Ep. 153: Alex Norovyatkin, Head of Brand & Growth at Mellow, Scaling A Truly Global Freelance Workforce & What’s Possible With A Company Of Five

Leaders, are you fishing in the same pond as everyone else? We all know there are plenty of freelancers in the US, Europe, and increasingly LATAM. But what about Africa, Serbia, Georgia, and other emerging, hard-to-reach regions? 

Today’s guest, Alex Norovyatkin and Mellow have been experts in this since 2012. 

We’re all familiar with major players like Deel, Remote, and other global payroll, classification, and employer of record solutions. But while they have broad coverage, these don’t specialize in hard-to-reach regions as Mellow does — and this specialization makes all the difference. For instance, Mellow operates as a Contractor of Record (COR), not an Employer of Record (EOR) or Agent of Record (AOR), and this distinction is tailored to hard-to-reach regions. They also offer contractor specific solutions that ensure clients have access to the best talent.  

In this episode, we’ll also discuss the power of leverage. Leverage allows companies to achieve more with fewer resources. Just as the computational cloud enabled Instagram to scale to a billion-dollar valuation with only 13 employees, the Human Cloud enables companies to operate effectively with just five core team members: a CEO, CMO or Chief Sales Officer (CSO), Chief Product Officer (CPO), and an operations and HR lead. The rest can be freelancers, and solutions like Mellow make this possible.

Key takeaways:

• Unlocking global talent requires understanding diverse markets

• Mellow's journey showcases the evolution of the contingent workforce

• Contractor of record simplifies the hiring process

• Navigating legalities is crucial when hiring internationally

• The demand for unique talent from emerging markets is growing

• HR leaders face increased responsibilities in the remote work era

• Companies must adapt to macroeconomic changes impacting talent acquisition

• Building relationships with contractors is essential for success

• The future of work may involve a blend of internal and external talent