It seems like all the things you dislike about freelancing can easily be solved by doing two things: 1) finding jobs using a good freelancing platform and 2) working from a co-working space.
I'm working as a freelancer on Toptal and the platform eliminates almost all of the disadvantages you've mentioned. You don't have to chase new clients. You just set your hourly rate as well as the number of hours you're willing to spend working per week and internal recruiters reach out to you with the jobs that you're the best fit for. Toptal also guarantees that you're always paid on time regardless of whether or not Toptal has received payment from the client. And the bonus is, there's an internal Toptal Slack where freelancers share their ideas and help each other so you feel like you're part of a community.
When it comes to meeting people in person, there are Toptal community events all over the world. But you also need to find a good co-working space where they don't offer you just a table but organize events for the members. That way you'll get to know other people there and it would feel the same as having colleagues. I was lucky enough to find one (PaperHub) just around the corner from my apartment in Prague.
I'm looking into freelancing and I'm curious what you and other Toptal freelancers think about the recent news about the founder withholding equity from employees and investors. Does that have any bearing on your view of the company? It seems unethical to me, which is why I decided to not work with them but I would think people getting some large portion of their income from Toptal would be much more conflicted than someone just starting out.
I cannot speak for others but I also think it was unethical. Nevertheless, the world is not fair and they should have signed better contracts. Would you refuse to work for Facebook just because Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea, then tricked his co-founder and left him with a really small amount of stock options? (I mean ignoring Facebook's current problems...)
But this behavior of the Toptal founder got me thinking. It's never been a good idea to have all power in the hands of a single person. So I started to look for other options in order to have a back-up plan if something goes wrong. Although I still think Toptal is probably the best platform for freelancers.
Would you refuse to work for Facebook just because Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea, then tricked his co-founder and left him with a really small amount of stock options? (I mean ignoring Facebook's current problems...)
Yes.
Good idea on the backup plan. I'm looking into Facet and Arc.dev (formerly CodeMentorX). So far it seems as though Facet is more personal and Arc.dev has more work, but it's really early days for me. If you know of others I should look at, let me know.
Just recently I've joined a new freelancing network based on really interesting concepts.
It's an open network owned by its founders, investors and freelancers themselves by issuing their own tokens. The network only takes 10% fee on top of your rate to cover its expenses and they want to give away all profit. The value of the network will be determined just by the token. They also want to hand it over to community so in the future freelancers will be resposible for vetting new applicants and they will be rewarded by the tokens.
This network was founded by a guy from San Francisco who has already sold two companies and his third one is heading towards IPO. He's also been an investor focusing on blockchain technologies and this is his first attempt to create a blockchain-based marketplace. He plans to open other marketplaces in different areas in the future.
There are not so many jobs available on the network at the moment so I wouldn't rely on it as the only source of income. But I think it has really promising future ahead. Right now, it's in private beta phase but you can register using my link: app.usebraintrust.com/r/tomas1/
Your right, things would have been made much easier for me if I had found a good platform to stick to. Toptal looks really good! Also, I know a lot of people who recommend co-working spaces. I'm glad that worked for you.
I just think I prefer being part of a team for a company. I am moving to a different job at the end of next month working on a product that I use daily and love and the excitement I have to be allowed to work on such a product far exceeds any passion I had whilst freelancing.
I'm glad you've found what you were looking for. I can see comments from other people who followed the same path as you did and finally ended up as an employee in a good company.
It's interesting to see how we're all different. I worked for two companies before and then co-founded another one. But freelancing fits me best so far. I always enjoyed first few months in a company and then it started to be boring. I probably need a constant change and that's what freelancing gives me. However, I'd like to give entrepreneurship another try in the future as I see it as the most fascinating career path.
I always enjoyed first few months in a company and then it started to be boring<-- I agree with this as well, but I'll usually feel bored about 2 years into the company. It's good to know I'm not alone on this.
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It seems like all the things you dislike about freelancing can easily be solved by doing two things: 1) finding jobs using a good freelancing platform and 2) working from a co-working space.
I'm working as a freelancer on Toptal and the platform eliminates almost all of the disadvantages you've mentioned. You don't have to chase new clients. You just set your hourly rate as well as the number of hours you're willing to spend working per week and internal recruiters reach out to you with the jobs that you're the best fit for. Toptal also guarantees that you're always paid on time regardless of whether or not Toptal has received payment from the client. And the bonus is, there's an internal Toptal Slack where freelancers share their ideas and help each other so you feel like you're part of a community.
When it comes to meeting people in person, there are Toptal community events all over the world. But you also need to find a good co-working space where they don't offer you just a table but organize events for the members. That way you'll get to know other people there and it would feel the same as having colleagues. I was lucky enough to find one (PaperHub) just around the corner from my apartment in Prague.
I'm looking into freelancing and I'm curious what you and other Toptal freelancers think about the recent news about the founder withholding equity from employees and investors. Does that have any bearing on your view of the company? It seems unethical to me, which is why I decided to not work with them but I would think people getting some large portion of their income from Toptal would be much more conflicted than someone just starting out.
I cannot speak for others but I also think it was unethical. Nevertheless, the world is not fair and they should have signed better contracts. Would you refuse to work for Facebook just because Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea, then tricked his co-founder and left him with a really small amount of stock options? (I mean ignoring Facebook's current problems...)
But this behavior of the Toptal founder got me thinking. It's never been a good idea to have all power in the hands of a single person. So I started to look for other options in order to have a back-up plan if something goes wrong. Although I still think Toptal is probably the best platform for freelancers.
Yes.
Good idea on the backup plan. I'm looking into Facet and Arc.dev (formerly CodeMentorX). So far it seems as though Facet is more personal and Arc.dev has more work, but it's really early days for me. If you know of others I should look at, let me know.
I would be interested to hear what your opinions were on any of these platforms Chris.
Just recently I've joined a new freelancing network based on really interesting concepts.
It's an open network owned by its founders, investors and freelancers themselves by issuing their own tokens. The network only takes 10% fee on top of your rate to cover its expenses and they want to give away all profit. The value of the network will be determined just by the token. They also want to hand it over to community so in the future freelancers will be resposible for vetting new applicants and they will be rewarded by the tokens.
This network was founded by a guy from San Francisco who has already sold two companies and his third one is heading towards IPO. He's also been an investor focusing on blockchain technologies and this is his first attempt to create a blockchain-based marketplace. He plans to open other marketplaces in different areas in the future.
There are not so many jobs available on the network at the moment so I wouldn't rely on it as the only source of income. But I think it has really promising future ahead. Right now, it's in private beta phase but you can register using my link: app.usebraintrust.com/r/tomas1/
Thanks for such a detailed reply.
Your right, things would have been made much easier for me if I had found a good platform to stick to. Toptal looks really good! Also, I know a lot of people who recommend co-working spaces. I'm glad that worked for you.
I just think I prefer being part of a team for a company. I am moving to a different job at the end of next month working on a product that I use daily and love and the excitement I have to be allowed to work on such a product far exceeds any passion I had whilst freelancing.
I'm glad you've found what you were looking for. I can see comments from other people who followed the same path as you did and finally ended up as an employee in a good company.
It's interesting to see how we're all different. I worked for two companies before and then co-founded another one. But freelancing fits me best so far. I always enjoyed first few months in a company and then it started to be boring. I probably need a constant change and that's what freelancing gives me. However, I'd like to give entrepreneurship another try in the future as I see it as the most fascinating career path.
I always enjoyed first few months in a company and then it started to be boring<-- I agree with this as well, but I'll usually feel bored about 2 years into the company. It's good to know I'm not alone on this.