Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders
Outsource (Most) Any White Collar Work
Podcast Audio | Posted by Phil Leigh on March 27, 2008
If you would like to learn how to hire remote part-time white collar workers and manage them effectively over the Internet, this interview is for you.
Subject: Our guest today is Gary Swart who is the CEO of O-Desk. His company enables buyers to contract with a skilled guild of remote workers, ranging from computer programmers to ghost writers, and manage them over the Internet. The business is much like Rent-a-Coder that we interviewed a couple of months ago, except that O-Desk engagements tend to be longer-term
Summary: Benchmark Capital is one of the venture backers of O-Desk and evidently recognized the similarities between their biggest winner, eBay, and O-Desk. At O-Desk buyers contract with skilled workers wherever they may be located in the World and manage them via the Internet. At eBay buyers-and-sellers of merchandise anywhere in the World pair-off at the company’s website.
Earlier we interviewed Rent-a-Coder and O-Desk is similar except that O-Desk workers tend to be engaged in projects for a longer period of time. As such, O-Desk workers tend to be paid by-the-hour whereas Rent-a-Coder workers are more often paid by-the-project. O-Desk has a number of online tools to help contractors monitor the progress of their workers. One example is live screen sharing that is much like a WebEx or GoToMeeting remote web conference.
Additionally, O-Desk has an extensive vetting process to optimize the buyer’s selection of a worker. For example, the buyer can choose to select only workers who have taken exams to demonstrate proficiency in a given skill, such as Ajax programming. Basically, buyers are encouraged to take any steps they feel necessary to vet an applicant including a request for references.
Phil’s Take. I think that O-Desk, Rent-a-Coder, and their competitors are really “onto” a significant trend. In the future “employers” may increasingly choose to engage white collar workers from a pool of a Worldwide guild and manage them online. If so, many of us shall become guild workers instead of employees.
Categories: Podcast Audio
Tags: digital media, eLance, Freelance, Gary Swart, guru.com, O Desk, Phil Leigh, Rent a Coder
Permalink | Email This |
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
