EP29: Gig economy & the Future of Work {Niranjan of Futwork}

Stars & Startups

EP29: Gig economy & the Future of Work {Niranjan Nakhate, Co-founder of Futwork previously called Frapp}

On the episode we speak with a founder who has built a company in a space that has now been coined as the "Future Of Work." A space that means the future is driven by the gig economy, an array of jobs offered to those willing to perform it at their convenience. We dig into this concept, how this is playing out for the millions who are out of work or are ready to work.

Niranjan also shares how the business has evolved over the years from being a student discount platform to becoming a student verification service to now enabling anyone to get work via Futwork.

The startup boasts more than 300 brands that have used its solution to run gigs and micro-jobs. This includes big names like Samsung, Starbucks, Spotify, Universal Music, Puma, and many more.

Niranjan & Armaan are Narsee Monjee (NMIMS) graduates who started out in 2014 on this journey and have worked through many business models to get to this point. A great listen.

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→ Full episode of the podcast is available on my YouTube Channel

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Checkout https://futwork.com/ if you have any gigs or projects you wanted done and din't want to go through the hassle of hiring and managing an intern!

Stay Safe & don't forget to share the episode!

- V (@varunvummidi)

Timeline:

01:00 - Introduction

03:06 - Handling COVID

05:35 - Slack group to bridge the WFH gap

06:36 - Having a young team

08:25 - Launching the Student Discount card

11:15 - Building a thesis around a student user base

16:20 - Moving away from Offers

18:02 - Why a platform was needed for earning opportunities

20:10 - Getting paid for tasks

27:00 - Pricing in the gig economy

29:47 - Profile of Gig workers

32:45 - Futwork Rebrand

33:07 - Companies embracing gigs/tasks

35:38 - Acquiring Futwokers PAN India

40:09 - Earnings from Gigs

43:10 - Building Trust

46:10 - Running a business as 20 year olds

48:26 - Mistakes that could have been avoided