Re:Ask HN: where's a good place to look for smart contract w...
by menloparkbum on Thursday June 12, 2008 @05:53PM
(#216340)
I should mention that I worked as a contractor for 5 years, so I'm familiar with how to manage contract-based employment. However, this was on the opposite coast, and since I've been in the Bay Area, I've been working at other people's startups. I'm a bit out of the contractor networking loop.
What I'm looking for is some piece of something a startup wants or needs to do immediately, but doesn't have time.
I'm altering the details on this example so that I'm not breaking an NDA, but the most promising candidate out of the leads I've received is an online service that needs a simple desktop based upload/sync application. I'd be writing the upload/sync app. Stuff like that is what I'm most interested in.
You are doing a "startup" yet getting into contract work is also a "startup." They are both businesses and any business takes time to build up to a point where you can make a living from that business. It also takes time. There will likely be times when you are freelancing where you don't have enough time or energy left over at the end of the day to work on your other projects.
Networking is definitely important for freelancing. You have to let people know what you know and that you are available. Finding someone to work on a project can be hard and you need to be on the top of the short lists of candidates when people are looking for help.
Another way to start freelancing is by establishing yourself as a known expert in niche communities. This takes time and effort but when you get to that point and people are looking for dev help in that niche then your name will come up.