Leah Solivan
- Founder of TaskRabbit
- General Partner, Precedent.vc
- Independent Board Director
Travels From
California
Leah Solivan, TaskRabbit - Startup Lessons from TaskRabbit
Have Big Hairy Audacious Goals and Take Baby Steps
Fuel Capital's Leah Solivan on Her Shift from the Startup World to VC
Leah Solivan Speaker Biography
Leah Solivan sits at an intersection most people only read about: she has been the founder in the room, the CEO making the call, the seller across the table from a Fortune 500 acquirer, and now the investor deciding which founders get the chance to do it all over again. What she brings to a stage is not a single story — it's a complete view of what building actually looks like across every phase.
Today, Leah is a Managing Director at Precedent.vc, where she manages three funds and a portfolio of more than 150 companies—including Nanit, Ourplace, and Pacaso—across AI, fintech, consumer, retail, digital health, and marketplace businesses. In 2022, she launched Precedent Collective, an investment initiative dedicated to extending her commitment to building a more equitable capital landscape.
She joined the board of PetMed Express, where she chairs the Compensation and Human Capital Committee. She also served as Chair of the Pacific Region of YPO, on the International Board, and as a Board Trustee for the San Francisco Ballet.
A member of the Young Presidents' Organization since 2014 and recipient of its highest membership honor — the Alexander Capello Award, recognizing her work in gender equity — Leah currently chairs YPO's Regional Board and
serves on a global committee of the YPO International Board, giving her access to senior business leaders across 142 countries. She is a regular speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos and has appeared at Tina Brown's Women in the World Summit and dozens of corporate and technology events worldwide.
Leah founded TaskRabbit in 2008 — before "the gig economy" was a phrase anyone used, before two-sided marketplaces were a known category, and before most investors had a framework for saying yes to what she was building. As CEO for eight years, she raised more than $50 million, scaled operations across 44 cities, and in 2017 completed the company's acquisition by IKEA — one of the defining exits of the on-demand economy. She was not only the CEO; in the early days, she was the first Tasker, tooling around Boston on her Honda Scooter, running errands for strangers, and proving the model worked.
Leah holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Sweet Briar College and began her career as a software engineer at IBM. She is one of the few Latina technologists to raise institutional venture capital and achieve a major platform exit — and she brings that full arc, unedited, to every stage she stands on. She is the creator and host of Breaking Precedent, a multi-season podcast featuring founders, athletes, artists, and investors who rewrote the rules of their fields.
Breaking Precedent
Based on her new podcast, Breaking Precedent, Leah Solivan has shattered barriers on many levels, from reimagining the Future of Work with TaskRabbit, to challenging the Venture Capital industry as a young Latina, to advocating for more women in technology and engineering. She is passionate about sharing her journey and highlighting others’ unprecedented journeys as well.
Imagine a world where the boundaries of what’s possible are constantly being pushed, where societal norms are challenged, and where new precedents are made every day. This is the world we will explore in Breaking Precedent, a dynamic presentation dedicated to uncovering the stories of those who dare to innovate, trailblaze, and redefine the status quo.
Throughout this presentation, we will delve into the lives of extraordinary individuals who are not just thinking outside the box but are completely dismantling it to create new standards and pathways in their respective fields. From technology and art to social justice and beyond, we will share their journeys of breaking barriers and setting new precedents.
Each segment of Breaking Precedent will offer you an intimate look into the motivations, struggles, and triumphs of these pioneers. We will provide a platform where groundbreaking ideas are not only discussed but are also celebrated as catalysts for change.
This presentation is also about equipping you with the tools and strategies to break precedents in your own life and work. We will explore practical applications that will empower and inspire you.
Entrepreneurship: From Engineer to Entrepreneur, 5 Lessons Learned
After 8 years as a software engineer at IBM, Solivan quit her job to found TaskRabbit. With no prior business experience, no MBA, and by withdrawing $20,000 from her IBM pension account, it was a cold winter night when she had the idea for founding TaskRabbit. After bootstrapping the company for 18 months, maxing out credit cards, and building the business from the ground up, Solivan was able to raise over $50 million dollars in venture funding, expand the company internationally, and propel TaskRabbit as a leader of the sharing economy movement. Then in 2017, Leah oversaw TaskRabbit’s successful sale to IKEA – the multinational home décor corporation's first step into the on-demand platform space.
There were many lessons learned along the way, and in this dynamic speech, Solivan will share five important lessons that changed the game for her life and her business. From having “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” to discovering ideas, instead of inventing them, Solivan will explore how anyone can be entrepreneurial and drive innovation for their team, business, or organization, ultimately achieving greater happiness for themselves and truly loving what they do.
The Sharing Economy and The Future of Work
Mom always told us not to talk to strangers, but are there really any strangers today? Fifteen years ago, it was unthinkable to flag down a random car and hop in for a ride, but today, with the use of technology, we don’t hesitate to share rides with people we don’t know. We are willing to hire a handyman through an app, such as TaskRabbit, and we are renting out rooms in our own houses to people we’ve never met before. How did the sharing economy begin and what will it evolve to next? In this dynamic speech, Solivan will share her story of starting TaskRabbit and why 2008 was a pinnacle for the beginning of the sharing economy. Over the last 8 years, this new trend has evolved into mainstream adoption and continues to grow and scale in new ways that are changing the future of work. Solivan will explore how businesses, large and small, will need to evolve to support this new fragmented workforce, and how, despite the skeptics, providing more flexibility and entrepreneurship in our work environments will drive innovation, support diversity, and ultimately translate to stronger, longer-lasting companies.
April 14, 2025
Leah Solivan did a phenomenal job as our Keynote Speaker at this year's TECHWomen Global Summit. Her presentation was nothing short of inspiring, providing invaluable information and insights that our participants can take with them to break precedence in the tech world and beyond. Leah's relatability and fantastic storytelling skills captivated the audience, leaving a lasting impression. We've received nothing but great feedback from her presentation. Leah's keynote was one of the highlights of the summit, and we are grateful for her impactful contribution.
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