WEBVTT - Marketing & Comms Talent Goes Flexible with Lara Vandenberg 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.800 I'm off my game today. No, you're not. People are 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:05.640 going to have to start making better content. I think 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:07.160 we're gonna be talking about this for a long time. 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.200 When you program for everyone, you program for no one. 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:12.280 I think it's that we're purpose driven platform like we're 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.640 trying to get to substance. How was that? Are you 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:19.319 happy with that? This is marketing therapy right now? It 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:26.800 really is what's up? Up? More currency? And I'm Alexa Kristen. 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:32.400 Welcome back Atlantia. Happy twenty two. Here we go. I 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:36.040 believe this year is the year of the individual, where 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:40.279 people use their talent in non traditional ways. And we've 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:45.159 been talking about multifaceted identities, and now we're in the 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:49.680 place where people can start to flex those skill sets, identities, 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:54.639 passion points, and interests in places that are maybe not 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.800 the traditional forty hour work week, full time job. I 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:02.720 do X, I am X, meaning I am a marketer. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:07.400 Therefore I join an agency or I'm on the client side. 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.560 Now we have the opportunity to say I can actually 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:15.000 flex those skill sets into places that I've never maybe 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:20.520 gone before, into areas where my skills or my perspective, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.959 my point of view is really needed and I've never 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.480 actually applied it in those areas before. It got us 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:32.160 thinking about some of the past conversations that we've had, 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.880 one of which was Cyndy Gallup, who talks about personal 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:42.040 agency and what personal agency means, individual agency, and that 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:46.759 everyone has agency. It's how you start to use it 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:51.360 and actually apply it into your future, into your trajectory, 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:55.760 into your daily life and decide what you're worth, where 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.040 you want to go, and really start to think in 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.880 nonlinear ways about how you apply your skill sets outside 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.760 of maybe the traditional forty hour work week. Now, this 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:09.320 has been a conversation that not only we've been having 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:13.280 for years. There was an episode I recall us talking 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.800 about portfolio careers and this was a couple of years back, 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.280 and really thinking about how your core competency or your 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.480 core skill sets can be transferable into different industries to 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.680 allow you to start to branch and build um something 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.040 that's as horizontal as it is vertical. So this has 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.959 been a conversation that has been happening over time. But 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:37.520 I think what we're seeing is now executives, founders vcs 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:41.840 start to action on it, creating opportunities in traditional structures 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.520 to allow for experimentation and exploration, but even a step 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:50.200 further building entire new business models that support not only 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:56.560 you know, the discovery and accessibility for employers and contractors 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.280 to connect, but also and we're gonna get into it 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.720 in this episode. And I know, Alexa, you have experience 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:03.960 and a point of view on this, supporting on the 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:08.240 back end for things like taxes and how to set 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:11.520 up you know, the infrastructure of your organization that you 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.040 may not have experience. And what's been on the forefront 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:18.840 of the conversation around flexible work and using your skill 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.200 sets in different ways has really been in the Web 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:24.280 three space. It's really been in the creator economy space. 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.800 What we haven't talked about as much is how more 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:35.640 traditional tracks functional skill sets, marketers, communicators, How are they 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:40.560 actually starting to leverage their agency, How are they starting 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:44.360 to actually look at branching out and using their network 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:50.000 as a verification system and starting to look for different work, 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.440 applying their skill sets into a different way and looking 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.120 at potentially areas that they haven't gone into that are 0:03:57.240 --> 0:03:59.880 very different from the forty hour work week and the 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:04.240 full time gig. And so to your point, there really 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.440 hasn't been an infrastructure that's been built to do that, 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.880 and so the guests we have on today. Laura Vandenberg 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:15.800 is the founder of Publicist dot co and what Publicist 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.800 does is end to end. Has created a solution for 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:25.440 the demand side, so the client that's hiring, and the 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:29.400 supply side, the talent that's looking, and it handles everything 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.960 from the back end so that it's not just on 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:36.040 demand talent and a talent search agency. It's not that 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:41.159 at all. It's actually using back end technology sas tools 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:47.679 to help folks operationalize their skill sets, their expertise almost 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:54.840 immediately into the workforce, from fractional to full time to advisory, etcetera. 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:57.760 Why is this so important right now? Well, I think 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.400 what I found interesting in the conversation and get into 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.640 it in just a minute, is that fractionalized bit, that 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:09.839 advisory bit, the opportunity to have something on demand. Laura 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:13.440 talks about the on boarding process and the traditional model. 