Reducing hiring friction to build tools for the next generation of creators
Overview
Scaling a lean team quickly with Contra
David Vinca founded Spark Space to give kids an alternative to passively consuming content, instead offering them the chance to become creators themselves. The Spark Space team is lean, and for David, hiring the right person is important for building out Spark Space as the company finds product-market fit. Most of the people on their team started out as freelancers, with some maintaining freelance status while others converted to more traditional, full-time roles.
The Challenge
Spark Space had been using other platforms to find freelancers but found them to be hugely costly and friction prone. On other platforms, Spark Space encountered one of two scenarios. Either they received a floodgate of candidates, with just one in 10 of them qualified for the role, or they would go through a painfully slow, high-friction process with no guarantee of a good fit. David would often hire 10 people, expecting that only one or two would work out.
The Solution with Contra
Contra offered a simple solution that streamlined the process for hiring and managing a flexible team
On Contra, the Spark Space team was able to get their job postings up and running quickly and connect with great candidates right away.
The company was able to bring its payment process to Contra as well, both for new candidates sourced on the platform and those who were already part of the Spark Space team. As a result, Spark Space is now able to pay every contractor seamlessly in one place.
“Paying contractors on Contra is really simple: I just enter an email and do a couple of clicks. Other platforms take a fee and there are all kinds of rules, so I don’t know how we’d do it without Contra.”
– David Vinca, Founder at Spark Space
Spark Space finds that hiring people on an freelance basis gives them a chance to get to know each other and learn how they work together before bringing them on full-time.
Outcomes
With Contra as a partner, Spark Space has been able to find the right talent faster and with less friction than before. And, Contra’s built-in payments add a layer of simplicity to managing payment for the company’s independent team.
Spark Space plans to continue to use Contra to post jobs, source great talent, and pay their flexible workforce. They are building and iterating fast and are on their way to raising a pre-seed funding round, so leveraging freelancers will be instrumental to building long-term growth and making a lasting impact on their industry.
