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Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

kenvak.com

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Re: Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

#3
Interesting business concept. From their copy it seems like their goal is to remove a lot of the pains developers have associated with doing freelance. My main concerns would be

1. How much does the service cost. Is it a percentage of your rate? Is it flat?

2. What is their vetting process for clients/freelancers. They claim to "only represent the most talented designers and developers". That's quite the claim.

3. How do they provide payment protection?

I'm fine with the contract negotiation, representation, and customer relations but the other business offers need more details.

Re: Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

#4
post #3

Interesting business concept. From their copy it seems like their goal is to remove a lot of the pains developers have associated with doing freelance. My main concerns would be 1. How much does the service cost. Is it a percentage of your rate? Is it flat? 2. What is their vetting process for clients/freelancers. They claim to "only represent the most talented designers and developers". That's quite the claim. 3. Ho…

My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvek I would love to help answer any questions.

1. They take 10%. Which makes sense to me as my rates and time varies from project to project.

2. Brian, the main man behind it, who represents me is only taking on 10 full time freelancers at this time. He wants to start small and is in no rush take on a bunch of people. This way he can focus on the best people. The vetting process right is strong referrals

3. This is something that I had concerns with as well. Like anything else he is trying new things as he goes. The current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer. For me collecting payments has always been a pain with a lazy client.

edit: formatting

Re: Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

#6
In my experience the hardest part of freelancing is the actual selling. Getting leads isn't difficult, nor is drawing up contracts. It's getting from "Hello" to a signed contract thats difficult and these guys (AFAICS) don't help with that.

If they did I'd certainly be interested!

Re: Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

#8
> Generally the most frustrating part of freelancing is dealing with the business side of things.

I strongly disagree. The hardest part of freelancing is finding quality clients. Not finding leads, not the legal work, not the accounting, not anything else.

What would be interesting is a service that coaches clients on how to be reasonable. How to have realistic expectations, how to set a realistic budget, how to ask for the right things and when to just let the designer or developer _do their job_ .

That's a service I would pay for.

Re: Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

#10
post #3

Interesting business concept. From their copy it seems like their goal is to remove a lot of the pains developers have associated with doing freelance. My main concerns would be 1. How much does the service cost. Is it a percentage of your rate? Is it flat? 2. What is their vetting process for clients/freelancers. They claim to "only represent the most talented designers and developers". That's quite the claim. 3. Ho…

My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvek I would love to help answer any questions. 1. They take 10%. Which makes sense to me as my rates and time varies from project to project. 2. Brian, the main man behind it, who represents me is only taking on 10 full time freelancers at this time. He wants to start small and is in no rush take on a bunch of people. This way he can focus on the best people. The vetting…

Thanks for the reply!

> the current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer.

Sounds kind of like an escrow service. What kind of measures does he have in place if there is a discrepancy between the client and developer? For instance what if the client feels cheated somehow and wants some money back. Admittedly if you're a good contractor and have vetted your clients this hardly ever happens but there are edge cases.

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