EngineerDAO is a product-focused DAO.
Our product is an anon-first, permission-less marketplace for software engineers to match with paid projects, tasks, and jobs.
In the advent of ubiquitous remote work, software engineers are realizing a new paradigm. We have significant new leverage in the form of talent, speed, and regained commute time. Talented engineers have long used skill leverage to move up in their company or attain a better job. This is the cliche of the "10x engineer". Simply put, highly skilled engineers are often able to complete twice the work in half the time.
The legacy "in-office" model would have prohibited outside use of this extra capacity. As salaried employees, we would be expected to complete even more work, take on more tasks, and provide more-than-agreed-upon value to our employer. Enforcing this mentality was simple in-office, as work computers can be monitored physically and digitally. It would not have been acceptable, for most, to have a personal laptop open next to our work laptop. It certainly would not have been possible to work two jobs at once.
<aside> 💡 Note: To be clear - we don't suggest that anyone should jeopardize an existing employment contract. Each individual should evaluate their unique situation and act accordingly.
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And yet, we're finding more and more software engineers hungry to use their leverage differently. The New York Times recently published an article about remote employees working two jobs at once. Twitter is awash with similar stories from engineering managers. Usually, this doesn't work out well. It's reported to be a stressful experience and likely resolves in dual subpar performances. Although this particular execution seems terrifying; the sentiment is quite exciting!
Engineers should be able to use their leverage to create value for themselves, while staying within reasonable time bounds. Existing solutions aren't optimal:
We envision a marketplace where engineers can effortlessly choose jobs that match their availability and interest. Opportunities are available in a much wider variable range. Contracts may range from a 1 hour bug fix to a full 6-month application build. Here are some exciting examples:
| Description | Bounty | Buy-In | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix a rendering bug with React application | $500 | $100 | 2 days |
| Build a Node/Express API for existing Postgres DB | $4000 | $300 | 1 month |
| Audition for full-time Solidity dev contract (40 hours/week) | $200k | $0 | 1 year |
| Build React UI from Figma comp | $10k | $500 | 1 month |
As you can see, engineers are empowered to choose contracts that fit their vision for spending their extra capacity. Perhaps the days' work was completed skillfully, in record time. The enlightened engineer may pick up a quick bug fix, or build a small component in a known project for an extra $1000. This can make a huge difference in the lives of salaried workers, with none of the troubling side-effects.
Recruiting talented software engineers has becoming increasingly difficult as the world's companies race to scale up software teams. The pandemic exacerbated this problem by enabling remote work and spreading out the workforce geographically. Local markets, such as Silicon Valley, became less competitive as startups broadened their search to include all domestic engineers. As of November 2021, remote-first is the default. Employees are considering the remote option a primary concern.
If hiring talented full-time engineers is difficult and costly, what alternatives do we have?