The story behind launching oDesk – with Gary Swart

Gary Swart, oDesk, Customer Acquisition, Hiring, Marketplace, Outsourcing

In 2005, two friends wanted to work together even though one of them was in the US and the other in Greece. They created oDesk to allow them to do it.

Today the site is a job marketplace that allows anyone to find, hire, and collaborate with remote workers. We’ve used oDesk at Mixergy to help with guest prep and development projects.

Today’s guest is Gary Swart. He’s been the CEO of oDesk since the year it was founded, and who agreed to step into an advisory role, after the company finishes its merger with elance.

Gary Swart

oDesk

Gary Swart is the CEO of oDesk, the world’s largest online workplace—which has more than 4 million freelancers.

 

Andrew: Hey there freedom fighters. My name is Andrew Warner. I am the founder of mixergy.com, home of the ambitious up start, and a place where entrepreneurs come to talk about how they built their businesses.

In 2005 two friends wanted to work together even though one of them was in the U.S., and the other was in Greece. They created oDesk to allow them to do it. Today the site is a marketplace that allows anyone to find, hire, and, collaborate with remote workers.

We here at Mixergy have used oDesk to hire researchers to help us with our interviews, to help us with new development projects, and, other work. Today’s guest is Gary Swart. He’s been the CEO of oDesk since the year it was founded, and, he agreed to step in as an adviser after the company finishes its merger with Elance, later this year. Gary, welcome.

Gary: Thanks for having me, Andrew, and, that was a great description. I couldn’t have done it better myself. Thank...

Continue reading the transcript...