Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸

Engineer turned Entrepreneur; East Coast transplant to Silicon Valley; Founder TaskRabbit, Investor, Director, Global Leader host of @BreakPrecedent

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

So thrilled to support this team. I use my Townie for so many things including drafting emails, scheduling follow ups, tracking expenses, researching ahead of meetings. It has been a force multiplier in my day to day.

[Jean-Denis Greze 💡 @jgreze]

The biggest bottleneck at work is waiting on each other.

Today Town is announcing its $108M Series B, co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures, to fix it with multiplayer AI assistants for work.

Most AI assistants are built for one person. Work doesn't happen alone. I think the moat is multiplayer. Everyone at a company gets a Townie. Townies ask each other questions, share only what their person would share, and do the work. The more a team works together, the more useful Townies get.

What's the thing you're always waiting on a teammate for?

[Kepler Computing @keplercompute]

We are proud to announce @keplercompute. Our mission is unlock computing for everyone by pushing memory and logic to the limits of physics.

Our team co-led one of the industry's first 3D chip-stacking technologies, has led and scaled seven generations of DRAM and multiple logic designs into billions of chips. We built the world's first commercial physical synthesis tool and techniques at the heart of the logic design industry and solved long standing challenges in ferroelectrics, invented beyond CMOS logic devices. We would love to work with you to reinvent chip manufacturing here in America.

Memory is the biggest binding constraint on AI compute. Today we come out of stealth after a 7 year bet on this problem - introducing a new frontier of AI memories - that approach the bandwidth per watt of SRAM and go up to 10x beyond the capacity of SRAM and HBM.

We raised $468m, built a dedicated fab and our AI memories sample this year and ramp to production next year. We are allocated for 2027 and will be scaling in America by 2028.

We are open for business get in touch to work together. We are also growing the group of Keplerians and would love to work with you.

Learn More @ Kepler: https://t.co/lW0ZPLtrkx
Read our story in @WIRED: https://t.co/j6pvkMvmzR

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Loved my walk and talk with @LubaYudasina, talking @Taskrabbit , @BreakPrecedent , and @precedent_vc

[luba yudasina @LubaYudasina]

In 2008, @labunleashed pitched every VC in Boston with an idea called TaskRabbit.

Every one of them passed. So she bootstrapped it herself for 18 months, running the whole thing out of her apartment.

She was the first engineer and the first task runner all the way through.

The company grew, and @IKEA eventually bought it for over $100 million+.

Now she runs her own fund, Precedent VC, and she's built it as the exact opposite of the system that rejected her back in 2008.

Cold decks get scored on the same rubric as warm intros. If a deal scores high, the founder is on the phone within six hours.

The full arc from bootstrapping alone in Boston to running her own fund and writing a book about it is in the new episode of The Luba Show.

Timestamps

00:00 Trailer
01:12 Intro
01:21 Ballet background and SF Ballet board
06:12 TaskRabbit's origin story
10:52 Move to the Bay Area
23:00 Selling TaskRabbit to IKEA
33:03 Letting go of founder identity
35:37 Launching Precedent VC
38:26 AI-powered deal scoring system
41:26 Investing philosophy and founder fit
54:30 Founder green and red flags
58:26 Why she wrote Breaking Precedent
01:07:12 Parenting and work-life balance
01:10:46 Defining success
01:12:20 Outro

Loved talking to Leah!

Episode available on all platforms.

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

You go from being inside the world… to seeing it as a whole.

After decades of chasing the dream, @DrEJahangir went to space in 2024, experiencing what astronauts call the overview effect. Listen to the replay of this conversation today — Part I is live.
https://t.co/zxYUXqW9vk

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

I used to think productivity was about doing more.

Now I think it’s about protecting the few hours that actually matter.

In this piece with @BusinessInsider, I share with @RobinMadell how I think about “power hours.”

Not meetings. Not email.
Thinking, building, deciding.

