5 ms·

Show HN: Kenvak, representation for freelance web professionals

26 points by kennedysgarage 13y ago

nnx 13y ago
What's your main differentiator compared to other similar recently launched services (eg. getlambda.com) ?
- jesalg 13y ago
  and 10xmanagement.com
- revak 13y ago
  nnx, I'm Brian, an agent with Kenvak. We are only representing 10 web professionals at this time. This allows us to focus much more on each freelancer.We spend a few days reviewing each freelancers work, our freelancers let us know their ideal clients and we match them with projects that they are excited to work on.
rmcastil 13y ago
Interesting business concept. From their copy it seems like their goal is to remove a lot of the pains developers have associated with doing freelance. My main concerns would be 1. How much does the service cost. Is it a percentage of your rate? Is it flat? 2. What is their vetting process for clients/freelancers. They claim to "only represent the most talented designers and developers". That's quite the claim. 3. How do they provide payment protection? I'm fine with the contract negotiation, representation, and customer relations but the other business offers need more details.
- kennedysgarage 13y ago
  My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvek I would love to help answer any questions. 1. They take 10%. Which makes sense to me as my rates and time varies from project to project. 2. Brian, the main man behind it, who represents me is only taking on 10 full time freelancers at this time. He wants to start small and is in no rush take on a bunch of people. This way he can focus on the best people. The vetting process right is strong referrals 3. This is something that I had concerns with as well. Like anything else he is trying new things as he goes. The current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer. For me collecting payments has always been a pain with a lazy client. edit: formatting
  - rmcastil 13y ago
    Thanks for the reply! > the current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer. Sounds kind of like an escrow service. What kind of measures does he have in place if there is a discrepancy between the client and developer? For instance what if the client feels cheated somehow and wants some money back. Admittedly if you're a good contractor and have vetted your clients this hardly ever happens but there are edge cases.
    - kennedysgarage 13y ago
      Thinking about I am pretty sure that it is an escrow. I haven't had to worry about collecting payments from a client in a while. I look at it more as a safety net for both me and the clients. Brian helps establish goals and milestones to make sure everyone is on the same page at all times. This helps to ensure no one feels cheated.
sergiotapia 13y ago
What fees does Kenvak take upon project completion? Percentage based, flat-fee per pay tier?
- kennedysgarage 13y ago
  They take 10% of the project.
gearoidoc 13y ago
In my experience the hardest part of freelancing is the actual selling. Getting leads isn't difficult, nor is drawing up contracts. It's getting from "Hello" to a signed contract thats difficult and these guys (AFAICS) don't help with that. If they did I'd certainly be interested!
- revak 13y ago
  gearoidoc, I agree with you, going from "hello to a signed contract" can be a timely process. What we have found is that by being selective with the freelancers that we represent, clients are confident that their finished product will meet or exceed their expectations. I am only representing 10 freelancers at this time so it allows me to develop a relationship with each web pro. When companies contact us for work, they know that we only represent the best, thus making the selling aspect easier.
ryanSrich 13y ago
> Generally the most frustrating part of freelancing is dealing with the business side of things. I strongly disagree. The hardest part of freelancing is finding quality clients. Not finding leads, not the legal work, not the accounting, not anything else. What would be interesting is a service that coaches clients on how to be reasonable. How to have realistic expectations, how to set a realistic budget, how to ask for the right things and when to just let the designer or developer _do their job_ . That's a service I would pay for.
- Argorak 13y ago
  Especially as accounting and legal is easily solved: 1) hire an accountant 2) hire a lawyer (I had both since day one and that was the best decision I ever made)
- revak 13y ago
  Hey ryanSrich, I'm Brian, an agent @ Kenvak. I agree with you that finding qualified clients is one of the toughest if not the toughest aspect of freelancing. The great thing about Kenvak is we have amazing relationships with some world class clients, of which we have vetted. Kenvak will also be doing a weekly blog with coaching tips for freelancers. I am only representing 10 web professionals, this is to ensure the highest quality service for each freelancer.
robwco 13y ago
So basically become an employee because 'Gosh freelancing is scary!'
- kennedysgarage 13y ago
  My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvak. I wouldn't say it's scary and I actually handle the business side of things quite well. I have found that the non-billable hours dealing with client is a waste of time and it's nice to have someone take care of all the business things so I can focus on being creative.
ryanjanvier 13y ago
Interesting concept. However, it is not very useful to someone like myself who has a niche market.
- revak 13y ago
  Why not?
  - ryanjanvier 13y ago
    My specific target niche is First Nation organizations and small businesses in Northern Alberta, Canada. I would prefer to be represented by someone who understands the unique needs of my customers. However, I do see value in your service for someone who works with multiple niches.
    - revak 13y ago
      You are correct, we are not a great fit for everyone. We take pride in getting to know both who we represent and the clients.
      - ryanjanvier 13y ago
        All the best to you and your team.
        revak 13y ago
        Thanks!I wish you success in your endeavors.
gadders 13y ago
So this is a recruitment agent, then.
- kennedysgarage 13y ago
  My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvak. I am not the biggest fan of recruiters. A recruiter is hired and paid by a company to find people to fill that role. My rep Brian is paid by me and he works for me.
  - gadders 13y ago
    Not in the UK, at least. I work as a day rate IT contractor. A recruitment agent matches candidates with roles, and takes X% on top of what the company pays me. Not a million miles away from what you describe.
    - kennedysgarage 13y ago
      That is very interesting. I would love to know more about how this works in the UK. Do you have any agents that you have worked with in the past that I can check out to have a better understanding.

nnx 13y ago

What's your main differentiator compared to other similar recently launched services (eg. getlambda.com) ?

jesalg 13y ago
and 10xmanagement.com
revak 13y ago
nnx, I'm Brian, an agent with Kenvak. We are only representing 10 web professionals at this time. This allows us to focus much more on each freelancer.We spend a few days reviewing each freelancers work, our freelancers let us know their ideal clients and we match them with projects that they are excited to work on.

