Ep. 135: Jeff Fenigstein, Founder of Market Growth, Former Woodruff Sawyer, How Freelance Adoption In The Enterprise Creates Dream Teams

Leaders, 

We all know Enterprise adoption is the biggest barrier facing the freelance economy today. While freelance as a talent source is globally recognized, we’re still in the first inning of the maturity of freelance as an industry. Unlike Uber or other B2C based startups, freelance as an industry looks more like a B2B professional service transformation than a venture backed technology industry. The impact is that instead of overnight adoption, industry maturity is a long, mostly linear process. 

Which is why today’s guest is so perfect. 

Jeff Fenigstein has scaled marketing freelancers across marketing teams for large companies. First at Woodruff Sawyer, and now as the founder of Market Growth. Specifically, Jeff knows how freelance can be a strategic sourcing strategy that creates dream teams rather than looking at freelancers as transactional contractors that “plug a hole” or “fill a gap”. 

In this episode, we’ll get into why Jeff turned to freelance, what his use cases were, and how he overcame the organizational bureaucracy that stands in the way of so many freelance leaders. He also shares his experiences with freelance adoption in different environments, such as startups and enterprise organizations. Jeff emphasizes the need for internal champions and effective communication to overcome hurdles and successfully integrate freelancers into an enterprise. He recommends that enterprise leaders explore freelance platforms, try small projects, and educate themselves on the benefits and possibilities of freelance work.

Key takeaways:

• Freelancers can help businesses accomplish more and reach their goals by providing specific skills and capacity when needed.
• Using freelance platforms offers access to top talent, faster hiring processes, and the ability to try before committing to a long-term hire.
• Freelance adoption is different depending on the environments, such as startups and enterprise organizations. 
• In the Enterprise, freelance adoption requires internal champions and effective communication.
• To get started, Enterprise leaders should try small projects.