Building a Better Gig Economy - Para

Team Subkit -

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with David Pickerell, co-founder, and CEO of Para Inc., located in San Francisco, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

My business is Para. We're building a better gig economy by focusing on the most important part - the workers.

Tell us about yourself

Para started at the beginning of COVID. It wasn't initially a business but a tool to help gig workers better understand their Unemployment Insurance and other assistance options during the pandemic. After helping a few thousand gig workers make an informed decision, my co-founder and I got hooked and continued to build tools to do so.

My motivation is to build tools that put dollars $$$ in our users' pockets by empowering them to be in charge of their work.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Hearing from many happy users that we have impacted their work life & allowed them to achieve their personal goals. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from people who have used our app - that's what drives the team and me to work hard and do what we do.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Juggling the many priorities and choosing the right priorities. And making sure that what we're working on in the short term aligns with our long-term vision while delivering value to our users today.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Just get started. Stop overthinking it.
  2. Watch what your early users do. Doing > feedback > advice & thoughts.
  3. Actually, be your user -> the best insights can only be gained this way. The best thing we ever did was go out and drive consistently. It made us realize that everything we were building was nice-to-have, not a need-to-have.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.withpara.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WithPara
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withpara/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/with_para
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/withpara/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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