Jump to content

upwork

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lea210 (talk | contribs) at 22:38, 29 March 2013 (→‎Background: Moved citation to after the period.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

oDesk
Company typePrivate
IndustryInternet
Service Marketplace
Workforce Management
FoundedCampbell, California
2005
FounderOdysseas Tsatalos
Stratis Karamanlakis
HeadquartersRedwood City, California
Key people
Thomas Layton
(Executive Chairman)
Gary Swart
(CEO)
WebsiteoDesk.com
Upwork

oDesk is a company acting as a global job marketplace and a series of tools targeted at businesses that intend to hire and manage remote workers. Based in Redwood City, CA, oDesk was founded in 2005[2] by Greek entrepreneurs Odysseas Tsatalos and Stratis Karamanlakis.[3]

Background

oDesk is (as of 2012) the largest online marketplace among a number of companies (including Elance, Freelancer, et al) that create marketplaces in which independent contractors and their clients can establish and fulfill work arrangements.[4]

Online Work Industry

Staffing Industry Analysts puts oDesk into a category of fast-growing staffing businesses that it refers to as "online staffing" platforms:

"Online Staffing — A type of Talent Exchange (typified by a growing number of companies like oDesk and elance), consisting of an online platform where contingent workers, contractors, freelancers can offer their skills and services for limited projects or even on-going assignments and where organizations and individuals can post their requirements or put tasks/projects out to bid. Such platforms support not only the process of bringing buyers and sellers of contingent work together, but also support a range of other functions such as online work spaces or ways to transfer and communicate about work scheduled and performs and payment transaction mechanism between buyers and sellers. Online staffing platforms differ from crowdsourcing platforms in a number of ways, but the essential difference is that online staffing entails a clear set of work requirements and a a specific commitment/agreement with a particular individual (or possibly a particular team of individuals) to complete the work for a determined financial reimbursement." [5].

Staffing Industry Analysts estimated that the total global market for "online staffing" was approximately $1B:

'Fifteen years ago, this industry segment did not exist. But today (after an acceleration starting around 2007) it generates about $1B+ in global revenues, consists of over 50 firms, and is growing at high double-digit growth rates. Six major players (including oDesk and Elance) account for about half of the total industry segment revenues in 2012, but it can be expected that future market/industry expansion will also be based on now-smaller or not-yet-formed players." [6]

While there is awareness of the largest players in this segment (oDesk, Elance, Freelancer.com), other players are developing often along evolutionary paths (e.g. Work Market, Workana, Onforce, NextCrew, et al).

In March 2013, Staffing Industry Analysts, projected that the "online staffing" segment would grow to $5B by 2018.[7]

Online marketplaces often manage the payments and make money by charging membership fees and/or "marking up" on the billings of the contractors/freelancers. The mark-ups can range from 5 percent to 15 percent. In general, these mark-ups are significantly less than the mark-ups of traditional staffing firms, which usually--technically--enter into an employment relationship with their workers. [8]

Description

oDesk allows clients to create online workteams coordinated and paid through the company's proprietary software and website.[9] The name is a short version of "online desk"[10] in reference to the company's intent to enable anyone to work anywhere, anytime. Prospective clients[11] can post jobs for free, and freelance workers (“contractors”) may create profiles and bid on jobs, also for free.[12] The company collects 10 percent of the payment.[13] Payments are made through oDesk, which handles many bookkeeping tasks for the transaction. In addition to the marketplace aspect and the payment/bookkeeping services, the company uses collaborative software, “oDesk Team,” that allows clients to see a provider's progress while he or she is billing time. The transactions are transferred into the contractors' accounts only after a 6-day safety period. The company's site is entirely in English, and all transactions are made in U.S. dollars.[14]

The company describes itself as an online workplace. As of December 2012, oDesk had 2.7 million freelancers and 540,000 clients worldwide.[15] In January 29, 2012, the company reported that its top 5 countries (in terms of dollars spent for oDesk contractor services) were (in rank order): (1) US, (2) Australia, (3) Canada, (4) UK, and (5) United Arab Emirates.[16] oDesk reported that services paid by clients hiring through the site for the year totaled $360 million in 2012.[17]

The specific areas of expertise supported by the site include web development and a wide variety of programming/software development skills, graphic design, writing and administrative support. The company provides voluntary skills tests in various disciplines from English aptitude to specific programming skills, and profiles include a feedback mechanism.

Financing

oDesk has raised four rounds of financing. The first was by Globespan Capital and Sigma Partners.[18] The second round was raised in September 2006, led by Benchmark Capital and included the previous two investors.[19][20] The third round was raised in May 2008, led by DAG Ventures and included the previous three investors.[21]

The most recent round was announced in March 2012. Certain investment strategies managed by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. led the round, with participation from Benchmark Capital, Globespan Capital Partners and Sigma Partners.[22]

The venture investors on oDesk's board include Greg Gretsch, Venky Ganesan, and Kevin Harvey.

