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Gigster Wants To Be the Uber of Software Development (techcrunch.com)
HughPickens.com writes: Josh Constine writes at TechCrunch that a company named Gigster is trying to bring the Uber business model to software development. Simply: a user sends them an idea, Gigster passes it on to developers who sign up to build software, and when it's done they send back a functioning app. After converting product requirements into a development plan, they let their group of remote developers start hacking away at the code. It has already resulted in a dating app for Muslim millennials, a way for citizens of the developing world to buy electricity, and has over fifty more projects in the pipeline. The entire development process goes through their app, and they charge a flat fee rather than an hourly rate. Gigster developers who satisfy customers can earn karma points and qualify for higher-paying contracts. One major caveat: Gigster will still own the code to the app it designs for you, and it "leases" the software to you. They say they want to be able to reuse certain components on other projects.
It's not like "take me from A to B", where the only room for interpretation is the route. In the end, you're still at B.
Anyone who has ever written a spec and handed it off will tell you what you get back is not what you asked for, regardless of how detailed it is. Just giving someone an idea to code will result in something unrecognizable.
I'm all for these APIs that sit on top of people like drivers and housekeepers, but this one is a shit idea and everyone involved should know that.
Go with that one.
That's the entire business model ... get rich by letting some schmuck compete to do the job as cheaply as possible. If you're really lucky, you go IPO and cash out.
The people who do the work? They collect a little table scraps and hope it gets better.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
There are already several websites that claim to hook up developers with people who have small problems. They all suffer from the same problem: They're full of "idea men" who have no idea how much labor costs and shitty developers who don't give a crap about the work. You'll see jobs like "develop the database backend and website for a 500 million user website on this idea so clever I can't put it in the description or someone will steal it. Budget: $150."
And then endless complaints from employers that the code delivered was shoddy and barely met the (horribly under-specified) requirements and they couldn't use it.
I read the internet for the articles.
Whether a company is exploiting you has nothing to do with whether they offer benefits or stability. A company is exploiting you if they are under compensating you for your labor and skill.
I can't even hire a nanny without becoming an employer who provides benefits like paid time off and payroll taxes, etc. I am not an employer, I don;t want to do any of that shit. I just want to pay for someone to watch my kid while I am working.
Whether I am working as a contractor or as an employee, it is my responsibility to ensure that I am being properly compensated, and if not, asking for a raise or finding a new job.
Doesn't sound like a fair deal to me.
Then don't participate.
Not sure why everyone is so keen to participate in stuff like this.
Me neither, but that's for them to decide.
The interesting thing about software development is that good software developers can write good code in less time than a bad developer can write bad code.
A job that pays per project rather than hourly might be horribly exploitative for a bad software developer who needs to spend a month completing a project and another 2 months trying to fix all the bugs, and it might be very lucrative for a good software developer who only needs to spend 2 days doing it correctly.
Um, the OP is wrong about the status quo? Look, most good devs I know with 5+ years experience make in the mid $100k range, have great benefits, and can find a new job on a moment's notice. If they consult, they do it because they can have a nice rate that gives them flexibility in other areas of their life. Most non-devs I know would love to make half what the devs make and have that type of job security. (and I'm not located in CA, NY, WA, or MA)
Also, most startup CEOs don't make millions. Most are looking for new jobs after a few years of making nothing. As for non-startup SMEs (small/medium enterprises), most of the ones that employee technical talent treat that talent well. Sure, if things go south, they may have to lay people off, but see my first paragraph for the solution.
Remind me what's wrong with the status quo???
tl;dr; developers have it really good right now. Quit your bitching.
-Chris
Many contractors do not get paid benefits.
As a W2 contractor doing I.T. support work, I get paid holidays, 20 Paid Time Off (PTO) days , 401k and health benefits. According to recruiters who contacted me, I could get matching benefits and a 30% increase in pay at a different job. Ironically, the increase in pay rate is because many hipsters are unwilling to commute more than 30 minutes away from San Francisco. Southern Silicon Valley (i.e., San Jose and Sunnyvale) are starving for workers.
Yeah I don't get it.
These guys would have to be some serious rockstars of design and project management to make this fly for * use cases and * talent pools. I think it is more likely that they just think they are, and that they are in for a world of pain. I find it unlikely that a developer with serious chops and flexible skills will want to participate in this scheme instead of the good job/contract they probably already have working on something long term and of greater weight/interest. Likewise I find it unlikely that a good designer/project engineer with the talent to pull this off on their end will want to spend their days doing bite size projects for penny-pinching customers instead of working on big boy projects where their dev pool isn't a constantly shifting variable.
Sounds like a bubble that will burst, leaving behind a bunch of crap software with no support, unsatisfied customers, burnt out designers, rich initial investors, and worst of all, a bunch of mediocre devs who think they have skills because one time somebody paid them shit to work on some dinky webapp.