Richard Smith is a dad, husband, and parent to a dog he perpetually feels guilty for not walking enough, as well as the man behind Duckbill’s operations. He’s helped to build the powerful team of the incredible copilots and speedy task completion you know well, and is working to improve the member experience with every task submitted. Get a peek behind the curtain while learning more about Duckbill’s COO.
What do you rely on Duckbill for?
Duckbill is both my “back-up” to get things done that otherwise may never happen, and also the thing that makes me look good. It helps me to not only get more done, but also get them done better than I could do them myself. Duckbill has allowed me to share more of the household workload, and mental load, with my wife, so it's making me a better dad and husband. I'm still on the hook to walk the dog however…
How do you like to duck it?
I use the web version from my mobile. I tend to cluster my tasks, so I’ll have a think every so often about what I’d like to offload, then invest a few minutes to submit all of the tasks at once.
What would you tell your friends who have yet to try Duckbill?
Don't think about it as something to just replace the things that you already do, but think about everything you don't get done, that you would like to finally get done, that you know you should do, that otherwise all go undone.
What's your most memorable task?
This one is memorable because it's mundane, and because it was nagging: we had to get our cable provider to move a cable box and re-dig a fiber line. It wasn't broken where it was, but it was ugly. I had been putting it off for ages, because who gets excited about calling their cable provider? Well…Duckbill does! They took care of everything. Before I knew it, the appointment was scheduled and the copilots even negotiated the fee down for me. I was impressed, relieved, and, weirdly enough, my life has improved because I’m not seeing an ugly cable box every day.
If there was a Richard Smith bundle of Duckbill tasks, what would it be?
It’d be called Be A Better Husband, and would take care of all of the never ending tasks my wife and I are always adding to our family’s to-do list: scheduling weekly grocery delivery for kid’s lunches and dinner for all 5 of us, replace my wife's shoes that the dog chewed up , schedule annual checkups and other appointments for the kids, wife, and myself, make dinner reservations for date nights, find the perfect anniversary gift for my wife, and order 25 backup gifts to have on hand for kid’s birthday parties every weekend.
What's your favorite part about working at Duckbill?
The team broadly, but our team of human co-pilots who work so hard on behalf of our members and care deeply about what they do.
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Meet other members of the Duckbill team here.
Inspired to get your own tasks done? Submit them now!