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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

#31

Post by Kurtz79 »

RaitoBezarius wrote: post #23
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 a…

"Gigster said they want our happiness"

No offense, but I don't think you are not really doing a favor to Gigster with these posts, they seems to be written by someone under a heavy dose of kool-aid.

If you want to help them I suggest you stick to the facts :)

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

#32

Post by RaitoBezarius »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #31
RaitoBezarius wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 a…

"Gigster said they want our happiness" No offense, but I don't think you are not really doing a favor to Gigster with these posts, they seems to be written by someone under a heavy dose of kool-aid. If you want to help them I suggest you stick to the facts :)

You're definitely right, I was afraid of this kind of situation.

There is not much I can do anymore, I am too much enthusiast about what happened, thanks for saying it.

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

#33

Post by gk1 »

PeterProlific wrote: post #17
andruby wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Gigster's equity stake was 20% in a company that exited for $100 million. Gigster's stake is 20M. They share 1% with freelancers, which is 200K. You get 1/500th of this = $400. Amazingly generous!

How could they possibly get 20% of a company?

My guess: the type of company that would outsource development to Gigster is the type of company that would give up 20% of equity.

Or: the example scenario is too generous, which means a more probable payout would be even lower.

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

#34

Post by merpnderp »

dejv wrote: post #10
merpnderp wrote: post #5

Are there really tons of companies hiring freelancers to make map, music and messaging apps at ~$40k/4 months?

well, there are tons of active projects all the time. Scope, size and quality of those projects vary a lot, but they do exists.

I must be sheltered in my corporate job, but I can't imagine companies shelling out half a years programming wages for yet another messaging app. I can't think of the use case for a one off messaging app that isn't fulfilled by the plethora of existing options.

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

#35

Post by ctvo »

acconrad wrote: post #6
merpnderp wrote: post #5

Are there really tons of companies hiring freelancers to make map, music and messaging apps at ~$40k/4 months?

I considered being a gigster between jobs, and when I realized most people made between $5-10k/mo working full time I turned off my account.

Are you saying it's too low? That seems to be in range with average developer salary.

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

#36

Post by ctvo »

merpnderp wrote: post #34
dejv wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well, there are tons of active projects all the time. Scope, size and quality of those projects vary a lot, but they do exists.

I must be sheltered in my corporate job, but I can't imagine companies shelling out half a years programming wages for yet another messaging app. I can't think of the use case for a one off messaging app that isn't fulfilled by the plethora of existing options.

Two things:

1. Their app demo pricing is a guideline for the cost of a typical app in that space. People aren't all going to Gigster for the next Snapchat or Yelp clone. They have specific problems and Gigster makes specific solutions.

2. I've also worked in a corporate job, and 40-50k is not a lot of money. We spend that sort of money on software license requests without blinking. 50k for a fully baked, semi-functionally software project is a bargain.

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

#37

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

RaitoBezarius wrote: post #23
Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 a…

I'm actually not judging Gigster or Upwork. I have had amazing experiences with Upwork, but that's mostly because I make it work for me. I don't know anything about Gigster so don't hold any thoughts on the company or service as a whole. But yes, this whole "equity" thing is a PR ploy, not many ways to spin it otherwise. The platform may be wonderful, but this specific move falls short of being valuable.

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

#38

Post by bazqux2 »

Giving people a very small stake in their work adds much greater inventive than cost. That alone is a good idea (See Starbucks). Emotions trump math - even for programmers. I expect the confusing terms are intenional to make the math harder.

But... this is the same company that was giving out work quotes in less than 10 minutes. I expect gigsters existence is subsidized by VC investment and it will be unable to succeed long term. I'm not expecting good things for anyone involved.

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

#39

Post by JumpCrisscross »

gk1 wrote: post #7

As a freelancer (consultant), no thanks. This looks like yet another platform that commoditizes freelancers (think Upwork). The belittling name "gigster" doesn't help. If you're a freelancer/consultant who wants equity, ask for it. Some companies are willing to give non-qualified options (the only choice, really) after you've built up a relationship and if you're making a significant contribution to the company. Also…

The difference being Gigster is offering a portfolio. Granted the "everyone shares in 1%" part makes it economically immaterial.

What's needed is a collaborative investment management platform for freelancers. For example. twenty freelancers could make an agreement pursuant to which they each (a) reasonably demand equity alongside pay for their work, (b) contribute all equity they earn in exchange for services to a fund co-controlled by the others and (c) share in the fund either equally or proportionally to their contributions/the performance of their contributions (e.g. contributor gets 20% and the remaining 19 split the 80%). This is a healthier financial structure than having bigger, but more concentrated, stakes ceteris paribus.

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

#40

Post by rco8786 »

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 is in addition to normal pay, you understand that right? Your comments about equity can be applied to anyone working for any startup, so what's your point?

I did some work for gigster a few months ago just to try it out. It was a breath of fresh air compared to upwork/elance/etc. Average pay for engineers was around $100/hr.

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