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:19.520 There's the application, rounds of interviews, reference checks, you know, 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:24.039 additional back and forth around negotiation, et cetera. By the 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:29.200 time you go from initial discussion two on boarding into 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.719 an organization, it can take quite a long time. When 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:37.920 in fact, there are some clients, brands, agencies who are 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:42.040 looking for support, maybe for just a matter of hours 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.200 to consult on something. So that was equally interesting to me, 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.520 not only the support of the contractors, but also on 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:54.000 the employers side, the ability to expedite the process and 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.200 have options that can be something that's a matter of 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.800 hours or something that's a matter of months. And with 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:17.039 Lara Vandenberg, we'll be right back and we are back 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:22.120 on the mic with longtime friend Lara Vandenberg is in 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.520 the studio hanging with us today to talk all things 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.120 Publicist dot Co. Lara, I feel like we've been waiting 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:32.200 so long to say this. Welcome to Atlantia. Thanks both. 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.960 I'm so excited. I know this is years in the making. 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:39.280 So the first time I heard about Publicist, you and 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.679 I were in an airport on an eight hour delay 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.240 trying to get out of I think we were in 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:50.760 Park City, if I recall Sundance Sundance and you said, so, 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.680 I'm thinking about starting this thing. And because the delay 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:56.600 went on and on and on, I think we did 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.719 like three iterations of the pitch deck together while we 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.680 were sitting there. But I would love to hear a 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.960 bit about the reason you founded this. Yeah, I'm happy too. 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:09.640 And can I just say how thrilled I am that 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.160 we don't have to do those eight hour layovers and 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:18.119 airports and the conference travel has really um settled. It'll 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.640 bounce back, then I'll come back. It'll come back. But yes, agreed, 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:24.880 but hopefully not to the extent that we were doing 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:27.520 it on planes three times a week. But you wouldn't 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:32.760 have run into Laura exactly exactly. But so, I think 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:37.680 it was twenty beginning of so I was the s 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.000 VP of Marketing at Notch, and I mean even prior 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.200 to that, I had a pretty i guess, nonlinear career 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.720 in comms and marketing started in Australia on the agency side, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.480 and then came over to New York with a big 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.760 enterprise with Westfield, and then Beauty start up and then 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.000 you know, B two, B stas so all over the place. 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.280 And I guess the consistent thing that my pain point was, 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.960 like number one was access to talent is really really hard. 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:09.960 And I think that our industry as we know is 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:14.720 so foundational to word of mouth. Um. And I guess 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.080 the one thing that I really saw is hyper specialization 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:20.960 in the industry is completely outpacing word of mouth. I 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:26.120 think marketing comms creative. It's growing both horizontally and vertically 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.920 from the skill sets that exist today that didn't exist 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.520 even ten years ago when you know, I started my career. 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.800 So problem number one was access to talent and access 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.280 to the right talent. I think for so long we've 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.000 relied on, as I mentioned, word of mouth and linked in, 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:45.559 and even the way we engaged with agencies is changing drastically. 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.959 Problem number two was once you've actually found someone, whether 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.960 it's a freelancer or a full time employee or an agency, 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.079 it takes so long from first conversation to on board 0:08:58.080 --> 0:09:01.160 these people. Um what that law usually looks like, and 0:09:01.200 --> 0:09:04.000 it touches OPS and HR and a hiring manager and 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:07.599 finance is you know, we put that U r L 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.320 into a Google spreadsheet and then pass it off to 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:14.720 an applicant tracking system. It's then, you know, we interview them, 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.959 we send them contracts, we on board them, and that 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.680 can take six to eight weeks and sometimes you just 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.320 want to hire someone for a day. And so that 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.880 essentially was my big pain point was access to talent 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:29.400 and then managing talent. So what we ended up launching 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.960 with Publicist was a platform that allowed agencies and brands 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:38.760 to source higher pay and manage. We launched with freelancers 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:41.440 and contractors, and we can get into how that's changed. 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:44.720 But essentially a platform where people can go and find 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:49.720 pre vetted, premium talent um and then on the flip side, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.120 a community where the talent can essentially run their back 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:58.880 office from tax stuff too, invoices and contracts. Because I 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.800 think what this in the industry. You know a lot 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.480 of staffing agencies and a lot of these contractors. They've 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.800 never needed to be a solo preneurs or business of one. