The timing couldn't have been worse. After friends Jaspar Weir and Bryce Maddock launched their first entrepreneurial endeavor — hosting alcohol-free parties for teenagers in Los Angeles nightclubs — the recent college graduates used the revenue from that effort to start digital outsourcing company TaskUs.
It was 2008, at the start of the Great Recession.
"It happened to be literally at the worst point — to the month — where the economy had just collapsed so job prospects weren't great," said Weir, who serves as president. "We moved back in with our parents in Los Angeles and we started getting to work on TaskUs."
The pair started the business with $20,000 in capital — the initial seed investment that they put in themselves — to open a small, one-room office in the Philippines. The initial concept for the company was different than what it is today. Originally, the startup focused on enabling busy professionals to outsource various tasks by hiring virtual assistants from across the globe. But they struggled to scale this initial model.
"We failed miserably for a few years before finding something that worked," Weir said.
Since TaskUs already had a dedicated office in the Philippines, the pair refocused their efforts on emerging technology and product-focused companies needing functions like outside customer support and content moderation. Switching gears, they began building operational teams geared toward this more refined outsourcing model.
The company started growing and gaining traction, but Weir and Maddock still weren't seeing any personal financial gain, as each dollar of profit was pumped back into the growth of the company.
"(We) didn't pay ourselves a dollar of salary for three years (and it) was really challenging," Weir said. "We had over 1,000 employees and we were still living with our parents at home."
But the company continued to gain momentum, and by 2015 TaskUs hit $54 million in revenue and had 5,000 employees.
In 2016, TaskUs opened up its headquarters in San Antonio, later adding a site in New Braunfels and in the Rio Grande Valley. The tech talent pool was one draw, Weir said, as well as San Antonio's rapidly growing tech scene, central location, great climate and support from the local community.
Today, the company has more than 40,000 employees at 20 locations in eight countries, with plans to expand into Poland, Romania and Malaysia. TaskUs provides a robust set of services including content security, artificial intelligence operations and consulting to major companies, including Facebook, DoorDash, Uber and others Weir calls the "who’s who of disruptors changing their respective industries." TaskUs saw $478 million in revenue in 2020 — and $201 million in the third quarter of 2021 alone.
Last June, TaskUs went public, with Weir and Maddock ringing the closing bell for Nasdaq. But, Weir said, while certain financial functions have been added to the company's workload since going public, he feels the core values of TaskUs remain the same.
"We just focus on the fundamentals and continue to run a great business focusing on our customers and focusing on creating a great culture for our employees, and the stock will do what the stock does," he said.
He added that the metric he's most proud of is the company's Glassdoor rating, which sits at 4.6 out of 5 — with more than 7,000 employee reviews.
TaskUs Chief Customer Officer Jarrod Johnson, who has worked alongside Weir for more than five years, said Weir is a driven and intelligent leader who has a unique understanding of Silicon Valley's landscape and trends within emerging growth companies. He also excels at building relationships.
"He's everyone's best friend and can seem to find common ground with anyone," Johnson said. "This makes him a master networker, (and) he is incredibly connected — in meaningful ways — to founders, CEOs and investors ... all around the world."
Johnson said Weir has devoted a lot of time and energy to improving the TaskUs experience for employees. He made sure that TaskUs teammates benefited from the company's successful IPO last June — paying a cash or equity award to every one of the then-more than 30,000 employees to commemorate the occasion.
He added that Weir has gone on the road for years doing speaking engagements and writing about ways to enhance the employee experience.
"I think these things have helped workers across our whole industry — not just at TaskUs — by raising the standard for how businesses like ours treat employees," Johnson said.
Fast Facts
Name: Jaspar Weir
Career: Co-founder and president, TaskUs, 2008 - present
Education: B.S., communication, University of Southern California
Hobbies: Hiking, wakesurfing, pickleball, and snowboarding
Favorite San Antonio hangout: Being at TaskUs sites with teammates or exploring the Hill Country
