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oDesk to merge with Elance

odesk.com

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Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#71

Post by tluyben2 »

tannerc wrote: post #5
lingben wrote: post #3

As long as oDesk does not change at all, I'm happy. The only reason I hire on oDesk is because it is NOT elance - have had horrible experience with elance both with providers and the company itself and how it conducts business (or what it calls business). Although this is called a merger, it is only that in name. It seems elance's CEO will call the shots. https://www.odesk.com/blog/2013/12/mergerfaq/ "Who will lead t…

I couldn't agree more. My experiences with oDesk have been overall phenomenal, while Elance has consistently been a pain. I wonder what's fully fueling the merger, as oDesk seems to be doing pretty well as of late on its own.

I've had issues with both, but most with oDesk.

Companies / people

- saying they are from the US or EU but actually being from India, obviously lying about it to appear more credible,

- starting a project with (1 or more) seniors to get the project and trust and then switching those for the random people dragged in from the street (the worst juniors you can imagine),

- blackmailing withholding parts of deliverables,

- working (with different accounts on different sites) on 10+ projects at a time,

- disappearing without any recourse (yes this can happen in 'real life', but it's extremely rare; on oDesk it's not)

- making up the most insane lies why they are late/more expensive; most common and very morbid; cancer of close family or themselves, but so badly researched that after 3 questions you already know it's not true

and other types of scamming.

Most of these things are preventable if you are really really paranoid and are on top of the 'workers' 24/7, checking everything they deliver with a fine comb, however, that's not really what I would want to do. And for all cases reported to oDesk they just said they couldn't do anything as the screenshot tool was used and the workers 'worked' according to that.

There was an IDE open and code was typed in; random copy/paste code from the web, but that was not the point.

I have very good experiences with both as well and a lot of successful projects, but yeah; this stuff delivered a lot of pain and energy and we seem completely unprotected as buyer.

What we do these days is actually building a team at the outsourcing location, sitting there in the office, training etc; it takes more upfront effort and cost, but it's much more effective. So much more that I would never use these sites again. And we build value instead of work with and train people who will leave in a blink of an eye for a better paying client.

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#72

Post by davidw »

krapp wrote: post #10

Oh, good. Now the experience of begging for slave wages fixing people's wordpress installs can be even more streamlined.

This kind of trite comment adds little to the discussion.

I have some people that work with me on oDesk that I've found over the past few years. I don't pay them a lot by US standards, but they're good people. I've sent them various hardware, like Kindles and a new laptop to help them do their work better, and it has worked out well, although I was kind of nervous about it at the time.

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#73

Post by guillermovs »

While this is huge news there's a lot to be done in this space, and it has only recently started to gain momentum.

For the past couple of years we've been busy building Socialance, sort of like a hybrid if oDesk & LinkedIn. A site where you can hire people recommended by your network.

I know building a marketplace is an extremely challenging task, but we've come this far, we're going to see it through.

It seems plenty of you are heavy users of either site, or have strong opinions about the sector. If you want to help out my email is guillermo@socialance.com (we're bootstrapped, took part in Startup Chile and are based in London).

If it sounds like something might be interested in using, please drop your mail at http://Socialance.com

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#74

Post by krapp »

davidw wrote: post #72
krapp wrote: post #10

Oh, good. Now the experience of begging for slave wages fixing people's wordpress installs can be even more streamlined.

This kind of trite comment adds little to the discussion. I have some people that work with me on oDesk that I've found over the past few years. I don't pay them a lot by US standards, but they're good people. I've sent them various hardware, like Kindles and a new laptop to help them do their work better, and it has worked out well, although I was kind of nervous about it at the time.

Fair enough, there are exceptions, but I feel my comment accurately reflects my own as well as many others' experiences trying to find competitive pay on sites like this.

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#75

Post by [deleted] »

bigiain wrote: post #70
loceng wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just the final code or maybe have access to your servers or other assets - and without a full security check / wipe, you can't know if they created a way in - or they threaten to release your code publicly, or sell it, etc..

Wait - what? People actually accept executable, possibly backdoored code and/or assets from random-internet-site-freelancers – then install it on their production sites _without_ security auditing it? (I know - I _shouldn't_ be surprised, I suspect significant double-digit percentages of WordPress sites have themes installed which have some mysterious " type thing in footer.php…)

[deleted]

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#76

Post by dalerus »

jfoster wrote: post #61
Iftheshoefits wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$2/hr is a lot of money to some people in some places, particularly certain "developing nations". Of course, you get what you pay for. Most people looking to hire on these sites aren't interested in quality; they want quantity at a discount. It works well for both them and the people doing the work at least in the short term. After all, some money (food) is better than nothing. I consider it a pretty base form of exp…

Can you give an example of a place where $2 peer hour is a lot? I often hear this type of assertion being made. I can believe that $2 per hour is enough to live off in some places, but I don't know of anywhere it would be considered "a lot."

Here in Cambodia, a developer with 3-5 years experience(which is hard to find) is looking at around $300-500 a month. And yes, it's considered a lot.

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#78

Post by prawn »

undoware wrote: post #20

We're running out of vowels to prefix startup names. Peak Vowel was definitely 2007; the iGeneration is iSick of oIt. Never use a service whose name you could make up thoughtlessly.

Says uNdoware...

I tend to evaluate a service based on what they provide, their reputation and sometimes the care put into their branding, but rarely do I make a blanket judgement on name alone. Anyone on HN should know how challenging it is to pick a name in the competitive domain landscape.

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#79

Post by andyjdavis »

bigiain wrote: post #70
loceng wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just the final code or maybe have access to your servers or other assets - and without a full security check / wipe, you can't know if they created a way in - or they threaten to release your code publicly, or sell it, etc..

Wait - what? People actually accept executable, possibly backdoored code and/or assets from random-internet-site-freelancers – then install it on their production sites _without_ security auditing it? (I know - I _shouldn't_ be surprised, I suspect significant double-digit percentages of WordPress sites have themes installed which have some mysterious " type thing in footer.php…)

Most people I know who have used odesk/elance simply don't have the ability to perform an audit.

They are mostly writers, photographers, non-technical entrepreneurs and so on who have outsourced some development tasks related to their online activities. They personally have no ability to assess the code apart from how it looks in the front end. They could hire a second person to do the audit for them but now they have two people to worry about getting screwed by...

Re: oDesk to merge with Elance

#80

Post by tedcoombs »

This merger is likely a response to competitor, Freelancer.com going public in Australia this year. It also positions the much larger, Elance/oDesk for an IPO next year. Smaller, niche freelancing marketplaces like Guru.com, 99Designs, WorkersOnCall.com and others will now be looking for acquisition exits from the new giant. The freelancing marketplace industry has been growing 100% year over year for the last 7 years and is expected to continue for the next five years. Once tied to the economy, the freelancing industry trends have now disconnected from the economy in general and are on a steady trend no matter how employment levels rise and fall. All in all, the merger is good news for the industry which saw its first exit this year.
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