first off, I want to point out again that the recent comments info is both useless and ugly on this blog. it is probably the sole reason i dont keep tabs on nerdy tales as much as I did before. maybe we should just remove it and rely on the rss feed for new comment info?
I've been reading 'the world is flat' and it so far it has provided an interesting perspective on the events that have transpired over the last 15 years to 'flatten' the world, create free trade, and in general, what has allowed individuals to be personally empowered to get things done instead of relying on government, organizations, corporations, or bureaucracy. ok.. ok... thats me putting my spin on it, but none the less, thats what i'm getting out of it.
i've made it to about page 200 and the one idea i have been struck with so far is the concept of social outsourcing. this is not directly talked about in the book, but I believe is probably the next 'big thing'. where can I put down any task I want solved and then get external bids on it from around the world, or bid by my local contractor next door. do any of these networks (websites?) exist yet?
some examples of primarily IT/IS/coding social outsourcing
http://www.getafreelancer.com
http://www.thecentralmall.com
http://www.gisbid.com
http://www.rentacoder.com
http://www.scriptlance.com/
thats great for those that like to code, but wheres the social network for me finding my own personal assistant in india to work while i'm asleep? where do I post my project to repaint the house and get it bid locally. where do I post a request for bid to have someone walk the dog, or buy groceries for my shut in neighbor?
i need to create a website where anyone from any where can post an RFQ (request for quote). give the option to list their location and whether it is possible to be outsourced abroad or required to be serviced from the same location. win/win for all.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
social outsourcing
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a social network with potential benefit to all parties involved?
it could be like ebay of 'i need it done, what do you think' instead of 'come buy this crap I found'
people looking for help on short and longterm projects, tasks, or for items are now teamed up with people looking to help - potentially even for free where there is a kind soul or mutual benifit.
when do we start? have you got any diagrams of what v1 would look like?
i pitched this idea in class tonight and some of the class mates thought it was a great idea. maybe we should start working on it. screw that guy that refuses to sell facebook for 1.2b or whatever. i'd settle for coming up with an idea and cashing out for $10M
i've been thinking more about the social networking outsourcing thing. if we build this, we are using google checkout
on this topic a nice essay about startups
and a reply to the article in my previous comment:
Question to Paul: First of all I've to tell you I'm a big fan of all your essays. But a lot of things which you say in your essays seem to work really well only if you're developing Web 2.0 sites. Version 1 of any Web 2.0 app can be built with 3 people in 3 months with very less capital needs (especially if the founders are fresh grads, all you need to do is to feed them for the three months). So as an investor, I would assume that you don't have to care much about revenue models, business experience & age of the founders, etc because in the event the startup tumbles, you don't stand to lose a lot?
But what about bigger projects? Projects which need maybe 10 people working for an year? Hardware? Would your views change when you are asked to invest in projects of these kind? The reason I ask is because I'm a final year CS student in Singapore and I've developed a 360 degree video camera along with a couple of my friends and we've been talking to a lot of angel investors here. They all love the idea and are amazed by the demo but most of the time their major cause of concern is that we don't have business experience and we're very young (21). How would you evaluate an idea like this one (hardware+software)? Would you be interested in seeing something like this sent to YC? Or do you prefer sticking to web 2.0 sites?
yahoo api may also mature.
Some sites like this do exist (I use eLance to find writers and designers in India to work while I sleep :) and respond.com intends to do the local business thing) but haven't seen anything that ties them all together.
some example of people using existing services to meet this need
http://www.thejobjar.com/
http://www.findahelper.com/
http://www.basementmaintenance.com/
http://www.jdbasementsystems.com/find_dealer.htm
http://www.surf4aproperty.com/local_expert_directory.php
https://portal.sciencesocieties.org/BuyersGuide/ProfessionalSearch.aspx
http://www.findtheexperts.co.uk/publicSearch.aspx
http://local.yahoo.com/
http://www.truelocal.com.au/index.do
http://www.topix.net/forum/city/spokane-wa/ very interesting 'local' forum. includes some advertizing their services.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/crs/283144749.html - one of many examples
http://leeds.craigslist.org/sks/290734413.html
http://www.craigslist.org/sks/
keywords; find a helper, need a helper, moonlight, assistant, job, odd job, parttime job,
looks like kaboo.com is using the google API
this makes for some interesting reading on the social outsourcing topic.
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