Braintrust’s Founders on How to Run a Decentralised Marketplace

Gabe Luna Ostaseski & Adam Jackson on why the way we work is broken and how to fix it

45

You can watch this episode on YouTube or listen to Means of Creation on your podcast app of choice.

A recurring theme on this show has been creator and user empowerment—more specifically, how founders can build scalable businesses that don’t just extract value from their users, but instead, allow them to directly benefit from the value they help create. 

In the past, web2 gig economy marketplaces have had to be extractive—imposing higher take-rates and lower payouts seemed to be the only way to stay in business. Many of them still struggle to be profitable. 

However, our guests for this episode are using web3 to build a radically different alternative. Gabe Luna Ostaseski and Adam Jackson are the founders of Braintrust—a decentralised talent network like Upwork or Fiverr that is user-owned and redistributes its value back to its participants.

It’s still early, but the talent on Braintrust has already been hired by the likes of Nike, Porsche, NASA, and Goldman Sachs. 

In this conversation, we talk to them about: 

  • Why they think our current way of building marketplaces is broken 
  • What led them to founding Braintrust 
  • The practical challenges of running a decentralized talent network; and  
  • Braintrust’s vision for the future of work 

We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!



Listen in your Podcast App

This is a podcast episode. To listen, add Means of Creation to your podcast app of choice!

Add to Podcast App

Find Out What
Comes Next in Tech.

Start your free trial.

New ideas to help you build the future—in your inbox, every day. Trusted by over 75,000 readers.

Subscribe

Already have an account? Sign in

What's included?

  • Unlimited access to our daily essays by Dan Shipper, Evan Armstrong, and a roster of the best tech writers on the internet
  • Full access to an archive of hundreds of in-depth articles
  • Unlimited software access to Spiral, Sparkle, and Lex

  • Priority access and subscriber-only discounts to courses, events, and more
  • Ad-free experience
  • Access to our Discord community

Comments

You need to login before you can comment.
Don't have an account? Sign up!
Every

What Comes Next in Tech

Subscribe to get new ideas about the future of business, technology, and the self—every day