I've hired a lot via UpWork and consider it the lesser of evils among these platforms. It is still all kinds of evil, though. I've heard it's at least as bad for the contractors.
Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
#12I've also heard of good and bad stories about Upwork. I think it all depends on how you handle it yourself. One of my good friends started his copywriting career on Upwork. First projects he did were extremely cheap, just getting some experience. However, he made sure he does the absolute best he can, with every project. So clients were happy and recommended him to other clients. My friend would be doubling his hourl…
Thanks, this is uplifting information, and sounds like a good plan - start with low-paying jobs and be exceptional and then raise your rates and get first-hand clients. How professional do they handle freelancer's and client's privacy? I will try to do my best but some things can and will go wrong. If things don't go well I don't want to loose my reputation because of some remote-work jobs site, because they or a cli…
What is your specific privacy concern? That something bad will happen and everyone on the internet will see that you were involved?
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
#13I've hired a lot via UpWork and consider it the lesser of evils among these platforms. It is still all kinds of evil, though. I've heard it's at least as bad for the contractors.
I tend to hire off Freelancer. I haven't seen too much difference in people found. It seems more in the way of how you filter people as there is a bunch of poor performers.
I find Upwork seems to give people high summary ratings and when you look at their history and there is a bunch of bad reviews. There is something dodgy going on there which is a main reason I flipped to Freelancer. That and I thought it was good to support a company from my country.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
#14I've hired a lot via UpWork and consider it the lesser of evils among these platforms. It is still all kinds of evil, though. I've heard it's at least as bad for the contractors.
I tend to hire off Freelancer. I haven't seen too much difference in people found. It seems more in the way of how you filter people as there is a bunch of poor performers. I find Upwork seems to give people high summary ratings and when you look at their history and there is a bunch of bad reviews. There is something dodgy going on there which is a main reason I flipped to Freelancer. That and I thought it was good…
The one or two times I've used Freelancer, the quality of the candidates was quite poor (at least what I was hiring for). But what really annoyed me was how conspicuously Freelancer nickle-and-dimes on fees for various things just to post the job.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tend to hire off Freelancer. I haven't seen too much difference in people found. It seems more in the way of how you filter people as there is a bunch of poor performers. I find Upwork seems to give people high summary ratings and when you look at their history and there is a bunch of bad reviews. There is something dodgy going on there which is a main reason I flipped to Freelancer. That and I thought it was good…
The one or two times I've used Freelancer, the quality of the candidates was quite poor (at least what I was hiring for). But what really annoyed me was how conspicuously Freelancer nickle-and-dimes on fees for various things just to post the job.
After evaluating both platforms in more detail I will probably start with freelancer.com as it is possible to have an arbitrary name (e.g. "elephantdesign") instead of real name only. This makes it simpler to tailor your profile to a specific niche in my opinion and seems more privacy aware. Obviously both platforms are pretty intrusive, but at least freelancer.com guard your real name.
However there seems to be an agency mode on Upworks which might be similar.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone bootstrapped a business using services like Upworks?
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
The one or two times I've used Freelancer, the quality of the candidates was quite poor (at least what I was hiring for). But what really annoyed me was how conspicuously Freelancer nickle-and-dimes on fees for various things just to post the job.
After evaluating both platforms in more detail I will probably start with freelancer.com as it is possible to have an arbitrary name (e.g. "elephantdesign") instead of real name only. This makes it simpler to tailor your profile to a specific niche in my opinion and seems more privacy aware. Obviously both platforms are pretty intrusive, but at least freelancer.com guard your real name. However there seems to be an a…
I may be alone in this but as the one doing the hiring I strongly prefer individual freelancers who use their real names. Fraud is a very real problem on these platforms.