TechFold - Bold tech & web commentary

Bold tech & web commentary

TechFold is technology discussion, commentary, reviews, and opinions from well outside the valley. There's no koolaid to drink here, and TechFold is not in SL, or on Twitter.

Watch Google Buy FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a noteable Canadian accounting startup that is widely acknowledged to have elevated online accounting apps to a new plateau in terms of ease of use and effectiveness. They’ve got an API, a rational/cheap/flexible pricing schedule, lots of users (250k!), a blog, and a well-rounded feature set.

So, when Read/Write Web and Jay Eye Sea suggest that Google has the motivation, resources, and market opportunity to get into online accounting, I say they’re going to pull a Feedburner/YouTube and just buy the best-of-breed that’s out there already. In doing so, they’ll get a great product, and great team, and a revenue stream.

What’s stopping them?

accounting, acquisitions, feedburner, freshbooks google

Toggl - Intuitive time management

Toggl (found via LifeHacker) is one of those wonderfully simple applications that does a limited number of userful things very well. In Toggl’s case, its project time tracking: set up clients and projects, and Toggl serves up a dashboard with “power switches” (toggles!) next to each project: click one to start a timer for that project, click it again to stop it. Extensive reporting options let you view accumulated data in a variety of ways.

Adding projects is easy, though not attractive in beta form:

Well placed AJAX functionality automates common tasks:

The Projects tab makes starting and stopping your work simple:

The time tracker for started projects resides in the left-hand column:

And there’s a great reporting tool:

Final notes:

You can close your browser window and log back in later; Toggl times run on the server and will continue to count between sessions.
Business Model? No idea. No adverts on the site yet, no mention of “pro” accounts or a fee based service.

All told, Toggl is a great app: not showy or glitzy, but effective at gtd. Recommendations? Avoid feature bloat! Don’t complicate the simple functionality in place with the myriad of add-ons that could be layered. One suggestion: As with DoMyStuff, it would be great to see accounting system integration with FreshBooks.

Other coverage:

One person’s use of Toggl for personal time management - trying to lead a more productive life.
Download Squad: “If you think pie is easy, Toggl is easier.”
The Toggl Blog itself - a good read of what’s new, what’s under development, etc.
AJAXian - a minimalist post with some grouchy comments and a note that Toggl is being built in Estonia.
Jeff Nolan chimes in with a deeper dive on the team behind Toggl and a suggestion to add wiki-functionality to the tool.

freelance, freshbooks, gtd, lifehacker, timemanagement, toggl webworker

DoMyStuff.com - Outsource Your Day-to-Day Annoyances

Note: I have been unable to register at DoMyStuff. That registration confirmation email is up to 10 hours now - perhaps they aren’t accepting Canadian registrations or some such thing - if that is the case, it would be better to post that fact. As it is, its annoying as DoMyStuff claims to add 600 new users a day. So - bottom line - this review isn’t as in-depth as I’d hoped. EDIT: I’m registered at DoMyStuff and the initial sign up issues have been resolved.

The DoMyStuff.com pitch is an interesting one - post things that you want to get done, and let a community of “assistants” bid on the right to do it [found via Ars]. Competing with Craigslist, local forums, and word of mouth, DoMyStuff is essentially the Amazon Mechanical Turk for the offline world: Need your grass cut, dry cleaning picked up, computer fixed, fence painted, or groceries bought? Post it, and DoMyStuff hopes to find someone to do it for you. Similarly, if you’re looking to fill your free time doing any of the above, you can browse and bid on posts. Ultimately, DoMyStuff is a service marketplace for everyday tasks.

Posting Tasks

Employers (those wanting to get things done), can post in a number of categories and sub-categories (list is high-level category with a sub-category example for each):

Automotive > Change Oil
Creative > Photograph Event
Household > Aquarium Cleaning
Miscellaneous > Deliver
Personal and Family > Play Tooth Fairy on Phone
Planning and Preparation > Plan Bar Mitzvah
Purchasing > Concert Tickets
Research and Recommend > Cellphone Plans
Technical > Computer Repair

There’s a reasonable number of granular sub-categories to choose from, any of which prospective Assistants (those looking to do things) can subscribe to via RSS. The sub-categories cover a wide range - from general labour types of work, to specialized professional applications - such as directing films or composing music. There’s some sweet, funny examples too - like hiring someone to be the Tooth Fairy over the phone.

