6 ms·

These are primarily people delivering food orders at lunch time for less than $10. The people paying for these services will not pay what it would cost to have

These are primarily people delivering food orders at lunch time for less than $10. The people paying for these services will not pay what it would cost to have a “personal assistant”. Also they can only deliver so many orders at a time. If all of your clients order lunch around the same time, it’s not possible to deliver in a reasonable amount of time.

parpfish 2y ago
most of the folks getting ubereats delivery are not the target demo for being a PA client. but you don't have to be super wealthy for the economics of it to work out. most tech employees make enough that they could pay 10-15 hrs of low wage work every week to do stuff like pick up your laundry/groceries, pick up a food order that you've called in, take stuff to the post office, etc.
- trumbitta2 2y ago
  most tech employees in SF
  - ryandrake 2y ago
    most very high staff or director+ level tech employees of a handful of top FAANG companies in SF
    - kridsdale1 2y ago
      L7 is where you get servants? Ill keep that in mind.
    - filoleg 2y ago
      I mean, really? An L5 at FAANG is making close to $450-500k/yr in total comp. Let’s assume the minimum wage is $15/hr, and the people doing the tasks get paid $25/hr (on the higher end). With 15 hours of simple errands a week, it comes out to $375/week or $1500/mo. Maybe it is a bit of a stretch for an L5 to spend that much in a month on helping with chores (gotta consider taxes, after all), but it doesn’t seem that wild at all to have $1500 in spending on getting chores taken care of. And it is definitely very doable for an L6. No need to be at L7 to be able to comfortably afford that at all. No need to live in SF for that either. Seattle pays pretty much comparably, no state income tax, a bit cheaper cost of living, and all big FAANG companies have a major presence there. At director level, you would be able to afford much more (been to a director’s house once for a team bbq, and yeah, the gap between director level and L5/L6 is rather large; and it wasn’t a director of one of the higher-paying FAANG-tier companies either).
jwagenet 2y ago
For food delivery, I imagine going back to pre-apps and have restaurant employed couriers for local takeout could be beneficial for both parties.
- rob74 2y ago
  Well, you can also - shock horror - drive (or bike, if possible) over to the restaurant and pick up your order yourself! That's of course assuming that the restaurant has another means of placing orders than through the delivery apps (e.g. a phone number)...
  - nullstyle 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - ebiester 2y ago
    While I personally make 95% of my food, I order delivery when I am so busy that if I don't, I will not eat.
    - reaperducer 2y ago
      While I personally make 95% of my food, I order delivery when I am so busy that if I don't, I will not eat. Sounds like a problem that solves itself. Or at least a wake-up call that you're doing something wrong. Unless you're safeguarding nuclear launch codes, there's no such thing as "too busy to eat." It's just people trying to make themselves and others think they're important. Guess what? You're not. The actually important people do eat. It's their lackies who pretend they're too busy to do the same. Yes, I've owned my own company. Yes, it required extensive complicated international travel. It's still true. If you can't plan meal breaks, you can't plan. And even the nuclear launch people get lunch.
      - InsideOutSanta 2y ago
        "Important people" eat because they can afford to pay people to make eating convenient for them. "Unimportant people" are busy because they have to actually work to pay their bills and do their laundry and dishes and clean their homes and take out the trash and do all the stuff that "important people" magically don't have to do, because "unimportant people" do it for them.

parpfish 2y ago

most of the folks getting ubereats delivery are not the target demo for being a PA client. but you don't have to be super wealthy for the economics of it to work out. most tech employees make enough that they could pay 10-15 hrs of low wage work every week to do stuff like pick up your laundry/groceries, pick up a food order that you've called in, take stuff to the post office, etc.

trumbitta2 2y ago
most tech employees in SF
- ryandrake 2y ago
  most very high staff or director+ level tech employees of a handful of top FAANG companies in SF
  - kridsdale1 2y ago
    L7 is where you get servants? Ill keep that in mind.
  - filoleg 2y ago
    I mean, really? An L5 at FAANG is making close to $450-500k/yr in total comp. Let’s assume the minimum wage is $15/hr, and the people doing the tasks get paid $25/hr (on the higher end). With 15 hours of simple errands a week, it comes out to $375/week or $1500/mo. Maybe it is a bit of a stretch for an L5 to spend that much in a month on helping with chores (gotta consider taxes, after all), but it doesn’t seem that wild at all to have $1500 in spending on getting chores taken care of. And it is definitely very doable for an L6. No need to be at L7 to be able to comfortably afford that at all. No need to live in SF for that either. Seattle pays pretty much comparably, no state income tax, a bit cheaper cost of living, and all big FAANG companies have a major presence there. At director level, you would be able to afford much more (been to a director’s house once for a team bbq, and yeah, the gap between director level and L5/L6 is rather large; and it wasn’t a director of one of the higher-paying FAANG-tier companies either).

jwagenet 2y ago

For food delivery, I imagine going back to pre-apps and have restaurant employed couriers for local takeout could be beneficial for both parties.

rob74 2y ago
Well, you can also - shock horror - drive (or bike, if possible) over to the restaurant and pick up your order yourself! That's of course assuming that the restaurant has another means of placing orders than through the delivery apps (e.g. a phone number)...
- nullstyle 2y ago
  [flagged]
- ebiester 2y ago
  While I personally make 95% of my food, I order delivery when I am so busy that if I don't, I will not eat.
  - reaperducer 2y ago
    While I personally make 95% of my food, I order delivery when I am so busy that if I don't, I will not eat. Sounds like a problem that solves itself. Or at least a wake-up call that you're doing something wrong. Unless you're safeguarding nuclear launch codes, there's no such thing as "too busy to eat." It's just people trying to make themselves and others think they're important. Guess what? You're not. The actually important people do eat. It's their lackies who pretend they're too busy to do the same. Yes, I've owned my own company. Yes, it required extensive complicated international travel. It's still true. If you can't plan meal breaks, you can't plan. And even the nuclear launch people get lunch.
    - InsideOutSanta 2y ago
      "Important people" eat because they can afford to pay people to make eating convenient for them. "Unimportant people" are busy because they have to actually work to pay their bills and do their laundry and dishes and clean their homes and take out the trash and do all the stuff that "important people" magically don't have to do, because "unimportant people" do it for them.