Tech satirists rejoiced this week as the TechCrunch Disrupt conference offered up more comic material for Mike Judge et al. Doubling-down on oblivious self-parody, the Disrupt Cup and an oversized check went to $99 a month butler service Alfred.
"Really #TCDisrupt?" tweeted Gregory Miller, a San Francisco CEO and philanthropist, "The best, most disruptive new company goes to one making the lives of the top 1% (or 10%) a little easier? @ClubAlfred"
The finals were "tough to call" according to judges like Kevin Rose and Marissa Mayer. But they made it look pretty easy, and TechCrunch coverage also came with this very fair sounding disclaimer: “Disclosure: CrunchFund, the fund started by TechCrunch Founder Michael Arrington, is an investor in Alfred. Arrington was not involved in the judging process.” We'll leave it at that.
So, who's the customer base? Well, who ISN’T in the market for a Jeeves to their Wooster, or in this case, an Alfred to their Bruce Wayne? Maybe most people. But sidestepping the hideous system of inequality and subservience Alfred connotes, the Boston-based service promises something (slightly) different than the services rendered in Lee Daniel’s The Butler.
Your personal Alfred — which sounds sort of like a Task Rabbit that you share with lots of people—attends to your dry cleaning and food delivery needs while you take care of your busy schedule (or eat cereal and read The Remains of The Day.)
Acting as a middleman to your other middlemen services, Alfred has some not-so-profitable partners like Homejoy (online maid booking), Washio (cleaning delivery online), and Instacart (food delivery online). Thus, Alfred is calling itself a “Service Layer.” So layer up folks, this is San Francisco.
[Via Mission Local, image from Thinkstock]