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:14.600 And these people are phenomenal at doing the work, but 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.680 have never necessarily needed to be their own lawyer, and 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.160 be their own accountant, and be their own salesperson. And 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:24.240 the thing is, it's like anyone who has gone out 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.360 on their own to freelance or consult. This is takes 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:31.439 eighty percent of your time to set up. And by 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.559 the way, find the right lawyer. It's not just get 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.840 a lawyer, it's find the right lawyer who understands the business. 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.080 Find the right like, how do you start to think 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.640 about procurement, which is actually a huge gateway to your business, 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.959 like all of those things totally and even like even 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.120 marketing yourself is a really hard thing to do. And like, yes, 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.520 we're all marketers, but we and we've all written briefs 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:54.520 a hundred times in our life, but when have you 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:56.760 ever actually written a brief for yourself? And like, what 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.680 is my mission? Who is my target audience? It's a 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:03.360 really hard thing to do. You talk about pre vetting, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:09.200 uh and pulling in premium talent onto the platform for marketers, brands, etcetera. 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:12.960 To connect What does that pre vetting process look like? 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:16.720 How do you identify premium talent? Was it a call 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:19.600 for was an immediate rush of somewhere in the middle. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:21.840 We'd love to kind of get into your process a bit. 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.000 With communications, marketing, and creative, there is an abundance of 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.160 talent out there, but often when it comes to brand, 0:11:28.240 --> 0:11:30.720 people willing to pay a premium for anything to do 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:35.200 with that, we're facing, you know, regard of of brand. Now, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.559 we vet all of our talent in two different ways. 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.080 So there's an application process where we ask for things 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:47.760 like portfolio and references and brands, publishers, agencies worked with 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.640 skill sets industry, so we really try and get this 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:55.319 granular um experience and skill sets as possible. We then 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.559 put them through an interview process and so we want 0:11:57.559 --> 0:12:00.959 to understand what a people's experience it's and so it's 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:05.040 very very created, and I think to create this really 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:09.360 premium community, we want to start with, you know, the 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.120 top of the top. We've got a really robust wait 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.720 list that you know, we check in on quarterly and 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.360 and then let people into the platform and let them 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:22.520 reapply and all of that. What is premium defined premium talent? 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.880 It's a really hard one. Now we have a couple 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.120 of one oh one, so we really look at past works. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.760 That is the absolute indicator of uh, the output and 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:39.480 the actual whether it's creative or press or relationships. Um, 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.760 so it is. It is super subjective, and we've got 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.520 a communications council that goes in and and bets everyone. 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:47.840 But it's hard, and it's so interesting. And when I 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.040 talk about this hyper specialization of both industry and skill set, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:53.960 like I cannot tell you the influx and by no 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:57.240 surprise of fintech and crypto, both clients and talent on 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.920 the platform. But then even defining like what is a 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:06.520 ship coin and like can people's experience. I say that, Yeah, Um, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:12.840 we've said worse even defining the specialization within the coins, 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.640 whether it's Bitcoin or a ship cooin, whether it's go 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.760 to market or p R. And I think it's that 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.679 hyper specialization is just something that we're really focused on. 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:27.200 And what's interesting, we're seeing the term generalists now be 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:31.920 a specialization. Yeah, let's talk about that pendulum swing because 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:36.200 as I think about approaching twenty two, as we all know, um, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.640 the Great Resignation underway and likely no signs of slowing down, 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:44.640 as more and more people are moving into freelance capacities, 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:49.280 changing industries, completely new and interesting paths that people are pursuing. 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.120 Have you seen that felt that, what does it look like? 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:57.480 And are there things that have surprised you, particularly over 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.960 the last two years that you can point to and say, 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.000 I didn't expect the industry to move this way, or 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.360 there's an overabundance of people moving that way. I think 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:11.760 what we're seeing is the Great reshuffle, not the Great resignation. 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:15.480 And I think that COVID obviously accelerated the move to 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:20.520 contract and the move to people taking a step back 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.800 and figuring out what they care about and not wanting 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.440 to work for average companies anymore. And one of the 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.280 things that I've seen and I think is here to 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.680 stay is this is a supply market. Clients are pitching 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.560 talent for the first time, rather than talent pitching clients, 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.480 which is something really really interesting. I also think that 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.520 I mean, we launched our business. May of do not 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:46.000 advise anyone to launch a company two months into one 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.680 of the greatest pandemics we'll ever see, but it was 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.640 just so fascinating that we gave home to first time 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.640 freelancers who will never go back to full time jobs, 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:57.760 and so this was a landing pad for them in 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.920 a way. But I think it will remain as a 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:04.440 supply market. We're working with a client right now, Free Pandemic. 