johncampbelljr

Would you not object if someone characterized google as a non-profit because part of the org (the Google foundation) is non-profit? (Not a perfect analogy (nothing ever is, really).)

This is an interesting idea. And if the fee to back-out is proportional to the pledge even better.

I'm sure there are other apps in the same space--this is one I've used in the past:

https://popapp.in/

I found that using a tool like the pop app helps me focus on UI/UX without thinking in code. The 30 minutes or so I spent building out a wireframe has been a valuable time saver once I started coding.

I concur but there are a lot of companies that equate butts in seats with productivity. Plenty of employers still have the mentality that they have purchased 40 hours (or more) from you. What employers should think is that they are purchasing productivity, not hours.

But productivity is a harder thing to measure-far harder than just tracking hours.

I hope to try the digital nomad route in a few years but I have a different take on it.

I'm not looking to sustain a working vacation--I'm interesting in experiencing day-to-day lifestyle in different cultures/suroundings. I'm thinking of staying around in terms of months or years, not weeks.

Also, I probably will only try it if I have my own enterprise I can run on the road. I'm currently working as a freelancer but wouldn't think about hitting the road until I have more direct control on projects.

And while I get my ducks I a row I would love for someone to do an airbnb for digital nomads. If it would be easy to find a place to work and place to live I'm sure I'd me more likely to try it. And I wish some countries would see the revenue opportunity of this! (I'm looking at you Spain, Italy and Greece.)

You picked the wrong year to make a Pirates joke.

Of course there are already talent agents for contracts and have been for years--maybe not so much short-run freelancers but plenty of businesses place contractors for six-month+ terms.

Most don't bill themselves as only for the 10xers--and for good reason--your supply of exceptional talent will quickly run out. Few 10xers get paid ten times of a 1Xer. (I bet you'd bill more with 50 1xers than 5 10Xers.) It could be that a boutique agency will get enough traction and recognition to draw enough 10xers to be crazy successful--it will be interesting to watch.

But coming from the side of someone looking for good developers I'm all for a little innovation in the recruitment and employment space.

I concur--it's a flawed analogy on a couple levels (but still a good conversation stimulator) but I believe one of the hardest things to manage in a start-up is that your success isn't binary.

Yes, there are a great many start-ups that fail to get out of the gate and a small, small number that take off so quickly that success is almost a guarantee. But if you're in the muddy middle the decision to grind it out or try a new approach has to be a difficult one, and is usually a low-data decision. And platitudes are little help here with "it takes three years to create an overnight success" on one side and "fail fast" on the other.

But at this point I might bet on the company with masterful marketing. If there is going to be a de facto standard for SMB POS Square might be able to get there. If Clayton Christensen (Innovator Dilemma) taught me anything it's that feature gaps can be closed quickly. Marketing/Mindshare gaps, not so much.