Innovation

The company's oDesk team software increases transparency and allows a client to have confidence in the billing done by a contractor whom the buyer may never have met and who may be half a world away. In an October 2008 interview with website Web Worker Daily, CEO Gary Swart said the work diaries “give buyers unprecedented visibility into work performed,” and that the Team software's “hassle-free tracking guarantees convenient, safe, and accurate billing for all work performed.”[23]

Awards

  • SAMCEDA Innovation & Entrepreneurship Awards - 2011 Fastest Growing Innovator Award of Excellence [24]
  • 2011 AlwaysOn OnDemand 100 [25]
  • oDesk ranked #286 on the 2010 Inc. 500, and #110 in 2009 [26][27]
  • Silicon Valley Business Journal Fastest Growing Private Company List (2010) [28]
  • San Francisco Business Times Fastest Growing Companies List (2010) [29]
  • TechCrunch50 DemoPit Winner (2010) [30]
  • Silicon Valley Business Journal Emerging Technology Award (2009) [31]
  • Silicon Valley Business Journal Fastest Growing Private Company List (2009) [32]
  • International Association of Outsourcing Professionals 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 Rising Star [33]
  • Deloitte Technology Fast 500 [34]
  • Finalist in PC Magazine’s 2006 Small Business Awards[35]
  • oDesk is named Rising Star in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 Program.[36]
  • Finalist for the "Red Herring 100 Global" Awards 2007 and 2009.[37]
  • 2011 TiE50 Internet/Social Networking Winner[38] of TiE50 Awards Program.

See also

References

  1. ^ "odesk.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  2. ^ "oDesk Crunchbase Profile". Retrieved 22 Feb 2013.
  3. ^ "oDesk About Us Page". Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  4. ^ Staffing Industry Analysts, http://www.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research-Publications/Blogs/Andrew-Karpie-s-Blog/Online-Staffing-Seeing-the-Forest-For-the-Trees
  5. ^ Staffing Industry Analysts, http://www.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research-Publications/Blogs/Andrew-Karpie-s-Blog/Online-Staffing-Still-Partly-Cloudy-Clearing-Trend-Ahead
  6. ^ Staffing Industry Analysts, http://www.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research-Publications/Research-Topics/Region-North-America/Online-Staffing-The-Landscape
  7. ^ Staffing Industry Analysts, http://www.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research-Publications/Daily-News/US-What-will-happen-to-staffing-in-2018-24891
  8. ^ Staffing Industry Analysts, http://www.staffingindustry.com/site_member/Research-Publications/Research-Topics/Region-North-America/Online-Staffing-Threats-Opportunities
  9. ^ "Interview with Gary Swart (oDesk)". March 11, 2012.
  10. ^ "Nodesk.com becomes oDesk.com". February 20, 2007.
  11. ^ "The Unofficial Client Success Guide for oDesk".
  12. ^ Raymund Flandez (2008-10-13). "Help Wanted – And Found". The Wall Street Journal.
  13. ^ "oDesk Policy". October 2010.
  14. ^ https://kb.odesk.com/questions/1350/Can+oDesk+charge+me+in+my+local+currency%3F
  15. ^ Leeder, Jessica. "Virtual offices are altering the future of work". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  16. ^ Karpie, Andrew. "oDesk Reports 2012 Gross Services Revenues of $360M; 60% Year-Over-Year Growth in Hours Worked/Billed". Staffing Industry Analysts. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  17. ^ Karpie, Andrew. "oDesk Reports 2012 Gross Services Revenues of $360M; 60% Year-Over-Year Growth in Hours Worked/Billed". Staffing Industry Analysts. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  18. ^ "Internet startup oDesk gets $6M funding". Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal. June 1, 2006. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ "oDesk Announces $8 Million Series B Round Led by Benchmark Capital". Yahoo! Finance. September 27, 2006. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  20. ^ Marshall, Matt (September 27, 2006). "oDesk, marketplace for developers, raises $8 million". VentureBeat. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  21. ^ "oDesk Secures $15 Million In Series C Funding". oDesk Press Releases. oDesk. June 4, 2008.
  22. ^ "oDesk Raises $15 Million in Funding Round Led by T. Rowe Price". Bloomberg Businessweek. March 22, 2012. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. ^ Samuel Dean (2008-10-16). "Interview: oDesk's CEO on Opportunities for Web Workers". Web Worker Daily.
  24. ^ Chan, Stacie (April 1, 2011). "Despite Slow Economy, Six County Companies Are Posterchildren for Growth". Patch.com.
  25. ^ Posted on March 30, 2011 (2011-03-30). "Announcing the 2011 OnDemand 100 Top Private Companies | AlwaysOn". Alwayson.goingon.com. Retrieved 2012-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "The 2011 Inc. 5000 List - Jama Software through Davis Strategic Innovations". Inc.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  27. ^ "Top Inc. 5,000 Companies". Inc.com. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  28. ^ "Valley's fastest growing companies honored". October 14, 2010.
  29. ^ Young, Eric (October 25, 2010). "CEOs say staying nimble, efficient aids growth".
  30. ^ Monday, September 14th, 2009 (2009-09-14). "TC50: DemoPit Winner oDesk Launches A Real-Time Work Stream For Your iPhone And Desktop". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-01-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ "Emerging Tech award winners honored". December 4, 2009.
  32. ^ "70 FastPrivate valley companies hailed". October 9, 2009.
  33. ^ "The 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 Sub-Lists". IAOP. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  34. ^ http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/TMT_us_tmt/us_tmt_2010%20Technology%20Fast%20500%20Winners%20Brochure_191010.pdf
  35. ^ Quain, John (September 27, 2006). "Small Business Awards by PC Magazine: Outsourcing Finalists". PC Magazine.
  36. ^ 2007 Technology Fast 500
  37. ^ Finalists for the "Red Herring 100 Global" Awards 2007
  38. ^ 2011 TiE50 Internet/Social Networking Winner

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Upwork&oldid=547702732"