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Today, we sit with the CEO of 50Pros, Rei Llazani.
Bonjour, bonjour!
I'll share something brief about human history. The trend is that humans elevate upwards. Every 100 years or so, the bottom 10% is forced to "adapt or die" as the saying goes. The standards of living and work only increase. So do the expectations. I think this is a positive thing. What is common today and enjoyed by the masses is something that probably used to be a luxury probably 200 to 300 years ago. Ice cream is a good example of this.
In the business world, I realized that the expectations and standards of work will only continue to increase. And yes, AI plays a role in this.
To me, this meant that platforms like Fiverr, for instance, which cater to the bottom level of the market, would eventually fail. I ended up being correct by the way when I made this prediction in 2021. Their stock has fallen from something like $160 to $34.
I knew it might be wise to take a strategic bet on creating a place that was premium and luxury, which aren't words we use in the software or B2B world, but that really is what 50Pros is designed to be: a high-quality controlled platform of agencies that we know are in the top of their markets. I think someone described us as the "Porsche of directories" when we launched and I really liked that.
Sort of, yes. I really don't think there will be a market in 10 years for people wanting things that take 10 to 20 minutes to create from a low skilled freelancer. AI will do most of those things.
Of course, a main difference between the platforms is that Fiverr is for freelancers and 50Pros is for agencies. So 50Pros is usually for larger scope and usually more complex projects that require multiple team members.
And look, there isn't anything wrong with Fiverr persay. There's a place for that niche too. I think what they have accomplished and built is great.
I don't think so. It's not a market we want to enter anytime soon.
I'm a big believer that if you build something, you should use what you build. If we built a platform for companies to find & hire agencies, then we better be using it to find and hire agencies ourselves. So yes, most of 50Pros famously operates without much any employees and only through contracted work.
No, definitely not. I think good companies know when to do things and when to do other things. We encourage companies to strategically use agencies and freelancers.
An example, and imagine you're talking to a startup, is that if they want to create one video, it would be silly to hire a full-time videographer that eats up payroll 52 weeks of the year. The best solution is to hire a videographer for that specific project. Now if you have a lot of video needs, then yeah it might make sense to hire a full-time videographer as an employee.
Not really. It is actually your big companies. Even if they have dedicated teams, we find that they still bring in additional expertise from agencies. It makes sense. Something like a 1% improvement that costs $200,000 could mean tens of millions of dollars in return.
For a startup, it's probably not a good idea to make something 1% better because your principle assets are already low. So making $1 million, 1% better is only $10,000.
It's so much fun because I learn from people in so many different industries. It is incredible to get so much breadth and depth into these categories. I actually read the newsletters that come from our agencies too.
I've recently been the host of a few LinkedIn Live events and that has been a lot of fun too to speak directly with agency owners on what they are seeing.
We also have an introverted culture, which is surprisingly enjoyable. Most people work on their own schedule and communicate via email. Everything gets done as it should without a lot of oversight. It has a fixed and formulaic business model though which makes that a bit easier to manage. Input and output kind of thing.
I learned that 60% of companies want the service provider they hire to use AI in some capacity. In software development, that number is 90%. That is huge to know if you are an agency owner by the way. We have told agencies that AI should be mentioned somewhere in their sales decks. AI is really touching everything.
My primary focus is seeing where AI is headed and helping to ensure humanity is headed in the right direction with the right resources. Relationships are integral to the job. It's a fun job.
It's a non-profit in the truest sense and we're all unpaid volunteers. I really enjoy it.
No, but with any emerging technology that is so important, there is a part where we want to be aligned in really all aspects of life, and I think the regulatory and policy aspect is a component of that.
We focus on all sorts of things though. Research, education, technology, financial capital, and so forth.
Our members are really terrific though. They are some of the greatest leaders I've had the pleasure of working with.
I think ultimately I'd like to be useful in helping people. I like to build things that have a positive impact.
Life takes you in all sorts of directions, many of which you don't anticipate. So, I suppose we'll continue to navigate the next 5 years by making one smart decision at a time and seeing where that takes us.
Minor edits were made to this interview for brevity and conciseness.
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