如何創建一家改變世界的公司
In 2008 Leah Busque was an engineer at IBM with an idea. She wanted to start a website that would match people with work. She left her job and cashed out her IBM pension to start TaskRabbit, where people can sign up to do odd jobs. Today over 30,000 people use TaskRabbit, and some are able to make a full-time living from their TaskRabbit jobs.
2008年，在IBM擔任工程師的利亞o布斯克產生了一個想法。她想創建一個網站，爲人們提供工作機會。她辭去了工作，取出IBM的退休金，創辦了勞務市場平臺TaskRabbit，用戶可以在網站註冊做零工。現在有超過30,000人在使用TaskRabbit，部分用戶甚至可以完全依靠TaskRabbit提供的工作維持生計。
Earlier this week, Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky moderated a panel with a group of startup founders, including Leah Busque. After the panel a man told Busque that TaskRabbit work got one of his friends off of the streets when he was homeless.
本週早些時候，《財富》雜誌的亞當o拉辛斯基主持了一場初創公司創始人座談會，與會者包括利亞o布斯克。研討會結束之後，有一個人告訴布斯克，TaskRabbit提供的工作讓他的一位朋友結束了無家可歸的流浪生活。Busque answered a few questions about the making of TaskRabbit.
布斯克回答了關於創建TaskRabbit的多個問題。
[Transcript lightly edited for clarity.]
[爲保證內容清楚，對文字記錄進行了適當編輯。]Fortune: What’s been the biggest challenge for you as a founder?
《財富》雜誌：作爲創始人最大的挑戰是什麼？Busque: Transitioning from building a world-class product to building a world-class company has been the biggest and most rewarding challenge in my journey as a founder. When I was bootstrapping what was known as in 2008, my skills as a former engineer at IBM helped me build an idea into a tool people actually wanted to use –even rely on– in their daily lives. As the product blossomed, I had to start entrusting others to improve that same product I had coded myself. There was a fundamental shift in the way I needed to approach each day. Today, whether I’m focused on fundraising, marketing, financing or operations, I’m still supporting that initial passion that inspired the creation of TaskRabbit.
布斯克：從開發一款好產品轉向打造一家好公司，是我在創業過程中遇到的最大挑戰，但同時，這也給我帶來了最多的回報。2008年成功推出時，在IBM擔任工程師期間掌握的技能，幫我將一種想法變成了人們在日常生活中希望使用，甚至依賴的工具。隨着產品的成功，我必須委託其他人對我編寫的這款產品進行持續完善。現在，不論我的工作重心是融資、營銷、財務或者運營，我依然保持着最初啓發我創立TaskRabbit的激情。Fortune: What’s the one thing you wished you knew eight years ago when you first began this journey?
《財富》雜誌：在開始創業時，你希望自己八年前能知道的一件事是什麼？Busque: Don’t overthink it and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. When I was first starting out, more decisions than I care to admit seemed like life-or-death situations, when in reality, each choice has brought TaskRabbit closer to building the strongest business and community possible. When we stumbled, I witnessed the company learn and grow into an even better version of itself. I rely on data and gut in a more balanced way today than ever before.
布斯克：不要想太多，別擔心犯錯。創業之初，看起來生死攸關的決定，比我願意承認的要多得多，而在現實當中，每一個決定都讓TaskRabbit朝着打造最強大的公司和社區的目標更近一步。在蹣跚前行的過程中，我看到公司在不斷學習，變得更好。現在，我對數據和直覺的依賴更加平衡。Fortune: What’s been your biggest mistake?
《財富》雜誌：你犯過的最大錯誤是什麼？Busque: There is not one “biggest mistake” I’ve made, only choices where I’ve learned the most. Team building and hiring can be one of the most complicated parts of founding a company. I enjoy the perspective of Adam Grant, Wharton Business School professor and author of Give and Take. He has identified a more scientific system for finding the perfect hire that appeals to the engineer in me. But no system is perfect, and prioritizing “culture-fit” as a key factor in my personal system for hiring has become increasingly important. As a founder and CEO, editing the team is necessary and making quick decisions is critical for the integrity of the team.
布斯克：我沒有犯過“最大的錯誤”，那些錯誤只是一些選擇，這些選擇讓我學到了最多。團隊建設和招聘是建立一家公司最複雜的部分。我很贊同沃頓商學院教授亞當o格蘭特的觀點，他也是《給予與索取》（Give and Take）這本書的作者。他提出了一套更科學的系統，可以幫助在內心仍將自己當作工程師的我，找到最合適的員工。但沒有一種系統是完美的，在我個人的招聘系統中，將“文化契合度”作爲一個關鍵因素進行優先考慮，變得日益重要。作爲創始人兼CEO，調整團隊很有必要，而迅速決策對於保持團隊的完整性至關重要。Fortune: If you were to start another startup, what is the one thing you would not do?
《財富》雜誌：如果要再創建一家公司，有哪件事情是你不會去做的？Busque: The business you found can more or less feel like your baby. But eventually, you need to be open to letting the business grow with the help of other brilliant people. Finding partners — even cofounders — that believe in the product as much as you do can be an important step to take in helping your business reach its fullest potential. These people should complement your skill set and function as a trusted cadre who can share ideas with each other.
布斯克：你創立的公司，從某種程度上來說，就像是你的孩子。但最終，你需要調整心態，接受其他聰明人的幫助，讓公司發展。尋找與你一樣對產品充滿信心的合夥人甚至聯合創始人，將是一個重要的步驟，最終能幫助你的公司實現最大的潛力。這些人應該能補充你能力上的不足，並且是值得信賴的核心骨幹，彼此之間也能交流想法。Fortune: What’s the one piece of advice you would give up and coming startups?
《財富》雜誌：你會給未來的創業者什麼建議？Busque: Find your mentors because you can’t do it all on your own. Scott Griffith, [Editor’s note: then CEO of Zipcar] became one of my early mentors since founding TaskRabbit. He offered me desk space in the Zipcar office when I moved from Boston, and later introduced me to future investors. To this day, we are able to soundboard ideas off one another and learn from each other’s mistakes as each of our companies grow.
布斯克：找一位能夠幫你的導師，因爲你不能凡事都靠自己。斯科特o格里菲斯[注:時任租車公司Zipcar的CEO]是我創立TaskRabbit之後最早的幾位導師之一。我離開波士頓之後，他在Zipcar爲我提供了一個辦公場所，隨後又將我介紹給了未來的投資者。現在，我們還是會對許多想法產生共鳴，我們會從彼此在公司發展過程中所犯的錯誤中總結經驗教訓。Fortune: What’s next for TaskRabbit? What can we expect from TaskRabbit this year?
《財富》雜誌：TaskRabbit的下一步將走向何方？我們今年能夠對TaskRabbit有哪些期待？Busque: 2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year for TaskRabbit. We’re going to expand into new markets across the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. Several significant business partnerships will also drive a new scale of activity across the marketplace.
布斯克：對於TaskRabbit來說，2015年將是激動人心的一年。我們的市場將擴展到英國和歐洲部分地區。多家重量級商業合作伙伴的加入，也將把我們的業務規模推至新的高度。（財富中文網）
