Idea Feedback: A barter system for indie hackers
I was contemplating the idea of creating a barter system for indie hackers where people can exchange their services.
Mostly we are individual developers/marketers/etc building our products as a side-project hoping that it will be successful one day.
Most of the time I wouldn't want to hire a freelancer because I don't have the budget for it, and so I have to learn an entire new skill, spending a lot of time in execution and doing a sub-standard job
In this barter system a ruby expert can probably help a frontend engineer stuck somewhere , and in turn the ruby expert can get help in some other component of his app.
What do you guys think? Dumbest idea ever?
#free-ideas #idea-feedback #incomplete-idea #random-idea
Sounds cool for me! MVP could be just a regular post here in a "Daily Stand Up" style.
For example I'll be happy to barter:
That's a great MVP for this :)
I like your landing page. Looks very close to mine :).
That’s funny!
I was thinking of something very similar, by way of happenstance. I'm a front-end developer with a project, who met a cyber security guy with a project. We were instantly able to add value to each other's project. I thought, "There should be a whole ecosystem for this kind of thing." And there should be.
Yeah that's what I imagined as well. There has to be an ecosystem that facilitates such an exchange.
This is one of those ideas that sounds good on the surface but breaks down pretty quickly...
A few problems pop up like:
There's a reason we moved from a barter society to using money to facilitate transactions a few thousands years ago. It's just a better experience for everyone involved.
(also, if you think about it, if your idea really worked then no-one involved would have a problem paying for services on the platform because they'd be paid back later)
I think there would have to be a certain amount of community and altruism for it to work. Somebody would always be helping more, providing more value. It probably wouldn't work for people expecting exact change.
Yeah you have raised all the concerns I also had, but I still think this could work in certain cases. It all depends on how this exchange system is executed.
We could use a points-based system. So 1 point equals 1 hour. This would require that all hours are considered equal. People who are top performers in their field could then choose to only exchange hours with other top performers in other fields.
Sure. So who decides which performers are top and which aren't?
I'm being difficult on purpose. If you have good answers for these questions then great, but it's important to know why it hasn't worked out before :)
Everyone decides for themselves. If I suggest we swap hours it is entirely up to you if you consider it worth your time.
Yeah that's a good point. We can leave it on the judgement of the people
I wholeheartedly support this idea, and I would definitely offer my expertise in exchange for somebody else's.
That's great to know
Me too
I’m going to work on this idea tonight and see if I can get a MVP going. It’ll live at https://barter.sullylabs.com (will make it live in just a bit)
cool
Try simbi.com
This is nice.
cool this looks good.
This could work better if a daisy chain model is implemented like this: https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-kidney-transplant-chains-work-2016-10
Some kind of virtual point system would create 'liquidity' for exchange of the services available in the community.
I'd love to offer sales process automation/marketing funnel design & execution in exchange for python & devops & serverless data pipeline setup.
Thanks for the helpful link
Just curious, what are the chances of finding a person who has something to offer that I need in exchange for my expertise?
Edit: that too within the timeframe.
It depends on how the system is executed.
Hi
Its an interesting idea, here are some of my views on this.
As mentioned in another comment this would have the same inherent limitations of barter system. (eg. i might want a logo designer, but he may not have any use for tasks i can offer as a developer)
You could think of some sort of task tokens which people can freely earn, exchange and spend.
A pure craigslist like ads board would soon run into credibility issues. For this reason freelancing sites like odesk, fiverr have a user rating and redressal system for disagreements.
Yeah task tokens are interesting.
Curious... have you accomplished a barter of this kind successfully in real life? If not, one suggestion is to build an app via bartering (a barter-powered app if you will). It will surface all kinds of obstacles as well as opportunities.
I have, just recently. I've mentioned it somewhere else in this thread, but I exchanged marketing consultation for cyber security consultation, and it worked a charm. Two happy people, both better off.
Yeah that sounds like a good way to test the idea.
I like the idea. But I have yet to see how it's gonna be executed!
I like this idea a lot! Would love to see an MVP - I'd gladly participate.
That's great to hear :)
This is a great idea.
the 'hourly' thing won't work due to work complexity differences. I would support at 'mini-task' based exchange system.
Yeah mini-task can be a start.
I like the idea, it would just come down to execution. Definitely doable! How would you plan on making sure both sides get "equal pay"? Would you say maybe just one-to-one in terms of helping out? Or would you let potential customers set how much their time is "worth"?
Yeah, execution is the key. I am glad to know to know there is atleast some interest and its not a crazy bad idea.
Some people have been doing this in the indie london slack channel, by all accounts it's working out well.
Cool that's good to know.
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