The Future of Working Not Working
As most of you know, Working Not Working began as a small, invite-only group of freelancers, mostly in New York, and mostly in advertising. But today, we’re over 5,000 creatives in many disciplines, all over the world. Thousands of innovative companies like Apple, Google, Airbnb, Facebook, Droga5, and Wieden+Kennedy have turned to us to source and manage their creative talent.
Besides these companies, some other people have taken notice. After three years as a bootstrapped, two-man operation with very limited resources, we’ve raised an initial round of funding and added new team members in the form of investors, advisors and mentors to help us take Working Not Working to the next level.
David Droga - Creative Chairman, Droga5
Joe Gebbia - Co-Founder & CPO, Airbnb
William Callanan - Sr. Strategist/Portfolio Manager, one of the largest global investment funds
Drew Ungvarsky - CEO & ECD, Grow
Sidekick Fund - A syndicate fund of angel investors
Pamala Buzick & Kamila Prokop - Founders, Maven Label
Martin Sullivan - Angel Investor
We made these partnerships because we have big plans for this community and for the platform. With these added minds and the resources they bring, we can begin to execute on a lot of those plans sooner than we could imagine.
“Working Not Working is more than a great idea, or great business. It’s a champion of our industry. You’ve got to invest in people who invest in people.”
The way people go to work in our country is changing. It’s reported that 40% of America’s workers will be independent by 2020. The same thing is happening all over the world. That’s a lot of freelancers, contractors, vendors and 1099's. The creative business is at the head of that change with other industries following suit and breaking into smaller, more modular workforces. We need to continue building tools to help creatives and companies connect, communicate and manage their relationships. Then take those tools to other industries to help their workers succeed as independents.
We’ve already started building an incredible team of hyper-motivated overachievers. Moving forward, you can expect things to start happening faster. New companies will be joining the site, and the community will have to grow to service them. We’ll also be launching new tools and services to more efficiently connect creatives to companies, causes, and to each other. That means more opportunities in your city and all over the world, so invest in good luggage.
“The future of work is going to be nomadic and these guys are making it happen.”
If you’re a company that uses Working Not Working to source talent, thank you for believing in us. If you’re a creative on the site, crack open a beer and take the next few minutes to invite some of your own favorite creatives to join us. Nominations are open.