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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

#121

Post by nadams »

nostrademons wrote: post #112

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…

> Google is pretty strict about side projects done by its employees; its IP release claims ownership over anything

IANAL nor do I play one on TV but I don't know if I actually believe that is legal - and if it is then it's a huge legal nightmare.

Take this project for example[1]. He worked on it before he was an employee of Google and after - does that mean Google automatically gets copyright over the project? What about after he leaves Google? What about if he never touched it while working at Google - does Google still get automatic copyright over it?

[1] https://github.com/snapframework/snap-server/commit/5e4850d4...

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

#122

Post by EarthLaunch »

TylerJay wrote: post #101
markkanof wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering the exact same thing. The reality of an agency model is that to scale revenue you have to hire more worker bees. As part of that process two things happen. One, logistics become more complicated because of the additional communication overhead between people. Two, standards have to be lowered for new hires, otherwise they will quickly run out of people to hire. So even assuming that they currently hav…

> The reality of an agency model is that to scale revenue you have to hire more worker bees. And the worst part is, it scales linearly \ cue groans\ . Funny how in business, that's terrible (it's literally the worst it could possibly be to have a potentially profitable business), but with algorithms, it's the holy grail. Interesting point BTW about reduction in quality of workers over time. (Like the pretentious-but-…

Regarding your comments on hiring quality workers- that is interesting. Wouldn't the specific things you mentioned all be solved by the founder (presumably an A-player) continuing to make hiring decisions?

Really enjoyed thinking about your point that revenue outpacing effort enables employee quality decline. Maybe a way to force employee quality on a company would be to continually take on enough work (new/side projects, say, sort of like we see with AWS) such that the company will only survive if employees are good quality.

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

#123

Post by levlandau »

zschuessler wrote: post #38

First, I'll say it's a cool idea and the website interface is well done on the backend. It looks as if they have created a great means of managing a project. Speaking with their support staff was concerning, however. I asked rudimentary questions about how projects are handled that is not covered in their documentation. The staff member I spoke with became increasingly curt and bluntly asked if I wanted to proceed wi…

I am one of the cofounders and I'll be emailing you right away. This is absolutely not the way we operate and I'm happy to jump on a phone call with you to answer any questions you have! Very sorry about any issues you had in our chat. Techcrunch is definitely stretching us (in a good way) and so sometimes we mess up. Very sorry once again I'll be in touch!

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

#126

Post by jqm »

msellout wrote: post #116
727374 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

I don't think estimating will be that much of a problem if the right formula is used. Is this straightforward and the team a has done stuff like this before (most cases)... apply the component formula and add the markup. Is it hairy with lots of unknowns? 1.2 million dollars.

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

#127

Post by joesmo »

nostrademons wrote: post #112

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…

They cannot claim legal ownership of copyright or patents on projects developed outside of Google working hours and not using Google equipment. I believe there have been some cases already in the California courts over the matter. It doesn't matter what their agreement says, the law says otherwise.

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

#128

Post by georgemcbay »

rogerdickey wrote: post #18
albertyw wrote: post #6

"If the project is behind schedule, Gigster just assigns more developers to it or fires under-performing ones so it gets done on time." - Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month.

It's not linear but the math works out - managed right, and up to a point, projects get faster with more people. The management part is hard but that's where our platform comes in.

  > that's where our platform comes in.
"our platform" is quickly overtaking "the cloud" as something a web browser extension should replace with "butt".

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

#129

Post by LoSboccacc »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #120
justonepost wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Also they might have a library in place for speed development. Startup of services have all the same set of core needs

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

#130

Post by georgemcbay »

vadym909 wrote: post #90

Its so hard to believe that the end goal is to be a curated oDesk- which essentially makes it even worse than a online labor marketplace- a services business of which there are 100,000+ in the world. What would be the differentiator? The idea isn't new and there have been startups like GroupTalent, Crew and TopTal that have tried/are trying this and many others in various different verticals. I'm wondering if the A l…

  > What would be the differentiator?
Pitching themselves as "Uber for $X"
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