[koolba]

From the article, emphasis mine:

> This allows our freelancers to receive tangible rewards for their hard work building incredible software, and helps them prepare for the future.

Wouldn't simplify paying a freelancer be a tangible reward? And if you're not paying them then they're not really freelancers, they're either interns or suckers (or both).

> Will every Gigster Fund company yield a successful return? No. Although some startup companies yield extraordinary financial returns, many fail.

Ha! Great way to spin "The majority of this will be worthless ... but you buy Powerball tickets too right?"

[rco8786]

This is in addition to normal pay, you understand that right? Your comments about equity can be applied to anyone working for any startup, so what's your point?

I did some work for gigster a few months ago just to try it out. It was a breath of fresh air compared to upwork/elance/etc. Average pay for engineers was around $100/hr.

[quackware]

This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

[koolba]

> This isn't an all or nothing kind of deal. It's an extra incentive for gigster freelancers to do amazing work (besides the great project estimates / rates they have).

Maybe not all or nothing but this would end up just like a startup offering equity as compensation. They'd argue that they can pay you less (vs. straight cash for services) because you've got this equity piece as well.

[quackware]

Agreed. As a freelancer that works with Gigster I don't see this as a major source of revenue in my future (most likely a way to generate good PR as another poster mentioned). If they ever use this as leverage to pay less per project then I'm sure a lot of the best developers on the platform will move elsewhere.