Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

I think you overestimate the capabilities of a software engineer. I'm a backend developer. I can design and implement the backend of enterprise level systems (APIs, Service Bus, Scheduled Jobs, Automation of operations, etc).

But you still need a front end designer, a front end developer to write the clients users actually interact with and a domain expert who understands the needs of the people the software is being made for.

Sure, some people can probably do all of those things. But I haven't yet met someone who could do them all as well as a specialist.

Only opportunity I've had to work in startups, is when I'm working with a domain expert and a front end developer who happens to know enough about design to be the UX designer as well.

Best case scenario, that person is also a domain expert, or I am. Either way that still involves me finding someone else with the drive, passion, time and energy to pursue a startup.

Oh and that's ignoring all the legal crap you have to deal with in a startup.

Freelance = Let them deal with all the bullshit and take their money to solve a problem you can solve well.

Startup = You have a team of people with a common vision. Or one person with the capital to hire them all... which has been my most common experience (they usually are domain expert too). Maybe you get rich, maybe you lose all your invested time/money, maybe you get screwed due to not understanding the legal documents you signed.

Startups are hard. Hell I had a group of guys that each had complementary skillsets and we considered starting a company that consulted for startups (helping them understand what to do, and guiding them through the process). Unfortunately two of them passed away :(

How much do you make from Toptal? A year ago I started the process with them, and they told me that they generally have regional rates. They corrected that programmers are free to choose their own hourly rates, but hinted that you won't get projects if your hourly rate is higher than average (They did not openly tell this, but the implication was clear).

They mentioned that the average hourly rate for India was $20 -- something which is way below what I make in the day-job in India. Also, I have worked at much higher rates as a freelancer.

At $20, I just decided that going through their arduous interview process was simply not worth it.

What has been your experience?

I like to sign up for this service as well. But Stripe is not supported in my country. Why not Paypal? Or maybe cryptocurrency? :)

Ergh... Probably the worst places to find work. A saturated market of freelancers that will accept any price to do any work. OP you're better than this!

The truth is is that you don't need a network to land freelance gigs. Going to meetups is nice, but you can skip that step.

There are remote projects posted all the time on job boards, Slack channels, Discord, Twitter, Facebook Groups, and many other places that aren't UpWork.

I freelanced for 4 years completely remotely as a front-end developer always finding my clients in this way on various places and reaching out directly with email.

It's always about consistently reaching out to keep your freelance pipeline full, showing clients you have the technical skills by your showing previous projects in your email cover letter, and that you can be reliable by consistently emailing back quickly.

P.S. - I started https://remoteleads.io/ to solve this problem of finding remote work for myself and it turns out many others needed this too and now we're growing at a pretty consistent pace.