Redefining an industry: why the blockchain community needs a new marketplace
How a new marketplace could be the key to connecting blockchain enthusiasts with the companies of the future
Reaching people, the right people, and engaging them in a new service or product has always been a challenge. The internet opened up new channels but historically startups have struggled to recruit that first close group of dedicated supporters. However, the blockchain space looks totally different.
This thriving market surprised and inspired me. Never before have I seen an industry built around so many entrepreneurial young people willing to help each other, often working for free and ready to give up their current job as soon as the opportunity arises. It’s an immensely interesting time.
Established by tech enthusiasts, the blockchain space has been around for almost a decade now and is populated by young and ambitious digital natives. Sure, you have senior engineers and business development gurus involved, but if you take a close look at the teams behind 90% of new tech projects you’ll find the people I’m talking about. Independent, ready to take on an adventure and more often than not boasting a healthy bank balance having been brave enough to invest their savings into one of the hundreds of projects that have already skyrocketed.
These individuals have had the luxury of quitting their day job to focus on this new movement, using their knowledge and experience to help start-ups that they felt could change the world.
There is however one thing I have always found strange: the way aspiring blockchain-entrepreneurs communicate and search for these opportunities still looks a lot like the systems used by freelancers in the regular world 10 years ago. You ask your colleagues, you learn of new developments through friends or simply write to a company you find interesting. There is yet to be any significant change in how this employment niche operates — which is odd given how brilliantly innovative its inhabitants are.
If you take a close look at the broader freelancing space right now there are some interesting things happening. There has been an enormous growth in platforms connecting freelancers with potential employers: consider Fiverr, an online business that has focused predominantly on the creative industry or Upwork that caters to almost any discipline. I am a big fan of this move to a more autonomous way of working and believe the boom is in response to today’s changing work environment. People don’t want to work for one boss for 40 years anymore; they want to move around, meet new people and visit new places. All with the convenience of remote working.
So this movement is slowly taking over the freelance economy, but the question that led my partners and I to found our company was: “Where do we find blockchain enthusiast freelancers?”
As soon as you start building a blockchain project, you will likely look for experienced people who can build a website, help you write your whitepaper, create a smart contract or have knowledge in the space of PR and communication — and critically, understand the sector. Currently, the right candidates are scarce so finding these people is extremely hard and as a result growth in the blockchain economy is being held back. What if we could create a platform that would be the go-to place for specialists looking to help a community, join a company or start their own blockchain start-up? A place where freelancers who have experience with blockchain — in the broadest sense — are found. This is exactly what we are building.
Our company is called Hiway. The company started as a digital blockchain version of a traditional recruitment agency, helping other businesses (not necessarily in the blockchain space) find employees for extended periods of time. This stemmed from the founding teams experience of running a traditional recruitment agency for the last 11 years.
However, after diving into a new strategy, the model changed considerably. A company needs focus, particularly in the beginning. We had to make our product concise and digestible. We chose to go for a small piece of the cake, but one big enough to build our company on while capitalising on space that we knew so well. We decided to focus on blockchain freelancers.
This new employment market database — first project based and focused solely on the blockchain industry, later taking on any known HR challenges — will operate with a decentralised approach built on the blockchain, speaking in our users’ language so that they feel at home given their background. From the outset, both employer and employee will be engaged in the search process with some of the most exciting technological innovations around — AI, a token model, smart contracts — delivering what we believe to be the future employment marketplace. These developments all stem from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an exciting and thriving movement that is crying out for its own dedicated ‘search and recruit’ space.
Hiway is built with a clear goal: to be the platform connecting digital natives in the blockchain sphere with the companies of the future. A place that offers security and opportunities with bountiful jobs and companies. A new and evolving marketplace that facilitates connections between those looking for a job or wanting a job done, empowering all parties.
Imagine the power of a marketplace where everyone is focused on the blockchain space, and this same place being used by blockchain companies to post new projects and jobs. By concentrating the market we can create an exceptionally strong basis for the future of the blockchain industry. The first steps have already been taken, and I for one cannot wait to see how it develops in years to come.
Want to learn more?
www: https://www.takethehiway.io
telegram: https://t.me/hiwaycommunity
twitter: https://twitter.com/hiwayofficial
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hiwayofficial/
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hiwayofficial/