Bidding on Tasks

Assistants bid on posted tasks, specifying time, cost, and relevant details (hashed out via built-in messaging). Assistants can be chosen on the basis of their bid, their reputation (they are rated after completion of tasks), proximity, or “type” - individual or business. Once terms are finalized, payment is arranged: the agreed-upon funds can go into an escrow account until the work is completed to your satisfaction, or other arrangements can be brokered via the site (50% up front, 50% when finished, etc).

Here’s an example of an actual task that’s being actively bid on (click the screengrab to go there, as long as its active):

DoMyStuff seems to be modeled most closely after eBay - the public back and forth discussion and bid history, for instance. Note - this is a good thing. eBay’s layout is purposeful if not elegant, and DoMyStuff has a solid, similar implementation to enable a similar type of transaction.

Business Model

According to Ars Technica, DoMyStuff makes its cut off of the Assistants, charging a “service fee” for each task undertaken via the site. Whether this is a percentage cut, flat fee, or some type of sliding scale is unknown. This appears to be their only revenue stream, as there is no advertising on the site.

From what I can tell from the outside of the site, DoMyStuff is well-conceived, well laid out and well executed - they seem to have anticipated most of the objections people would have with such a service and provided answers (escrow service, for instance).

Challenges

While DoMyStuff.com seems to have put together a solid website, their ability to meet business model and marketing communications challenges will determine their success:

To Much Solution for the Problem: Craigslist enables thousands of similar transactions every day, and more all of the time. What Craigslist lacks in structure, it makes up for in simplicity, and free-ness (for both Employers and Assistants). The structure added by DoMyStuff no doubt makes the process of collecting and evaluating bids more straightforward, but is this a need that the market has actually signalled, or a “build it and see if they come” gambit?
Informally, This Need is Already Being Met: Fundamentally, DoMyStuff is not enabling any new transactions. Every day-to-day task that can be arranged through the site is currently being arranged elsewhere already - be it Craigslist, local forums, word of mouth, or neighborhood bulletin boards. DoMyStuff offers selection, availability, and reputation - but its competing against the informal networks that have gotten things done as long as people have existed.
Formally, This Need is Already Being Met: Bigger tasks (DoMyStuff seems to have a lot of Design/Creative activity, for instance) are already being brokered elsewhere as well - places like eLance.
Critical Mass: as with any service of this nature, DoMyStuff needs to get penetration in markets such that there are enough posters and bidders to make using it worthwhile. Without a viral angle, DoMyStuff will be relying on advertising and word of mouth.

Summary

I do believe that DoMyStuff offers value to both sides of a transaction. I could see using it on a personal basis to get day-to-day things done, but more importantly, I could see it evolving into a “core” service for people and businesses as:

A recommendation engine (as ratings are accumulated)
A “b2c” (how’s that for a blast from the past) marketplace - I’d love to have multiple yard care companies bidding on my business, and be able to choose on the basis of reputation -that’s a powerful value proposition
A prospecting tool - for example, for local yard care companies to drum up more business

DoMyStuff needs to communicate their value proposition. From what I can tell, they are on the right track - they have a clear, explanatory business and domain name, a jargon free process that uses real, easy to understand words (Employer, Assistant, Task) instead of a made-up vocabulary, and a very streamlined site layout (from what I can see on the outside). Translate those points into a media campaign or a viral angle, and I think DoMyStuff could grow.

Suggestion: FreshBooks

Final note: One immediate opportunity that jumped out for me would be to integrate DoMyStuff with online accounting package FreshBooks such that Assistants could manage their businesses finances, taxes, etc. To do so would offer utility to Assistants, but more importantly would position DoMyStuff/FreshBooks as a complete accounting/marketing/transaction service - an end-to-end small business solution package.

craigslist, domystuff, ebay freshbooks