{"id":41825,"date":"2023-10-20T15:16:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/freelancer-coms-us400-million-takeover-offer-four-secrets-behind-matt-barries-success-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:16:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:16:46","slug":"freelancer-coms-us400-million-takeover-offer-four-secrets-behind-matt-barries-success-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/freelancer-coms-us400-million-takeover-offer-four-secrets-behind-matt-barries-success-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Freelancer.com’s $US400 million takeover offer: Four secrets behind Matt Barrie\u2019s success – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Freelancer founder Matt Barrie is sitting pretty. The tech entrepreneur has built his Freelancer.com business into a $US60 million powerhouse, and is now courting an offer worth $US400 million from Japanese recruitment group Recruit Co.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a far cry from the $US1 billion valuation goal he\u2019s pinned in the past, but it\u2019s nothing to sneeze at. Especially as he stands to make a cool $US200 million if the deal goes ahead from his 50% stake.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s numbers are strong, with nearly nine million users and five million projects. Thousands of new people are signing up to the company every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So what\u2019s made the company so successful? Freelancer.com has won several awards, including a Webby and a SmartCompany<\/em> Web Award, and Matt Barrie has certainly carved out a place for himself in the growing world of Australian tech entrepreneurs as an enthusiastic mind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whether or not Freelancer.com is about to cash-in, the takeover offer is definitely a sign of success. Here are four secrets that brought Barrie and the company to their current position:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Recognise a good opportunity \u2013 even when it\u2019s not your own<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Often entrepreneurs build up their websites from the ground, but Matt Barrie went about his success in a different way. Back in 2009 he spotted the website Getafreelancer.com, along with several other competitors.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After investigating where he wanted to take the company, Barrie simply purchased Getafreelancer,com, along with these other sites. From there, the site has continued to grow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The success is a good reminder businesses don\u2019t have to start from scratch. An early acquisition can save you a lot of trouble.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Keep your expectations high<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Barrie doesn\u2019t shy away when it comes to leadership. Last year he told LeadingCompany<\/em> his employees are expected to do their best \u2013 and that means giving it their all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou want people who are hungry,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you hire people that are not hungry, they check out at 5.01 pm, and they wander in each morning saying: \u2018Where was I yesterday?\u2019 I only want to hire people who want to work with me, then to inspire them, the super-smart, the passionate who take the initiative. I call them poor, hungry, driven.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harsh? Maybe. But it\u2019s clearly worked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. A grand vision<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

You never get anywhere by thinking small. Barrie has always said Freelancer.com is designed to become the \u201ceBay of jobs\u201d, and this valuation is a good way to getting there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But he\u2019s had that view from the beginning. Last year, Barrie told SmartCompany<\/em> the company was well on track for growth:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is abundantly clear to me that there is going to be a marketplace for jobs that is ongoing and huge. That company is going to be a $20 billion, $30 billion, $40 billion market cap,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thinking small won\u2019t get you anywhere.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Think differently when hiring<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the more interesting trends in hiring over the past few years has been for employees to recommend their friends. The logic is that it\u2019s a good temperature-gauge of your company\u2019s health \u2013 if your business is a place where people want to bring their friends, it\u2019s likely you\u2019re doing something right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so it is with Freelancer.com. Barrie told us last year not only does the company set the bar \u201cpretty high\u201d for applicants, but they depend on referrals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou want the friends and peers of all the people you have hired.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This story first appeared on SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Freelancer founder Matt Barrie is sitting pretty. The tech entrepreneur has built his Freelancer.com business into a $US60 million powerhouse,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}