A couple of months ago, I was approached by a Wall Street analyst that was partly responsible for helping Upwork become a publicly traded company.
That’s right. Upwork is now public! This means you can own shares of the company and reap the benefits of the profits they make.
I found this conversation to be fascinating because nobody from Wall Street has ever wanted to talk to me. Ever.
We’re typically not in the same circles nor the same Universe. I guess, in this case, we weren’t even in the same country. I was literally biking through Belgium at the time of the call, huffing and puffing, because someone recently stole my bike seat, and I was forced to pedal while standing the entire time, but I don’t want to get off track.
Needless to say, I was doing my digital nomad thing.
Anyway, he wanted to know how I liked the platform and if I planned on using it in the future.
“Have you read the blog bro? — I am absolutely in love with this platform.” I told him this in a more eloquent manner, of course, since he’s a professional businessman.
He laughed at my comment and I could tell from my tone that I was not fucking around.
I LOVE THIS PLATFORM.
My gut tells me going public is GREAT for Upwork and it’s going to allow them to scale to legendary status and become even more of a global giant in the world of freelancing.
From what I see, it’s at the heart of the digital gig economy. There is gravity within this platform and it will take a shit ton of work for a competitor to broach this behemoth.
I also know firsthand how much I HAPPILY hand over to this platform in the form of cold hard cash. And even though opportunities arise often to do work off the platform, I gladly decline and tell my clients that it’s just better to use the platform.
Between the ease of management, the insurance, and the prospects that are spoon fed to me like a baby eating a spoonful of Gerber, I’d be a fool to seek something different.
That’s why I like this stock.
To be honest, I’m not much of a stock person. I always feel like I’m losing when it comes to picking stocks and I never really feel fulfilled or fully vested in the company since at best I’m just a consumer of the product.
But this just feels different.
I believe I’m at the beginning of a massive opportunity and positioned correctly to actually benefit as a long time stockholder.
And I say long-term because I truly believe that this is a 5-10 year play.
I’ve experienced firsthand the amount of money a single freelancer can generate for their site, and I know how many opportunities are created each and every day on the platform.
This platform is a golden goose.
I realize that they will have to spend a ton of marketing dollars on trying to acquire new talent and clients, but once they see how easy it is to build projects or make money, it’s hard to believe businesses are going to stick with typical W2 hiring practices.
It’s also hard to believe that the gig economy will lessen. I’m betting it becomes the predominant way to hire.
Why?
Every day, there are aspiring entrepreneurs and even companies that need help fast. They don’t have the time or the desire to hire a full-time employee and deal with all of the BS that comes with it.
And when it comes to other platforms, I’ve yet to see a pool of such dedicated people ready to roll with projects around the clock.
If there’s a computer issue… find someone on Upwork.
If I need some data entry help… find someone on Upwork.
If I need a VA… Upwork
If I need consulting… Upwork
If I need a page built… Upwork
Email… Upwork
Etc… etc… etc….
And one gig leads to other gigs. It’s hard to imagine a client dials back on their job openings if they are building at a rapid rate.
If anything, you learn to manage more people and have them do specific tasks. And this is all easy to do through Upwork.
A rising tide raises all ships. Businesses are happy and freelancers can live their lives and make money from anywhere around the world.
Again, the only issue I see that they could experience is if freelancers all left the platform, and gravitated towards something better.
But what’s better?
What platform comes anywhere close?
Who else insures your payments so you don’t have to stress out because of a delinquent client?
Who else serves you up clients like a volleyball about to get spiked?
Who else simplifies contracts and allows you to work with multiple projects without getting too sloppy?
I look at some of the alternatives out there or the people that freelance on their own, and I’m bewildered why they don’t utilize the platform more.
I could go on and on, but what I know is that I enjoy working more on the platform than without it. At the end of the day, it’s made me more than I could have ever done.
After paying probably over $100,000 in Upwork fees I’m looking forward to paying a million more.
And that’s only one of the many ways they make money.
They make money off the freelancers, the clients, the memberships, the CC fees, and they also bank shit loads of cash because they hold it for a week or two before paying out.
This is why I’m excited about the opportunity to own stock.
So what now?
I think I would like to systemize my investment back into Upwork and integrate it into how my business operates on the platform.
Quite simply, I would like to invest money so I can get a return on the fees and all the other money I’m paying into Upwork.
I don’t think this is going to be a get rich quick type of thing, but if I’m relying so much on a platform, I should get some kickback.
So what I would like to do is basically match my Upwork fees back into the business.
This means if I pay $500 in fees one week, then I also purchase $500 in stock.
There’s not too much math or science in faux logic, but at some point, my goal will be to passively make back the fees every week in stock gains.
At that point, hopefully I’ll be able to retire. Just kidding.
But in all honesty, it would be great to own a piece of something that is creating wealth and helping the economy around the world.
