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Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

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Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#111

Post by BallinBige »

justonepost wrote: post #80
exelius wrote: post #71

Just because you hide a software consulting shop behind an app doesn't mean you can change the fundamental difficulties with software consulting. I wish Gigster luck, but ultimately this approach isn't much different from what many offshore dev shops do today. I can get a quote in under an hour from a half dozen places today; but it doesn't mean it will be accurate or what I want.

This. Nothing has changed from going to upwork or freelancer or whatever, except rather than many bidders to chose from you just have one.

find a technical co-founder if you want to make a startup work.

::::there are always exceptions::::

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#112

Post by nostrademons »

It's pretty worrisome that they say "The Gigsters come from companies like Google or Stripe that are looking for some extra projects." Google is pretty strict about side projects done by its employees; its IP release claims ownership over anything "along the lines of business of Google", which the company has in the past interpreted as "anything tech-related". There's a release process, but I really doubt they would grant approval for freelancing for Gigster on the side.

All that means that if the article is accurate, then customers of this service may find that Google owns their IP if they get big.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#113

Post by pbreit »

exelius wrote: post #71

Just because you hide a software consulting shop behind an app doesn't mean you can change the fundamental difficulties with software consulting. I wish Gigster luck, but ultimately this approach isn't much different from what many offshore dev shops do today. I can get a quote in under an hour from a half dozen places today; but it doesn't mean it will be accurate or what I want.

Productizing a highly demanded service is a reasonable business.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#114

Post by msellout »

markbnj wrote: post #97
levlandau wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! We don't assign more people blindly. But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? We are engineers ourselves and are certainly careful to not just load up a bunch of devs on a project. We've done that before and it was painful :) Thanks for the feedback!

>> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I think that's sort of the point. You do whatever any other engineering team does when faced with the same challenges. The question is what is Gigster doing differently that allows you to achieve consistent on-time, on-budget results? Because if you have that formula, you could probably make a lot more money just consulting with existing dev…

Their FAQ answers your question. They are planning to simply eat any project budget overrun, aiming for growth rather than profit.

    YOU SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
    HOW CAN YOU DO IT THIS CHEAP?

    Agencies and development shops have a lot of overhead
    & are fundamentally lifestyle business, meaning that
    their focus is profits. Gigster is venture-backed so our
    focus is growth & customer satisfaction. We’d have a
    referral from you than your money. Profits come later
    when we are at scale.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#115

Post by dharma1 »

A lot of doubt here in the comments but I think this is a real problem that people pay money for every day to get a worse result from Odesk etc.

Quality, strict timescales, integrated product management for clients - cash flow positive early on, maybe equity options for Gigster(s) - sounds like it could work if the execution is water tight.

Only worry I can think of is it's hard to make a clean product out of it when every job is vastly different and can get messy/out of scope.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#116

Post by msellout »

727374 wrote: post #89
boomshucka wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic... It is pretty absurd to think you are going to get your head around the requirements for a project and come up with a good estimate in 10 minutes. It suggests naivety or dishonesty. You choose.

Half sarcastic, maybe. But, genuinely curious about how they are managing the risk around scoping/estimation. Perhaps using overly conservative estimates or else assuming that on average their estimates will be close. Or maybe those Google/MIT engineers are magical.

I'm pretty sure they're planning to throw VC money at the problem until it goes away ("it" being either the problem or the money).

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#117

Post by DavidHm »

TylerJay wrote: post #103
ForHackernews wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you should hire a sarcasm-identifier on TaskRabbit?

I don't understand either, do you (or someone) mind explaining? Are SV Product Managers considered to be bad?

I am going to assume that the sarcasm refers to the absurd arrogance in implying that only and all product managers in silicon valley, california, usa are good.

Overall, I really like the idea, but the language of the site and of the people answering on this thread is really ringing alarm bells in my head.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#118

Post by carrotleads »

chollida1 wrote: post #32

Interesting I just tried signing up for a project. Under platforms they only have web or phone base platforms. Am I the only one who doesn't develop for a mobile or web platform anymore:( Just give me a couple of statisticians who can program so I can update my backtester!!! Interesting idea, its easy to dismiss it but as someone who initially said meh to Uber and AirBnB when I first heard about them, I've learned th…

Keen to know why you had a "Meh" response to Uber or AirBnB...

I am assuming you don't have the same response now and if so what changed.. Did your knowledge of the product change(like, you thought AirBnB was renting Air mattresses earlier) or did the traction the product received change your thinking...

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#119

Post by EarthLaunch »

msellout wrote: post #114
markbnj wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> But what do you propose we do if a developer gets sick or has to travel? I think that's sort of the point. You do whatever any other engineering team does when faced with the same challenges. The question is what is Gigster doing differently that allows you to achieve consistent on-time, on-budget results? Because if you have that formula, you could probably make a lot more money just consulting with existing dev…

Their FAQ answers your question. They are planning to simply eat any project budget overrun, aiming for growth rather than profit. YOU SOUND TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. HOW CAN YOU DO IT THIS CHEAP? Agencies and development shops have a lot of overhead & are fundamentally lifestyle business, meaning that their focus is profits. Gigster is venture-backed so our focus is growth & customer satisfaction. We’d have a referral fr…

Will this attract 'cheap' customers? As a potential customer I think I prefer the idea of a company that profits by the standard of doing my work, rather than a referral standard I have no control over.

Re: Gigster (YC S15) Does The Dev Work To Turn Your Idea Into An App

#120

Post by jsprogrammer »

justonepost wrote: post #80
exelius wrote: post #71

Just because you hide a software consulting shop behind an app doesn't mean you can change the fundamental difficulties with software consulting. I wish Gigster luck, but ultimately this approach isn't much different from what many offshore dev shops do today. I can get a quote in under an hour from a half dozen places today; but it doesn't mean it will be accurate or what I want.

This. Nothing has changed from going to upwork or freelancer or whatever, except rather than many bidders to chose from you just have one.

Presumably, Gigster has already curated the top resources into a brand you can trust for the projects that they specialize in (and which you want done).
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