Most systems weren’t built for how we actually live.

So we build our own.
https://t.co/pZglxC9myl

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Understanding the opaque venture capital system can give Founders significant leverage. I shared what I wish I knew when I was raising money for @Taskrabbit with @ScottMcGrew on his Sand Hill Road Podcast.

https://t.co/kjoxVroH2C

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

Now live 🎙️

Stacy Brown-Philpot (@CherryrockCap) on:

Standing up for yourself — early and often

The decision that saved @Taskrabbit (and the backlash)

Why “there is no pipeline problem”

Listen now.

https://t.co/eP4Adiyd8L

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

The pivot isn’t the backup plan.
It’s the strategy.

At @Taskrabbit we threw away years of work and started over.

Painful? Yes.
Necessary? 100%.

The best founders don’t avoid pivots—they recognize them faster.

More on @FastCompany here:
https://t.co/DosEJ1fVxx

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Thank you for having me on!

[TechCrunch @TechCrunch]

For women entering the founding and startup ecosystem, Taskrabbit founder @labunleashed has a wealth of insights, especially on why you shouldn’t hold yourself back.

Listen in on the latest episode of Build Mode for our full interview with her: https://t.co/vR0GbPIbZM

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

New episode of Breaking Precedent is live.

Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Rachel Sussman talks about the journey of bringing @SuffsMusical to Broadway, the real business behind theater, and why stories about women’s suffrage still matter today.

https://t.co/dGritLJ88n

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Tomorrow on @BreakPrecedent ...

Leah Solivan sits down with Tony Award-winning producer Rachel Sussman of the Tony Award-winning musical @SuffsMusical

A conversation about the real business of Broadway, storytelling, and why the suffrage movement still matters today.

Did we mention she won a Tony Award?

Episode drops tomorrow.

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

Episode 9 is live with @ryannece on:

The next play mindset
Ego detox after pro sports
Why greatness is thoughtful
Building access in venture

Listen now: https://t.co/jbL2gqrkXW

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

From NFL to venture capital.
@ryannece on:
•Identity after the spotlight
•Why greatness is “thoughtful”
•The next play mindset
•Turning legacy into impact

Episode drops tomorrow.

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Episode 8 of @BreakPrecedent is live with @soledadobrien

This one is about journalism, independence, and accountability in complex systems.

https://t.co/6ofi3Kv4AM

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Tomorrow on @BreakPrecedent: @soledadobrien.
Truth, narrative power, and building your own platform.

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

@BreakPrecedent Episode is live with @halletecco

Healthcare, access, incentives, and what it really takes to move a system that resists change.
https://t.co/0DUjNSTQPm

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

Tomorrow on @BreakPrecedent
@halletecco on healthcare, incentives, and why implementation matters more than ideas.

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

Can’t wait for this!

[SiriusXM Business Radio @SXMBusiness]

☎️OPEN CALLS - WEDNESDAY (2/4) AT 12pm ET☎️

Task Rabbit Founder @Labunleashed joins @RandiZuckerberg to talk about the evolution of marketplace & how AI is transforming (super-charging) this space today!

Dial 844-942-7866 with your questions for @RandiZuckerber & @Labunleashed!

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

New @BreakPrecedent episode is live.

Samara Hernandez of @ChingonaVC on turning difference into strength and redefining leadership in venture capital.

Listen now 🎧

[Breaking Precedent the podcast @BreakPrecedent]

New Episode! "Breaking the Bias: Samara Hernandez of Chingona Ventures on Capital, Culture, and the Future of Funding"

What happens when difference becomes a competitive advantage? In this episode o…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/PBhrX3Nut4

[Leah Solivan 🇵🇷/🇺🇸 @labunleashed]

What if difference is the edge?

New @BreakPrecedent episode with Samara Hernandez from @ChingonaVC on identity, access, and building power from lived experience.

Dropping tomorrow 🎧