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Idea: site to match hackers with short-term one-off gigs

4 points by Zak ↗ HN
I alternate between being a lighting designer for a band and writing software for money. I get most of my work off of Craigslist's computer gigs section, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult, and I don't think it's just a matter of economic conditions.

Sites like Craigslist, Rentacoder and Elance are flooded with posts offering unreasonably low pay, as well as responses from offshore sweatshops that produce exceedingly bad code[0]. Posters have taken to hiding "put foo in the subject so I don't have to read spam" on Craigslist due to the overwhelming response to ANY ad. I think there might be room for something a little more exclusive.

My initial concept for this is that hackers would be screened for membership. It wouldn't be a high bar - a link to a HN account associated with a few sensible comments, a blog, a github account or similar would be enough to establish credibility. The site would also be policed a little more as far as postings go. One idea is to use a flagging system that can cause posts to be moved, and to have sections like "work for equity" and "work for pay".

[0] An example from an actual project I fixed after it was initially created by such a sweatshop can be seen here: http://paste.lisp.org/display/76132

6 comments

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cperciva
Sites like Craigslist, Rentacoder and Elance are flooded with posts offering unreasonably low pay, as well as responses from offshore sweatshops that produce exceedingly bad code

Hiring a programmer on one of those sites is like hiring a lawyer (or accountant or interior decorator) out of the Yellow Pages. Sure, some people do it; but if you want someone good, you're much better off asking your friends and colleagues to recommend someone -- because the people you'll find in the Yellow Pages are predominantly those who don't get enough business from customer referrals to fill their hours.

Zak
Entirely true. My concept here is to provide a somewhat higher-grade alternative. It is and always will be better to work with people you know, or have some connection to. That said, it's quite common for people to need work done and not be able to find an appropriate person to do it through normal networking. The yellow pages will take anyone. I'm thinking of something a little more exclusive - the lowest levels would be filtered out.
monad22
I wish it was as easy as finding a lawyer. It's not hard getting a good reference from your divorce attorney for someone who does personal injury. I've reached six or seven programmers in my search for a web developer and none of them could put me in contact with someone can do what I need. Not to mention someone enthusiastic for a new start-up. Lawyers are always open for business.
Zak
What is it you need? Maybe someone here knows somebody (or is that somebody).
staticshock
Although a potentially good idea, a lot of its dynamics remain pretty vague. What can differentiate this hypothetical site from a Rentacoder/Elance type site? A more rigorous vetting process before you're allowed to become a contractor?
Zak
I want the site to be far more centered around attracting high-quality programmers and gigs. I suspect the differences would be more social than technical, though I certainly don't envision imposing the sort of process constraints Rentacoder does.

My idea is to be the Hacker News of freelancing sites, while the others are Digg and reddit. I have no idea if I can pull it off - right now, I'm just wondering if there's any interest.