By Adrianne Jeffries 1/16/12 6:50pm

Side Projects

Mr. Bragger.

Kyle Bragger, Master of Monetizable Side Projects, Sells Tinyproj

Betabeat first wrote about Tinyproj, a curated newsletter for matching developers to gigs, in September. The site was a project by the inimitable Kyle Bragger, currently in residence at 500 Startups for the completely unrelated Forrst.com, a sort of Tumblr-like community for developers. The buyer was GroupTalent, a Seattle-based “marketplace for high-end software projects.”

What was the price? “Can’t say, suffice to say everyone wins and it’s not mandatory to switch over as a user, e.g. no user data got sold off,” Mr. Bragger told Betabeat. Read More

By Edward Case 4:11pm

Letters from a Hacker

orostheavenger

Why 80 Percent of Web Projects Are Total Bullshit: A Freelancer’s Rant

This is a guest post from the pseudonymous Edward Case, a Brooklyn-based freelance developer, which was adapted from an email to Betabeat. Mr. “Case” preferred to remain anonymous, as clients pay his bills.

You know ratemyprofessor.com? I want something like that for potential clients. (Note: I just tried ratemyclient.com and it’s something porn-related, so don’t try that if you’re in an office.)  I’m not sure it’ll ever exist though; nobody would want to write negative reviews of past clients for fear of endangering their prospects of getting future work.

I would write about how everybody that needs a cookie-cutter CRUD app or piece of brochureware thinks their project is a beautiful snowflake, when the reality of the situation is that the vast majority of projects out there are all very samey. When people approach me with work that’s very cut-and-dry, but they’re realistic about it, I’m liable to listen. When they act like they’re changing the word with the most important web form that’s ever graced the face of the planet, I run. Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 9/16/11 5:04pm

Betabeat Approves A Thing

tinyproj

Tinyproj: A Nice, Non-Aggressive Way to Get Coders for Short-Term Projects–and 4,000 Developers Have Already Signed Up

The bloodthirsty hunt for hackers is getting extreme. Developers get come-ons by email, through Facebook, cold calls; their listservs are invaded, their hackathons are stalked. But here comes Tinyproj, a simple solution to at least part of the problem. Kyle Bragger, creator of developer hub Forrst.com, has set up a mechanism for getting technical talent for short-term projects. It’s called Tinyproj. Think the “gigs” section on Craigslist. “People want short-term work,” he told Betabeat. “I had a hunch this could be interesting and valuable to people.” Read More