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Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

gigster.com

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Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#21

Post by RaitoBezarius »

frakkingcylons wrote: post #18
RaitoBezarius wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, Gigster is absolutely not Upwork or Upwork-like, this is amusing misconception that all people have about Gigster. If you're a freelancer asking for equity, you'll give up some of your payment. Gigster is not saying AFAIK: we cut some of your pay in exchange for some equity. Again, AFAIK, Gigster is clearly saying: The more you make customers happy and engaged in your gigs, the more you will earn equity from com…

Can you elaborate on how Gigster is not like Upwork?

Glad you asked it.

Upwork is a race to the bottom, the cheapest developer gets the project, at the cost... of the quality and experience.

Gigster is more realistic, I don't know how much I can talk about this.

We are working with a team of fellow Gigsters, and we work together to estimate fairly the project. We are obviously against the race to the bottom, and we desire cool or interesting projects.

Fairly means: Developer is happy with the quote, the timeline / timeframe and the scope. Product Manager is ready to help his team to achieve this project with a happy customer and a happy team.

Of course, we do have problems sometimes. But Gigster happiness, that means: Product Managers, Developers and Designers is crucial and I feel it personally.

Finally, I will say it bluntly: I am a developer, and I am not paid 40 $ / hour to produce a stupid idea which will change the world.

If you want more information, I think that a Gigster employee can explain more about his experience.

(sorry for the unstructured explanation!)

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#22

Post by themodelplumber »

RaitoBezarius wrote: post #21
frakkingcylons wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on how Gigster is not like Upwork?

Glad you asked it. Upwork is a race to the bottom, the cheapest developer gets the project, at the cost... of the quality and experience. Gigster is more realistic, I don't know how much I can talk about this. We are working with a team of fellow Gigsters, and we work together to estimate fairly the project. We are obviously against the race to the bottom, and we desire cool or interesting projects. Fairly means: Dev…

> Finally, I will say it bluntly: I am a developer, and I am not paid 40 $ / hour to produce a stupid idea which will change the world.

I don't understand, could you re-phrase? Also, do you see your current hourly as sending a high, middle, or low end signal to clients?

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#23

Post by RaitoBezarius »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #20
RaitoBezarius wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, Gigster is absolutely not Upwork or Upwork-like, this is amusing misconception that all people have about Gigster. If you're a freelancer asking for equity, you'll give up some of your payment. Gigster is not saying AFAIK: we cut some of your pay in exchange for some equity. Again, AFAIK, Gigster is clearly saying: The more you make customers happy and engaged in your gigs, the more you will earn equity from com…

For the record, they are clearly not saying anything in a clear manner here. It's all pretty crappy marketing speak (coming from a marketer...and a freelancer) to support what is 100% a PR ploy.

I understand what you mean. Sorry for not being sufficiently clear.

While I understand your point of view, I will not try to argue over whether this is a PR ploy or not.

This announcement is also a surprise meant for us, Gigsters. And this surprise was a success because I have experienced that when Gigster says they want to do something, they will.

Gigster said they want our happiness, naïve or not, I believe in it and Gigster granted us a real opportunity, I feel happier with Gigster as a freelancer.

So, what I am trying to say? Basically, a lot of people says that Gigster is like Upwork, that this announcement is not clear, this is marketing.

Please, just do not immediately judge Gigster with the "Upwork" hat, there is a lot of misconceptions about Gigster. :)

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#24

Post by RaitoBezarius »

themodelplumber wrote: post #22
RaitoBezarius wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad you asked it. Upwork is a race to the bottom, the cheapest developer gets the project, at the cost... of the quality and experience. Gigster is more realistic, I don't know how much I can talk about this. We are working with a team of fellow Gigsters, and we work together to estimate fairly the project. We are obviously against the race to the bottom, and we desire cool or interesting projects. Fairly means: Dev…

> Finally, I will say it bluntly: I am a developer, and I am not paid 40 $ / hour to produce a stupid idea which will change the world. I don't understand, could you re-phrase? Also, do you see your current hourly as sending a high, middle, or low end signal to clients?

> I don't understand, could you re-phrase?

I feel like that the guys which handles the project in Upwork are not real developers. I said: "I am a developer", because I work on fascinating problem, I practice problem solving everyday, we do not do "web scale" (TM) indeed ; but I find pleasure in my work, compared to what Upwork offered me.

> Also, do you see your current hourly as sending a high, middle, or low end signal to clients?

It is rare that developers have direct contact with clients, so I am not exactly sure about what clients feels about our hourly rate. A Product Manager might be more insightful about this question.

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#25

Post by koolba »

From the article, emphasis mine:

> This allows our freelancers to receive tangible rewards for their hard work building incredible software, and helps them prepare for the future.

Wouldn't simplify paying a freelancer be a tangible reward? And if you're not paying them then they're not really freelancers, they're either interns or suckers (or both).

> Will every Gigster Fund company yield a successful return? No. Although some startup companies yield extraordinary financial returns, many fail.

Ha! Great way to spin "The majority of this will be worthless ... but you buy Powerball tickets too right?"

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#26

Post by quackware »

frakkingcylons wrote: post #18
RaitoBezarius wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, Gigster is absolutely not Upwork or Upwork-like, this is amusing misconception that all people have about Gigster. If you're a freelancer asking for equity, you'll give up some of your payment. Gigster is not saying AFAIK: we cut some of your pay in exchange for some equity. Again, AFAIK, Gigster is clearly saying: The more you make customers happy and engaged in your gigs, the more you will earn equity from com…

Can you elaborate on how Gigster is not like Upwork?

The biggest difference for me is I can make a salary comparable to a big company in NYC / SF freelancing solely for gigster

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#27

Post by quackware »

koolba wrote: post #25

From the article, emphasis mine: > This allows our freelancers to receive tangible rewards for their hard work building incredible software, and helps them prepare for the future. Wouldn't simplify paying a freelancer be a tangible reward? And if you're not paying them then they're not really freelancers, they're either interns or suckers (or both). > Will every Gigster Fund company yield a successful return? No. Alt…

This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#28

Post by quackware »

rabble wrote: post #13

Does gigster have anything real at all? There are no gigs at all listed on their site... just a few full time jobs in SF, plus things for working on gigster itself. Seems like it might be a lean startup trick of painting the sky blue to try and build both sides of a marketplace.

There are hundreds of gigsters and hundreds of gigs / completed projects. I can speak from experience that yes, it is all very real.

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#29

Post by koolba »

quackware wrote: post #27
koolba wrote: post #25

From the article, emphasis mine: > This allows our freelancers to receive tangible rewards for their hard work building incredible software, and helps them prepare for the future. Wouldn't simplify paying a freelancer be a tangible reward? And if you're not paying them then they're not really freelancers, they're either interns or suckers (or both). > Will every Gigster Fund company yield a successful return? No. Alt…

This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

> This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

Maybe not all or nothing but this would end up just like a startup offering equity as compensation. They'd argue that they can pay you less (vs. straight cash for services) because you've got this equity piece as well.

Re: Gigster Fund – Freelancers Benefit When the Company and Clients Do Well

#30

Post by quackware »

koolba wrote: post #29
quackware wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

> This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have). Maybe not all or nothing but this would end up just like a startup offering equity as compensation. They'd argue that they can pay you less (vs. straight cash for services) because you've got this equity piece as well.

Agreed. As a freelancer that works with Gigster I don't see this as a major source of revenue in my future (most likely a way to generate good PR as another poster mentioned). If they ever use this as leverage to pay less per project then I'm sure a lot of the best developers on the platform will move elsewhere.
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