oDesk Challenge Helps Venture-Backed Startups Get Started

For the first 20 venture-backed startups to post their jobs, oDesk account managers will do the hard work of sifting through resumes, conducting interviews, and hand-picking the very best candidates out of over 320,000 providers -- free! Additionally, oDesk is offering the 50 finalists of the 2009 TechCrunch50 conference, which are launching new products September 14-15 in San Francisco, $250 in oDesk credit if they take the Challenge.

The oDesk marketplace has doubled in size over the last year, giving providers access to an estimated $65 million worth of work opportunities posted in July alone. Many of these jobs are with venture-backed startups looking to source the best talent available from anywhere in the world. oDesk -- itself backed by local venture capital firms -- keeps its small core team of employees lean by maintaining an expanded international team of over 80 remote contractors, which it hires, manages, and pays through its platform. In doing so, the company accesses specialized talent on demand, scales its team size up and down as needed, and saves as much as 80% on overall labor costs.

oDesk believes that the "oDesk way" is the right way for other venture-backed startups like itself, and it wants to help them get started. The logistics of the offer:

1. Post your first job on oDesk, and let oDesk know you want to take part in the oDesk Challenge by emailing challenge@odesk.com

2. oDesk will handle all of the initial recruiting and screening, and will then hand-pick and present the top three candidates to you within one week.

3. If you like one, hire them. You get the talent you need, when you need it.

"This is a unique opportunity for startups to derive new value from their limited resources," said Gary Swart, CEO of oDesk. "We encourage venture-backed startups and TechCrunch50 finalists to take the oDesk Challenge and begin to experience the same benefits we do every day."

About oDesk Corporation

oDesk (www.oDesk.com) is the leading marketplace for online workteams with the best model for both buyers and providers:

For buyers: Guaranteed work -- every hour billed is an hour worked. Screen captures of each provider's desktop taken at random intervals enable buyers to audit the hours and work completed so they have confidence every hour billed by a remote team member is an hour worked. This capability also enables the buyer to collaborate more closely and re-direct the provider if necessary, much like you do when you manage by walking around your office.

For providers: Guaranteed payment -- every hour worked is an hour paid, without the hassle of invoicing or slow-paying clients, making oDesk the preferred marketplace for 300,000+ professional contractors including software engineers, web developers, graphic designers, writers, researchers, administrators, and customer service agents.

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