[eksurfus]

Trevor, really appreciate the post. Any reason you chose elance over other sites (odesk, guru, etc)? Any additional tips (eg did you try encouraging certain freelancers with great credentials to bid on your work)?

Just to toss it out there, Go (Golang) is becoming increasingly popular, but still has a relatively small community (much of which is based outside the US). This seems like a potential good case for using freelance developers (when language experts are few and geographically distributed).

[trevmckendrick]

I've used odesk once or twice. They're all about the same really.

At this point it's beneficial for me to stay on Elance because contractors see how much I've paid out, how consistently I give good ratings, etc. They know I'm a good contractor so they're more likely to bid.

I don't do much to try to get "certain" freelancers. Sometimes I'll sponsor a project if I need it done really quickly (under 48 hours, not a development project) but otherwise I just put it out there.

[ypeterholmes]

I got screwed on odesk. Hired a guy, sent a deposit, and then he ran off. No recourse..