Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 10)

Sramana: Are contractors starting to hire other people and build their own agencies? Gary Swart: That is the real entrepreneur empowerment we have. One of our favorite contractors started on oDesk for $6 an hour three years ago. Today he bills at $33 dollars an hour. He has worked 3,000 hours this year with a perfect

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Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 9)

Sramana: After you had raised your initial rounds with Sigma, how much money had you raised? Gary Swart: We raised additional funds with Benchmark. We took $6 million in our A round, $8 million in a B round, and $15 million in our C round. We have raised $29 million total. We have essentially not

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Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 8)

Sramana: Transcription is not necessarily easy, especially if you are doing highly technical transcription. Transcription is just an example. Translation is another area where there is a ton of work. Gary Swart: There is a lot of work in translation. We have large customers coming to us asking for translation. They do not want PhD

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Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 7)

Sramana: I think in many cases companies would hire contractors through Elance but would not use Elance to pay them. Gary Swart: Absolutely, and I think Elance has recognized that. They realize they were only getting the tip of the iceberg. I think you will see they begin moving more toward the middle and move

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Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 6)

Sramana: Enterprise deals could be a good option for you. I could see oDesk doing $10 million-a-year deals. Gary Swart: There are some differences in that type of business. It requires a lot of touch. They would want one throat to choke.

Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 5)

Sramana: Tell me more about the work management portion of your platform. Gary Swart: The management portion is also interesting. We have a lot of customers in the U.S. who are hiring onshore workers. Hiring onshore workers is tricky because companies would like to assume everybody is a contractor, but the IRS would like to

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Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 4)

Sramana: Tell me more about the demographic and psyche of this community that you have created. Who are your contractors? Are they small companies or freelancers? Gary Swart: We are favorable to individuals. I think of them as remote workers. These are people who do not look for a different gig every day.

Outsourcing 2.0: oDesk CEO Gary Swart (Part 3)

Sramana: How did you go from leaving Intellibank to being the CEO at oDesk? Gary Swart: In the process of raising money at Intellibank I ran into Greg at Sigma, who told me that they liked me but not Intellibank. Sigma then asked me to come run one of their companies. That is why I

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