Outsourcing: Ian Ippolito, Founder and CEO of vWorker (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: That’s one of your differentiators, that you use crowdsourcing instead of the interview process, and then you let people hire based on the best crowdsourced project?

Ian Ippolito: Yes.

SM: What are the terms under which you work? It’s a commission on projects, yes? >>>

Outsourcing: Ian Ippolito, Founder and CEO of vWorker (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: I think I’ve heard of Rent-A-Coder.

Ian Ippolito: OK. That’s the way it started, and it was just programmers back then. The first month it probably made only $50 or $60, but it grew. Over the next couple of years, it started going faster and faster. We got some good publicity. We were in The Wall Street Journal, which was a big thing. At the time, the idea of hiring someone over the Internet was a new idea. The [journalist] wrote a whole article just on using the site. After that, things really took off.

SM: Which business model do you use? Is it the Elance kind of business model or the oDesk business model? >>>

Outsourcing: Ian Ippolito, Founder and CEO of vWorker (Part 1)

Outsourcing websites abound on the Internet, and each one has its own unique spin on the process. And vWorker, once known as Rent-A-Coder, does, too. A global outsourcing company, vWorker or “virtual worker” has nearly 175,000 employers hiring and managing close to 360,000 virtual workers every day.

Sramana Mitra: Hi Ian. Let’s start with some background on how you started this company. What do you do in vWorker? Give us some context, and then we’ll dig into how you’ve done what you’ve done.

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Outsourcing: Million-Dollar Freelancer: Ignacio Galarraga, CEO of NetMen Corp (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What is the composition of your customers? You said you have 500 projects a month, right?

Ignacio Galarraga: Yes, we handle 500 projects a month.

SM: And over the course of the years, you’ve handled more than 5,000 projects?

IG: We have done 15,000 projects. >>>

Outsourcing: Million-Dollar Freelancer: Ignacio Galarraga, CEO of NetMen Corp (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: You said you get invited to bid on a lot of projects. And that’s because you have a track record. What qualifies somebody to be invited to bid on projects?

Igancio Galarraga: I there are a lot of things that interact there. First of all, your price. Elance has two options when you set up your membership. You’re able to showcase how much you’re earning through Elance, or you’re able to keep your earnings private. I showcase my earnings because that way when somebody comes into the marketplace and browses the providers, he’s able to see how much I sell each product for. So, if somebody’s coming in for something cheap, he’s going to see that my company doesn’t sell things for cheap prices. They’re not going to invite me to bid. If I have my options in private, nobody is able to see how much I sell each product for, so I would be receiving a lot of invitations from people who have lower projects. I keep my earnings open to everybody. Then, I have a nice portfolio that shows examples from each category. When somebody’s looking for packaging, I have a packaging portfolio. When somebody’s looking for print, I have a print portfolio. And Elance lets everybody see the reviews. >>>

Outsourcing: Million-Dollar Freelancer: Ignacio Galarraga, CEO of NetMen Corp (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: I have a specific question about the bidding process on Elance. Do you have somebody monitoring requests for proposals as projects come online 24 hours a day?

Ignacio Garraga: Not 24 hours. I work 10 hours a day. There are two types of processes when somebody posts a proposal. You can go into the marketplace, browse all the job descriptions based on the category, and then go bid. Or the customer, when he starts posting his job, can browse the suggested providers and invite them to bid. As my company is rated in a lot of categories, I receive a lot of invites. I don’t have to go and search. I do two things: I search for projects, and I post bids. I also receive invites to bid. >>>

Outsourcing: Million-Dollar Freelancer: Ignacio Galarraga, CEO of NetMen Corp (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: How does that translate when you are working on Elance? You deliver customer satisfaction by having good discipline about when you deliver projects, and then you get your customers to review you on Elance, right?

Ignacio Galarraga: Right. That’s correct.

SM: Besides that, when it comes to bidding for projects and sending proposals, would you talk a bit about what some of the practices that you’ve learned over time? >>>

Outsourcing: Million-Dollar Freelancer: Ignacio Galarraga, CEO of NetMen Corp (Part 1)

Most of the people who register to work as freelancers on Elance don’t end up earning $1 million or more in annual revenue. Ignacio Galarraga did it with his graphic design company NetMen. As my conversation with him will reveal, Galarraga started out on Elance in much the same way as Sanjay Dange started out on Freelancer.com. Both cite the production of excellent products along with a singular dedication to customer satisfaction as the keys to their unusual success.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Ignacio. First and foremost, congratulations on reaching the elusive $1 million in your entrepreneurial journey. >>>