The Human Cloud Podcast

Dan Curran, without any predetermined master plan, found himself immersed in the freelance economy amid the Covid pandemic. Recognizing the opportunity, he pivoted his publishing company into an expert marketplace, seamlessly connecting niche journalists and consultants with complex/regulated B2B brands. What sets Dan apart is his unique perspective—an outsider's viewpoint driven by a genuine desire to illuminate the untapped potential of a remarkable talent pool: Freelance Business Journalists.

Leaders, Lee's Expert Insight covers both the teaching of where this industry is going and how software can disrupt the current state of the freelance industry. A bit on Lee, he represents the fresh blood of the freelance economy challenging norms yet surrounded by industry vets. He's freelanced himself for over 8 years, and been leading Bubty, a White Label Contractor & Freelance Management software platform for 4 years. In being young, there are a couple legacy standards that Lee accurately calls out. • The ownership dilemma - no one 'owns' freelancers, yet many processes are built to replicate ownership or mitigate a lack of ownership • The needed layers of the freelance economy Yet in being experienced, he'll show us couple ways software can disrupt this space: • Centralization of Freelancers • Bringing simplicity to engaging multiple marketplaces • Turning the freelance economy into a Hiring Desk rather than another marketplace Enjoy!

On this episode we had the opportunity to talk with Rachel Renock and discuss the rapidly changing landscape of the freelance economy. She sheds light on how traditional agency models are becoming outdated and how flexible freelance models are rising to meet the demands of today's fluid and technology-driven world. Discover the ins and outs of Freelance Management Systems and how these platforms are empowering freelancers across industries to scale their businesses while fostering meaningful connections with like-minded professionals. Join us as we explore the future of marketplaces, the benefits of embracing freelance networks, and the lasting impact of these changes on the global workforce.

Leaders, Linda is our industry's superhero in building freelance programs at scale. She built PWC's Talent Exchange, she was MBO's Chief Experience Officer, and now she's the CoFounder and Chief Product Officer at FlexC, a somewhat new yet prominently established marketplace. A couple theme's I want you to listen for: WHY there are so many layers in the freelance economy. Hint...it stems from the meshing of Procurement, HR, Finance, and various working teams. HOW to balance the client-marketplace dynamic. WHERE the industry is heading, hint...from reactive & non-risky to sophisticated, strategic, and core. WHAT org's need to do over the next 30/60/90 days to set themselves up for success. Enjoy!

Leaders, we need to talk about how organizations can scale their freelance usage. The freelance economy V1 & V2 was built for entrepreneurs and small businesses, not large companies. The problem as Barry Matthews, CEO of Open Assembly and 20+ year vet describes it, is that Enterprises don't know which partner to turn to, and don't know how to scale a model that's new, risky, and has no existing best practices. The impact is that while 90% of leaders are prioritizing freelancers according to HBR, seldom few leaders are succeeding at scaling their organization beyond small pilots and small working teams. Barry and Open Assembly is building one of the leading solutions to scale freelance talent across large Enterprises through a single Enterprise entry point, what they call the gateway. If you remember the guest Mina Bastawros of Airbus, he said the future of the freelance economy is enabling enterprises the Amazon experience of engaging talent. One place for multiple marketplaces, multiple skills, yet a seamless and convenient end user experience. In this episode we'll discuss how to do this, along with the key themes below: How outsourcing has become skill sourcing, and the freelance economy is just the digitization of sourcing The Enterprise business case, specifically speed, size, and elasticity of accessing talent The Enterprise challenge...(1) which platform for what need, (2) we're new and risky with no existing processes Why there won't be ONE marketplace Enjoy! http://humancloud.work/barry-matthews

Angie represents one of the sexiest shifts in our industry, the shift in the most talented corporate leaders choosing the freelance economy over the traditional career path. In her case, this looks like choosing to build her own fintech, Ruby Money, over the full time corporate opportunities that came from having experience at Microsoft, Instagram, and Visa to name a top few of her numerous logos. We'll get in the weeds over Angie's own freelancing path, her peers, and what's required to make the freelance economy a sustainable career path and industry. *Also shout out to Ernie Park of Part Time Tech for referring Angie! Enjoy! http://humancloud.work/angie-moody

On this episode we talk with Marc Clemens, CEO and Founder of CodeControl and 9am. Companies are recognizing the value of independent professionals, and despite challenges in worker classification and regulations, systems are becoming more streamlined for businesses to engage with freelancers. The convergence of entrepreneurial and freelance mindsets, along with platforms like Code Control, are allowing freelancers to focus on their skills while offloading business aspects to dedicated services, ultimately creating a more flexible, collaborative work environment. 00:09:20: The intersection of freelancing and entrepreneurship 00:15:18: Structuring and building a community 00:26:08: Attracting technical talent in marketplace 00:36:07: Creating optimized profiles for freelancers 00:44:30: Go-to-market strategy in the next 6 to 12 months Learn more: https://humancloud.work/marc-clemens/

Leaders, Ernie is the epitome of the most exciting trend in the freelance economy...future VP's choosing to freelance over the corporate ladder. Ernie runs Part Time Tech, a newsletter highlighting the benefits of freelance models for tech talent like him. Prior, he majored in computer science at MIT, and was a software engineer at Hubspot for over 7 years. It is crucial to understand how this new freelancer demographic thinks. A couple core differences: The best people were great in corporate, better fit their lifestyle and ability to make an impact (they don't need to follow the corporate 'Kingdoming') The best people aren't looking for a job, they're prioritizing opportunities The best people find work through peer connections 3:51, Why Ernie made the switch 5:11, Why working this way makes sense for top talent 11:18, Impact of the pandemic 14:31, The corporate disconnect 20:43, The future of fractional leaders 40:51, The real tradeoffs between 1099 & W2 41:49, What do marketplaces have to do Learn More: http://humancloud.work/ernie-park

Leaders, Andela is a leading marketplace for developers, engineers, product designers, and technology experts. Beyond the platform, Jeremy has spent over 15 years unlocking the power of global, digital networks to drive business change. Jeremy hit on a couple themes that every single one of us needs to be aware of. 1: The blurring of freelance and full time 2: The science of managing remote freelancers at scale 3: The macroeconomic climate, specifically how our space has never been more attractive to Enterprises He also gives us the inside scoop on how their recent acquisition of Qualified.io and Codewars enables them to assess and deliver human potential more effectively. Learn More: http://humancloud.work/jeremy-johnson

Leaders, the freelance economy is shifting from being dominated by large, horizontal marketplaces to small, niche, hyper relevant communities of freelancers. We call this freelance first, and Matt's 8+ year old community of 60,000 freelancers is the epitome of this. Built with education, mentoring, and opportunities as the three pillars, it is the epitome of how winning freelance networks will look in the next few years. There are a couple themes we want you to listen out for: Myths of the freelance economy, what's changed in the last 10 years, and what will change in the next 5 years How finding freelancers and freelancers finding work is going from push to pull thanks to the increasingly advanced search capabilities that can find the exact match of skillset/industry/levels of experience needed. What branding means for freelancers, why it's integral, and why blitzing social media is a damning strategy Only 1 in 5 individuals is succeeding in their first year of freelancing (this number is definitely higher) If you can master above, you can lead hyper-engaged, high quality, successful freelancer networks. Learn More: https://humancloud.work/matt-dowling