222. Crisis Coverage w/ Leah Solivan - Building TaskRabbit in a Recession; COVID Effects on the Independent/Gig Economy; and Key Factors for Early-Stage Marketplace Success

Leah Solivan of Fuel Capital joins Nick on a special Crisis Coverage installment to discuss Building TaskRabbit in a Recession; COVID Effects on the Independent/Gig Economy; and Key Factors for Early-Stage Marketplace Success. In this episode, we cover: Background -- path to venture? How is the current climate affecting your investing? Differing viewpoints on how much runway to plan for w/ a new capital raise... are you suggesting founders raise for more than 18-months or does the standard runway guidance hold? This crisis has had a pretty profound impact on the sharing economy/the gig economy/the independent economy. As someone with experience working in this space, what are your observations? Key lessons learned from building TaskRabbit in 2008/2009 during a recession? What will be the big opportunities post-covid, given the changes to consumer behavior? What are the main 3-5 things your looking for in a consumer marketplace business at the seed stage? Are there GMV levels that you're looking for? How about take rate? Best advice on investing in marketplace businesses that you've come across and incorporated into your approach? I've seen a number of consumer marketplace business that start w/ an auction-style format where vendors bid for consumer business, like thumbtack... then they flip to more of an affiliate/referral model where the consumer enters the specs for their job, those leads are sent to vendors and the vendors reach out individually w/ proposals. Why have we seen this shift? Does the transaction interface/format between vendors and customers influence your interest as an investor? You've said that you think investor's should stand in a founder's corner, not their kitchen. What do you mean by that? How involved do you get w/ founders, and how has that changed as the portfolio continues to grow? Advice for founders that are approaching an exit process w/ strategics? I know you pride yourself on your efficiency... do you have any efficiency hacks or tips for investors young in their career? To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.