uses cash incentives (both positive and negative) to get you to get things done!

In layman’s terms, how does it work? (In other words how would you explain it to your grandmother)

You have a bunch of to do’s, so you first jot them down in the application. Next, you organize the tasks by setting due dates, priorities and potentially even classifying them in different lists. Lastly, as you get through your tasks, you check them off. If you complete tasks on/before the due date then you get positively incentivized, else you get negatively incentivized.

Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

TaskUp has 2 founders: Divesh Gidwani and Andrei Oprisan

Divesh – B.S. Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is currently transforming Healthcare IT industry with Arcadia Solutions.

Andrei – BA Computer Science at NYU and serial entrepreneur, currently working on revolutionizing home goods e-commerce at Wayfair.

Where are you based?

We’re currently based in Boston, MA.

What’s the startup scene/culture like where you’re based?

Boston needs no real introduction lol. With tons of universities and engineers around, the startup scene is really buzzing and hackers are definitely rooting for each other to succeed!

How did you come up with the idea for TaskUp?

It started as a side-project when Andrei thought it would be cool to build a based Task Management app because he couldn’t find many simple and intuitive ones in this space to use. A HN post after the launch drove in 1000’s of users and we got some amazing feedback so decided to pursue the opportunity further. It’s taken off from there…

How did you come up with the name?

We were name searching for a while, and wanted one that was intuitive in what we’re providing and had a good ring to it i.e. pass off as a verb. One day, we stumbled across the fact that taskup.com was not being renewed by the previous domain owner. We bought it as soon as it became available.

What problem does TaskUp solve?

TaskUp tackles the problem of accountability towards the to do list. We believe that customers must have some skin in the game to be able to a) check off the to do’s on their list and b) Come back to enter more tasks and stay organized.

This Behavior is cyclical.

What’s your secret sauce?

Giving out cash incentives to get stuff done along with a simple and intuitive interface to work with.

Are you bootstrapped or funded?

We are bootstrapped.

What is your goto market strategy?

We started with a MVP, and are still working on a definite strategy. In the meantime, we continue to apply to accelerator programs and seek guidance at Hackathons we attend.

What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?

Pre-TaskUp challenge: Actually getting a product out of an idea we conceptualized. A lot of our previous ideas have failed 2 white board sessions and a 3 hour conversation later.

TaskUp challenge: Streamlining random 3 am ideas, customer feedback and sticking with the product vision. It’s great to be flexible with the product roadmap and seek customer feedback to better understand their pain points but it’s important to execute on the vision and not get side-tracked with random ideas.

Who are some of your mentors and business role models?

TaskUp is currently actively seeking out mentors. Our business role model would be the team at 37 signals because despite the popularity of their service, they’ve been able to maintain the application with a very small team and please a majority of their users. Also, they continue to follow agile development methods as they iterate on enhancements and feature requests.

What’s next for TaskUp?

short-term: We’re currently in the trial period for our Cash Rewards feature until 11/11 – http://blog.taskup.com/index.php/2012/10/cashrewards/ – and we plan to refine our strategy based on current customer data and feedback before we launch.

long-term: Tackling the commercial space – making managers and their peers more accountable with their to do’s thus increasing team productivity.

Linkage:

Check out TaskUp here

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