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

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151–160 of 192 posts

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

#151
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.

> Somebody hasn't read Mythical Man-Month. Or managed a software development project of any significance.

Or even worked on a software development project where someone tried that trick.

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

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Translation: we're burning other people's money so we can underbid anyone and build a customer book. Of course, at some point someone is going to want the business to be profitable and then, hey presto, you're a dev shop like all the other dev shops.

I'm disappointed in YC for funding this; I think it's destructive to the hacker economy/ecosystem. Excerpting a comment from a thread last year re: Marc Andressen's complaints about startup burn rates that applies: --------- I find it very hard not to get angry at these posts... ...One of the biggest problems facing my company right now is dealing with all of the venture-funded idiots coming after my customers, marke…

can confirm, used to be angry but I stopped fighting it and just went with the flow. In fact it drove me out of the lower consumer market and forced me to go higher up in the ladder and make more money and deal with less clients who in turn were frustrated with the VC backed solutions.

Unsustainable business models backed by a sugar daddy offering even more commoditization taking spoiled and angry users out of the market? Fine with me if you believe in free lunches, but somebody is paying for it, and cash is a finite resource so.

I can definitely understand the anger and that was my initial reaction last year but then I just stopped giving a damn. I stopped caring. I don't have to take this client and offer them deep discounts to match "free". I realized I rarely have to do anything. I can simply choose to wait for the next bus which won't be crammed with ton of people fighting over seats. I am so much happier and profitable as a result.

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

#153
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

If you're using firefox, here you go: https://gist.github.com/kennethrapp/abbbca60ec286cc73f92

now we need this for Chrome!

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

#154
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you ask clients to give Gigster equity? Also, would love to hear more about your pricing generally.

Hi! Not all clients, just a select few. We collect data on all the projects we do and infer prices automatically :) Generally you can expect a Gigster project to be way cheaper (we've seen 10X in some cases) than what an agency would charge and often times cheaper or on par with similarly curated services like toptal but with the added convenience you get from having a product manager like an agency would provide.

If only a select few clients, not all clients, provide equity, how can you give "all Gigster developers equity or options on projects!"

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

#155
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're using firefox, here you go: https://gist.github.com/kennethrapp/abbbca60ec286cc73f92

now we need this for Chrome!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7982410

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

#156
post #99

From the gigster faq "Profits come later when we are at scale" From the faq. 1. This is dangerous if there is no clear plan on what competitive advantage scale gets you. - Is it network effects? - Is there some other benefit that i am missing? Would it drive down the marginal costs of the project once you have an existing library or ways to optimize the process? 2. I have a theory, running at a loss, free or with no…

it's a marketplace

marketplaces have strong network effects

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

#157
Hey! Can you describe your project in greater detail or link me to a spec? I’ll be in touch soon. We’re running behind due to the Techcrunch launch :) 2 minutes ago

YLXAWJHC i want a youporn clone 2 minutes ago

YLXAWJHC hello? a minute ago

YLXAWJHC I need this done ASAP a minute ago

YLXAWJHC can you agree to equity share? a minute ago

YLXAWJHC once I market it it will be HUGE a minute ago

DEBO we take equity on some projects :) However we dont really discount the projects that much a few seconds ago

DEBO for them what's your budget here? a few seconds ago

YLXAWJHC well 1k to start a few seconds ago

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

#158
post #132

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…

You're right that Google has a clause for IP/Invention Assignment, but if push comes to shove a court would probably invalidate overly broad parts of a Google employees employment contract, so I think this fear is overblown. But 1) IANAL and 2) I didn't work at Google.

Google is one of the few companies that can legitimately show active work in most every technical field. I think it would be a pretty serious issue but IANAL either.

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

#159
post #127

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.

1. Assumes nobody cheats and works on the side project at work. I'm not sure how happy I'd be with an outsource agency that went radio silent for 8-10 hours in the middle of the work day.

2. They can claim just about anything they like, then you get to defend yourself.

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

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This actually sounds like a fantastic opportunity to have your development work subsidized by some rich VCs.

Ha, exactly, except that too good to be true usually is. I have a hard time believing the "low ball high volume" strategy is going to lead to well-executed projects.

I think the actual strategy is push idea guys into sharing equities so they get both some money for the initial investment and make it big on equity with relatively low risk if the project succeeds.

From another pov they are vc to idea guys, only instead of giving the money for equity they give the product for equity. With the difference that they also get paid for it!

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