Leah Busque Solivan

Founder turned investor

Leah Busque Solivan, who also appears in print as Leah Solivan, is managing director and general partner at Fuel Capital, the early-stage venture firm she joined in 2017 after leaving the day-to-day running of TaskRabbit. The National Association of Corporate Directors says she oversees three funds that have performed in the top quartile and a portfolio of more than 150 companies across consumer technology, hardware, education, marketplaces and retail. Investments it names include Figma, Flexport, Lattice, Upwards, Bark and Pacaso.^[1]

The same biography says she chairs TaskRabbit's board, which keeps her tied to the company she started even though IKEA owns it.^[1]

From IBM engineer to founder

Before starting a company she spent seven years as a software engineer at IBM, where, according to NACD, she worked on Lotus Notes and Domino. She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science from Sweet Briar College, and she has also served on the college's board.^[1]

She founded the business in 2008 under the name RunMyErrand, with the idea of letting people hand off everyday errands to neighbors. It became TaskRabbit, and NACD credits the company with helping launch the gig economy. In a 2021 TechCrunch session on founder mistakes she described how she stayed close to customers in the early days: she worked as a Tasker in Boston herself and interviewed the first 30 Taskers, a hands-on approach that shaped the product she built later.^[1][2]

Eight years as chief executive

NACD says she led TaskRabbit as CEO for eight years, growing it to 44 cities and raising more than $50 million in venture funding. A 2017 news report on the sale cited a lower figure, saying the company had raised over $30 million, so the total depends on the source. The same report said the company had struggled to become profitable and had backed away from a forecast of profitability by the end of 2016.^[1][3]

In 2016 she stepped back from the chief executive role and became executive chairwoman, and Stacy Brown-Philpot, a former Google executive, took over as CEO.^[1][3]

In September 2017 IKEA agreed to buy TaskRabbit. Terms were not disclosed, and the report said the business would continue as an independent entity inside IKEA under Brown-Philpot, with Taskers continuing to assemble IKEA furniture and handle other work in the United States and the United Kingdom.^[3]

Fuel Capital and what she tells founders

She joined Fuel Capital in 2017. In the 2021 TechCrunch article she set out advice for early-stage founders drawn from both sides of the table. She said secrecy about an idea is usually unnecessary, because the idea itself is not the magic and execution is. She said founders should weigh conflicting advice from investors and advisers and then make the call themselves. She also urged them to end each meeting by asking who else they should speak to, a chain of introductions she credited with helping TaskRabbit's early growth, and to do things manually before automating them.^[2]

Boards and speaking

NACD lists board service at PetMed Express, the San Francisco Ballet and Sweet Briar College, and says she chairs the Pacific US Region board of YPO. PetMed Express disclosed in a June 2026 filing that she told the company on June 23, 2026 that she would not stand for reelection at its annual meeting scheduled for August 11, 2026; the filing said the decision was not the result of any disagreement with the company or the board, and that she would serve until that meeting.^[1][4]

NACD also says Fast Company named her one of its 100 Most Creative People in Business and that her work has been covered by The Wall Street Journal, Wired and Time. It lists speaking appearances on entrepreneurship, the future of work and women in technology at events including the World Economic Forum in Davos and the Women in the World Summit.^[1]

Why she matters

Solivan is among the founders of the early gig-economy platforms who turned a sale into a second career funding other companies. Her path, from engineer to marketplace operator to investor with a broad seed-stage portfolio and a seat at the board table, gives her a view of how consumer and marketplace businesses are built and governed.^[1][3]

On The Executive List

Leah Busque Solivan is ranked No. 92 on The Executive List (October 2026) in the Chief Operating Officers discipline. The list row shows her at TaskRabbit, which she founded; she is now a general partner at Fuel Capital. The ranking reflects The Executive Review's own editorial Trending Score; it is not an outside award, and placement on the list is never sold. View the October 2026 edition.