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:10.240 They were receiving between five hundred a thousand job applicants 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.960 per job post today, so less than eighteen months later, 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:18.080 they're lucky if they get to wow too applicants. And 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:22.120 so I think that talent has just taken a step 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.440 back and figured out what they're worth is and what 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:29.160 they value, and I think it's an amazing thing for 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:34.120 all industries on that point. Are you helping your clients 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:38.320 think about and figure out like why what is happening 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.280 to their pipeline and why is their pipeline drying up. 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:43.360 One of the things that they're open to for the 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.120 first time ever is these these companies that have never 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:50.240 hired contractors and now hiring contractors for set roles. And 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.440 so one of the things we do is and back 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.840 to Laura, you're saying, we provide access to talent. Initially 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.600 we launched a freelance and that was absolutely the imminent 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.640 need that we saw, but you know, per the market 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:04.720 and we're so young that we can iterate as well 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.400 as a result of seeing what our clients need. We're 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.360 doing tempted perm, we're doing full time, we're doing one 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:14.200 our advisory um and so I think that's probably an 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.120 education that we say to clients if you're not feeling 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.960 this full time started as a three month tempted perm 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.440 and then see once the client has evaluated the talent 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:25.960 and the talent has evaluated the client, if that marriage 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:30.640 is you know worthwhile. So yeah, I think date before 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.440 marriage is a is a huge trem we're seeing. The 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:38.000 other thing is we're probably contract on the platform right now, 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.440 and historically a lot of the people that are these 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:45.360 contractors and these solo preneurs have had careers first and 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.120 have figured out that they now actually want to work 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:50.040 for themselves. And so that's also probably a reflection of 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:53.680 the inbound that's actually that's coming to the platform first 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.400 time solo preneurs who are stepping out of corporate structures, 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.280 corporate environments where you know, some of the specifics you're 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.560 alluding to earlier taxes, Alex, you're talking about lawyers, like 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:07.760 you know, the let's just say solo preneurs starter pack. 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.560 What's in the starter pack? What do people have to 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:13.080 know as they get on the platform in terms of 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.960 like I need these things to just get up and running. So, Laura, 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.920 that's a great point around you know, how do you 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.600 operate your business through whether it's through a platform or 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:25.840 off a platform. And it's one of the big pain 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:29.080 points that we had solving for what are the workflow 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:33.680 tools that someone actually needs, what's actually helpful and UM 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:37.320 on the platform right now we have the ability to 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:41.359 send invoices, the ability to customize contracts UM. A huge 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.680 thing that we haven't spoken about is payment terms when 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:48.840 at zero, yeah, I mean the amount of agencies that 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:55.400 a net thirty or forty five or even and it's tough. Yeah, 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.440 you can't do that. You cannot do that with like talent. 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:02.280 That is insulting talent. They have their own shops that 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.880 maybe they have small teams. No way, no way, And 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.000 so that that was something that was really important to me. 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:13.439 And so the projects, you know, again, the talent can customize. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.639 Is it a monthly retainer, is it per project, is 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:19.119 it an annual retainer? UM, it's completely customizable. On the 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:24.919 talent side. Now, we launched with project based engagements, and 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:27.560 so that was up front, before work was done, in 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:30.679 upon completion, and that's still to date. Is one of 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:35.480 the most common preferences UM for both talent and clients. 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.919 And so I think building out workflow tools and then 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.720 there are certain workflow tools that we've decided not to 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.880 build for because we don't want to take away from 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.720 the work. So for example, we've got to chat function 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.960 on platform. UM, we didn't want to build a Slack 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:53.960 integration or like, we don't necessarily want to take people 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:56.600 away from Zoom or Slack or Gmail or how they're 0:18:56.600 --> 0:19:01.159 getting work done. We just want to help them on 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.440 the administrative side, which exactly again it takes like eighty 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:07.720 percent of the time. When I first started consulting, I 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.160 stayed up almost every night untill two a m. Nine 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:14.240 to two a m. Was actually my billing, figuring out 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:16.960 my invoicing system. What was I going to use? Was 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:18.280 I going to use the free service? Was I going 0:19:18.320 --> 0:19:20.360 to use a paid service? Figuring it out? I mean 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:23.640 it was like it was like, I mean truly starting 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:28.440 over right, Yeah, which seems like an opportunity, by the way, 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.160 from a tech product standpoint, to develop this solo preneurs 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.320 starter pack like that. Everything you're just saying the amount 0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:37.080 of time time is money. Yeah, it's a ton of money. 