It’s a win-win situation.
You have a ground-shaking, disruptive idea. But you don’t necessarily have the necessary coding skills or developing programmes to make your ideas a reality. So you end up approaching an angel investor. After you get sufficient financial support, you outsource the job to freelancers out there but then you aren’t exactly sure if the person might be the right fit.
This was what Chase White realised was happening to almost every tech start-up out there. As such, White and his team decided to cut to the Chase and make the lives of every struggling entrepreneur out there easier.
Loom is the world’s first work-for-equity platform that helps entrepreneurs bring ideas to life. LOOM allows startups to offer equity to developers/freelancers directly, instead of going through angel investors. When freelancers/developers gain equity in exchange for their work, there is incentive for these freelancers/developers to ensure the quality of work that is being produced.
How it works
For freelancers, the first step is to showcase your profile and experience. You can take skills test to prove your technical skills. After which, start to bid for projects and wait for a connection from the business side.
On the side of the entrepreneurs, the first step is to post your public profile on LOOM with a general description of your project. However, you can choose to keep confidential details hidden behind an NDA-protected tab. And now, wait for freelancers to hop on the bandwagon as they bid for your project in equity or cash.
Once a bid is made, a conversation thread open up to connect the entrepreneur and freelancer. You will be limited to only 5 messages, and thereafter you would need to request a connection.
Each successful connection is priced at $99 per freelancer. With that, you will be able to enjoy unlimited connections with the freelancer and the project is set on its way to reality.
Loom’s Roadmap
Currently, LOOM is working on resolving their existing issues faced in terms of their revenue model. LOOM pointed out that their previous model was payable based on each project initiated. This had resulted in many entrepreneurs exploiting the platform as they ended up connecting with the freelancers outside of the platform and left the site without paying for its service.
To prevent such an occurrence, LOOM has since revamped their business model—entrepreneurs now have to pay for initial connection to freelancers, i.e. pay for more than 5 messages.
LOOM also highlighted that future improvements will be made. This includes “conflict resolution and mitigation efforts” between entrepreneurs and freelancers. Ultimately in the long run, LOOM aims to be a platform with an array of features and assistance where parties on the either ends of the business-entrepreneurship spectrum to come together seamlessly.
However, LOOM is not a new idea. CoVenture, Late Labs are existing sites that provides similar services. The founder of Late Labs, Justin Johnson, now works as an advisor for LOOM.
With a plethora of talented developers and eager entrepreneurs, LOOM is determined to set their projects into motion with the right connection.
Find out more.