Interesting business concept. From their copy it seems like their goal is to remove a lot of the pains developers have associated with doing freelance. My main concerns would be 1. How much does the service cost. Is it a percentage of your rate? Is it flat? 2. What is their vetting process for clients/freelancers. They claim to "only represent the most talented designers and developers". That's quite the claim. 3. How do they provide payment protection? I'm fine with the contract negotiation, representation, and customer relations but the other business offers need more details.

kennedysgarage 13y ago
My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvek I would love to help answer any questions. 1. They take 10%. Which makes sense to me as my rates and time varies from project to project. 2. Brian, the main man behind it, who represents me is only taking on 10 full time freelancers at this time. He wants to start small and is in no rush take on a bunch of people. This way he can focus on the best people. The vetting process right is strong referrals 3. This is something that I had concerns with as well. Like anything else he is trying new things as he goes. The current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer. For me collecting payments has always been a pain with a lazy client. edit: formatting
- rmcastil 13y ago
  Thanks for the reply! > the current process is to hold the money from the clients in the bank account for the sanity of both client and freelancer. Sounds kind of like an escrow service. What kind of measures does he have in place if there is a discrepancy between the client and developer? For instance what if the client feels cheated somehow and wants some money back. Admittedly if you're a good contractor and have vetted your clients this hardly ever happens but there are edge cases.
  - kennedysgarage 13y ago
    Thinking about I am pretty sure that it is an escrow. I haven't had to worry about collecting payments from a client in a while. I look at it more as a safety net for both me and the clients. Brian helps establish goals and milestones to make sure everyone is on the same page at all times. This helps to ensure no one feels cheated.

sergiotapia 13y ago

What fees does Kenvak take upon project completion? Percentage based, flat-fee per pay tier?

kennedysgarage 13y ago
They take 10% of the project.

gearoidoc 13y ago

In my experience the hardest part of freelancing is the actual selling. Getting leads isn't difficult, nor is drawing up contracts. It's getting from "Hello" to a signed contract thats difficult and these guys (AFAICS) don't help with that. If they did I'd certainly be interested!

revak 13y ago
gearoidoc, I agree with you, going from "hello to a signed contract" can be a timely process. What we have found is that by being selective with the freelancers that we represent, clients are confident that their finished product will meet or exceed their expectations. I am only representing 10 freelancers at this time so it allows me to develop a relationship with each web pro. When companies contact us for work, they know that we only represent the best, thus making the selling aspect easier.

ryanSrich 13y ago

> Generally the most frustrating part of freelancing is dealing with the business side of things. I strongly disagree. The hardest part of freelancing is finding quality clients. Not finding leads, not the legal work, not the accounting, not anything else. What would be interesting is a service that coaches clients on how to be reasonable. How to have realistic expectations, how to set a realistic budget, how to ask for the right things and when to just let the designer or developer _do their job_ . That's a service I would pay for.

Argorak 13y ago
Especially as accounting and legal is easily solved: 1) hire an accountant 2) hire a lawyer (I had both since day one and that was the best decision I ever made)
revak 13y ago
Hey ryanSrich, I'm Brian, an agent @ Kenvak. I agree with you that finding qualified clients is one of the toughest if not the toughest aspect of freelancing. The great thing about Kenvak is we have amazing relationships with some world class clients, of which we have vetted. Kenvak will also be doing a weekly blog with coaching tips for freelancers. I am only representing 10 web professionals, this is to ensure the highest quality service for each freelancer.

robwco 13y ago

So basically become an employee because 'Gosh freelancing is scary!'

kennedysgarage 13y ago
My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvak. I wouldn't say it's scary and I actually handle the business side of things quite well. I have found that the non-billable hours dealing with client is a waste of time and it's nice to have someone take care of all the business things so I can focus on being creative.

ryanjanvier 13y ago

Interesting concept. However, it is not very useful to someone like myself who has a niche market.

revak 13y ago
Why not?
- ryanjanvier 13y ago
  My specific target niche is First Nation organizations and small businesses in Northern Alberta, Canada. I would prefer to be represented by someone who understands the unique needs of my customers. However, I do see value in your service for someone who works with multiple niches.
  - revak 13y ago
    You are correct, we are not a great fit for everyone. We take pride in getting to know both who we represent and the clients.
    - ryanjanvier 13y ago
      All the best to you and your team.
      - revak 13y ago
        Thanks!I wish you success in your endeavors.

gadders 13y ago

So this is a recruitment agent, then.

kennedysgarage 13y ago
My name is Kennedy and I am represented by Kenvak. I am not the biggest fan of recruiters. A recruiter is hired and paid by a company to find people to fill that role. My rep Brian is paid by me and he works for me.
- gadders 13y ago
  Not in the UK, at least. I work as a day rate IT contractor. A recruitment agent matches candidates with roles, and takes X% on top of what the company pays me. Not a million miles away from what you describe.
  - kennedysgarage 13y ago
    That is very interesting. I would love to know more about how this works in the UK. Do you have any agents that you have worked with in the past that I can check out to have a better understanding.