{"id":341148,"date":"2017-05-17T03:44:29","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T19:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1491394"},"modified":"2017-05-17T03:44:29","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T19:44:29","slug":"leverage-is-building-a-project-management-application-with-outsourced-virtual-assistance-built-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/leverage-is-building-a-project-management-application-with-outsourced-virtual-assistance-built-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Leverage is building a project management application with outsourced virtual assistance built in"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Using outsourced help \u2013 whether that\u2019s using a virtual assistant to help you book travel or hiring a development firm to build your website \u2013 is something that nearly all businesses need from time to time. But finding a qualified person to do that job\u00a0from freelance job boards on online recommendations can be difficult. A company called Leverage<\/a> wants to make using virtual assistance easier for individuals, small businesses and larger organizations by offering an on-demand workforce that can do just about anything.<\/p>\n

The way co-founder\u00a0Ari Meisel described Leverage\u2019s value proposition is that it \u201ccan do anything that\u2019s legal for anyone or any business.\u201d<\/p>\n

This includes things like personal shopping or travel planning for overwhelmed and very busy working professionals, as well as business needs like graphic design, building websites or apps, producing podcasts, crafting a sales funnel, and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The idea for Leverage begin, as many companies do, with a personal struggle. Nine years ago, Meisel was diagnosed with Crohn\u2019s Disease, and found he needed to reduce his own stress levels by slowing down how much he was doing \u2013 leading to a need for outsourced help.<\/p>\n

When he met friend and co-founder Nick Sonnenberg, who then happened to be working on his own productivity app at the time, the startup idea was born.<\/p>\n

The two founders launched Leverage\u00a0the day after the shutdown<\/a> of a notable name in the virtual assistance market, Zirtual. Immediately, they had 10 clients from a Mastermind coaching group Meisel was running.<\/p>\n

What makes Leverage different from hiring a virtual assistant on your own is not just the quality and expertise of the team members it offers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just get an individual assistant, you get the whole team,\u201d explains\u00a0Meisel. \u201cWe provide the personalization of the individual assistant with the expertise and the bandwidth of the whole team.\u201d<\/p>\n

By their\u00a0first full year of business, Leverage had grown its revenue to $1 million, and is on track for $4 million this year. It\u00a0now has a client base of around 450 customers who range from busy individuals and\u00a0small businesses to large companies and organizations\u00a0that have as much as $100 million in revenue per year.<\/p>\n

Its customer base today includes a number of notable names, including Shark Tank\u2019s Daymond John, NYT bestselling author Sally Hogshead, marketing guru Joe Polish, Gazelles Inc. founder and CEO Verne Harnish, and others. It also has a number of business customers, including some government agencies.<\/p>\n

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  1. \n
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    tcdisrupt-ny17-9363<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    tcdisrupt-ny17-9365<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9392<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9371<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9375<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9376<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  7. \n
    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9384<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  8. \n
    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9389<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  9. \n
    \"\"<\/div>\n

    tcdisrupt-ny17-9362<\/h3>\n

    Leverage presents at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n

    To use Leverage, businesses pay $199 per month for a subscription and then another $40 per hour, which is billed by the second. The subscription includes unlimited (unbillable) coaching, as well. This makes Leverage not just another outsourced workforce option but also a business consulting service, Meisel says.<\/p>\n

    In addition, members gain access to a Slack community of around 500 members which focuses on the topic of increasing productivity.<\/p>\n

    The company went on stage this afternoon\u00a0at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2017 (where it won the Wild Card spot to compete in the Startup Battlefield) to preview\u00a0its own product management software,\u00a0Leverage Dashbrd.<\/a> The application will be free to use, but will have the ability to instantly outsource tasks to its workforce with the touch of a button.<\/p>\n

    Leverage has been profitable from day one, the founders claim, and has never raised outside funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \"\" Using outsourced help – whether that’s using a virtual assistant to help you book travel or hiring a development firm to build your website – is something that nearly all businesses need from time to time. But finding a qualified person to do that job\u00a0from freelance job boards on online recommendations can be difficult. A company called Leverage wants to make using… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

    \n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

    \"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-341148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}