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:40.199 And I think talent like you. As a consultant, there 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.359 are two things to figure out. One is getting new 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:46.040 business and then secondarily is bringing people on. And so 0:19:46.119 --> 0:19:48.640 that's something that on platform we do as well. And 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:52.840 one of my favorite examples is we've got this phenomenal 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:57.800 fintech uh PR guy on the platform and his business 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:01.240 is completely changed. He's just high at his sixth person 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:05.000 on the platform because he's getting so much work from 0:20:05.080 --> 0:20:08.480 the platform. So creating this three sixty ability to hire 0:20:08.560 --> 0:20:11.600 and get hired, what's your payment? So we take a 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:17.399 percentageum it starts and essentially the which kind of is 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.359 built in both ways, that from workflow tools on the 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.280 supply side and then also the demand side. Um. But 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.560 the more from a client perspective, the more people you hire, 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:30.159 the cheaper it gets. And then a big focus of 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.760 ours is on the enterprise side and that kind of 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:35.680 commission goes out the door and it's more of a 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.760 sas license structure. Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:42.800 I mean, the amount of money that people are spending 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:48.760 on recruitment firms and staffing agencies, it becomes really really expensive, 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.280 um for access to this great talent. Just trying to 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:55.399 make it as accessible as possible. Right knowing that you 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:59.280 have so much transaction happening on the platform between supply 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:02.879 and demand inside, are there on the back end data 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.520 points that you're seeing that can really hone in on 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:11.960 the generalist moving to hyper specialists. So the two biggest 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:16.720 categories right now that require hyper specialization is fintech and healthcare. 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.840 And it's probably in the last month jobs that we've 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:26.320 seen which is really really fascinating. We are probably in 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.600 the last two or three weeks have seen I want 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:35.200 to say sixties of new net new clients in crypto 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.920 n f T spaces and what's really interesting as well. 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:42.240 And I mean, I know offline we've all spoken a 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:45.560 lot about education, and I think that so many people 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:49.000 come to us because they're like, great, we can get 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.800 awesome marketing or awesome PR but a lot of these 0:21:53.280 --> 0:21:56.680 newer companies need education that no, you actually need branding 0:21:56.760 --> 0:22:01.320 and you need a comms message messaging strategy a four yep, 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:03.080 you need to go and engage in PAER And that 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:06.719 I think is where it's tough with younger companies as well, 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:09.800 because we want to help them help themselves, but you 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:11.440 can't come to us and say, you know, we want 0:22:11.440 --> 0:22:14.440 to spend X on performance if you don't have great 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:18.359 creative and so I think that's that's challenging with with 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:22.240 earlier companies that have great budgets, and are you helping 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:26.919 companies like that evaluate what they need and then matching 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.080 them in some cases versus someone going on the platform 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:33.680 and saying I really like Laura, I really like Electa, 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:35.760 I really like their experience, and I think they're a 0:22:35.760 --> 0:22:38.960 fit for what I'm looking for. So we've got a 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:43.040 great talent team that can help hold hands, but we 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:46.359 also try to solve it through content and education and 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:48.640 tools on the platform. I mean, we are a product, 0:22:48.920 --> 0:22:51.480 and so things that we've created, like a budget calculator 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:54.280 and understanding how much you should be paying for talent 0:22:54.320 --> 0:22:56.119 and what is normal and that kind of like that 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:58.560 alleviates that conversation that we need to have, and what 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:02.440 we're trying to do is create products and tools for 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:04.960 a lot of these younger companies to educate them because 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:07.480 it's it's hard to educate on a on a case 0:23:07.520 --> 0:23:10.160 by case scenario. But yeah, we want to help where 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:13.680 we're super passionate about people getting the best outcome possible, 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:17.159 So where we can we do. I have seen in 0:23:17.200 --> 0:23:20.880 the last six months this massive need for brand, brand 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:26.520 strategy and big calms brains um on the web three side, 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.360 and I think that a lot of founders and CEOs 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:33.560 are starting to really understand that they have the need, 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:38.880 but maybe don't really understand who fits the bill right. 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:42.600 My least favorite thing that I see is when prospective 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:44.960 clients come to us and they say, we were just 0:23:45.000 --> 0:23:47.320 with a branding agency for a month, Well we just 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:49.680 had a publicist for a month, and it's like, well, 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:52.840 these things take time, and so I think that education 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:58.119 is is is hard if someone isn't used to this 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:01.320 industry and a lot of founders and you know, these 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:06.240 spaces are technical leads exactly, which again is challenging unless 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:08.520 they've got like marketing needs to sit at the table. 0:24:08.960 --> 0:24:11.360 And I think that that's just a it's just an 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:15.399 educational piece that people need to understand. I think that 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:19.000 there's so much talent kind of buried in agencies. Has 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:20.919 that come up on the agency side, like what are 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:25.359 conversations with agency leaders? Agencies are some of our biggest clients. 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.880 I think that agencies, more than almost brands right now, 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:31.320