Thrivecart Raises $35M, Workers Rather Get a Root Canal Than Go to the Office, Unlimited Vacation Is a Scam, and More...

Approximately 60 million independent workers in the United States represent $1.5 trillion in U.S. GDP and growing. Projections estimate that 50% of our U.S. workforce will be independent workers by 2025- 2030. The Gig Economy represents a trend that will digitally transform the future of work.

I believe that every organization in every industry needs a Gig Economy strategy. Not having one is like missing the internet trend in 1990 or the mobile revolution in 2010.

Work On-Demand Podcast

NASA embraces open collaboration - Today, we sit down with Steve Rader, who leads NASA's efforts to leverage crowd-based platforms for open innovation and bring value to NASA's programs and innovation efforts in the U.S. government. Steve is also the Founder and CEO of Crowd Resources Consulting, where he speaks and consults on innovation, crowdsourcing, and the future of work. Available on the Web, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast.  

The Freelance Revolution

The rise of independent contractors and the globalization of knowledge work is the Industrial Revolution of our time. We can see the U.S. workforce undergoing a massive structural change everywhere we look.

As Agencies Scramble To Make Money, They Will Eventually End Up Embracing The Gig Economy - The traditional agency model is challenged. Revenue growth is tepid. Layoffs are rampant. And the big agencies still need to adapt to the digital transformation and the ascendency of digital spending.

On-Demand Tailoring Brings the Gig Economy to Your Wardrobe - It started with a charity shop off London's Portobello Road and the perfect pinstripe suit. Well, almost perfect. "I totally loved it, but it didn't fit me. So I had the idea for building an app," explains Josephine Philips, the founder of Sojo, a startup that wants to bring tailoring "into the modern age."

Davos 2023: 'Moonlighting debate blown out of proportion,' says Wipro's Rishad Premji - Rishad Premji, the executive chairman of Wipro, who ignited a debate about moonlighting in the I.T. industry, said the matter was blown out of proportion and that he is "very much in support" of gig economy and people having multiple jobs as long as there is transparency with the organization they are contracted to. 

How France delivered for the gig economy - The gig economy has exploded in Europe over the past decade, and France is no exception. But what began as a feel-good, aspirational venture — allowing youth from the banlieues to find a job and helping students make extra cash — has since soured. The key questions, which continue to flummox policymakers worldwide, have become whether gig workers are independent contractors or employees entitled to benefits and whether platforms should pay social security charges to the state.

Gig workers choose freedom in their careers — but some wonder what retirement will look like - The gig economy has boomed in recent years thanks to the rise of apps like Uber and DoorDash and growing flexibility around remote work during the pandemic. A record number of Americans opted for freelance work in 2022 instead of the traditional 9-to-5 office job, according to a report from Insider's Madison Hoff and Jacob Zinkula.

The Creator Economy 

The Creator Economy is like the sharing and gig economies in 2012-2015 that ushered in an explosion of creativity driven by individuals, technology platforms, and hype. All are guided by the dream of living by doing what you love. At over $100B+, the creator economy is just getting started.

The Ai (R)evolution issue n°22 - People think A.I. is science fiction. Robots revolting against us, evil overlords, man versus machine. But it's not all like that (yet). A.I. has already made our lives easier. It helps us with daily tasks and saves time on more important things.

Why athletes like the NBA's Kevin Durant are aggressively investing in the creator economy - The digital creator business Goldenset Collective launched yesterday with $10 million in seed funding — including backing from Thirty-Five Ventures, the investment firm of NBA star Kevin Durant. As traditional athletes increasingly bring their money and business acumen into creator-powered businesses, Durant is merely the latest to dip his toes into the space.

Adobe: How It's Capitalizing On The Creator Economy - Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), a leading software company known for its creative tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator, has been a solid performer in the stock market over the past decade.

ThriveCart Raises $35M to Break Into the Creator Economy - ThriveCart raised $35 million this week from LTV SaaS Growth Fund, a U.S.-based private equity firm that invests in SaaS and software companies. Austin-based ThriveCart plans to grow its platform and team with the new capital. Alongside the funding announcement, the company named Kevin McKeand its new CEO.

The Changing Workplace

We see unprecedented numbers of companies implementing remote work programs. How we work has forever changed and requires new skills and leadership approaches.

In the largest-ever experiment of its kind, 33 companies adopted a four-day workweek. The results were conclusive: It's time for everyone to take Fridays off. - The latest, perhaps most convincing evidence yet for the shift to a four-day workweek comes from a six-month trial that began in February 2022 in which 33 companies with employees in six countries decreased their workload to four days, or 32 hours, a week. Organized by 4 Day Week Global, the real-world experiment sought to see whether the employees could be just as productive in 80% of the time — all for the same pay. The results were overwhelmingly positive: Companies in the program reported increased revenue, improved employee health, and well-being, and positively impacted the environment.

Unlimited vacation is a scam unless managers fight burnout culture - Instead, unlimited PTO lets businesses offload a costly liability from their books — unused vacation days that have to be paid out — and keeps many workers from feeling like they're owed more than a few days away each year. Microsoft and Goldman Sachs are part of a growing list of major employers to adopt the policy. While the growth of unlimited PTO might seem like a big win for workers, research and commentary from workplace experts suggest complete vacation is often, well, limiting.

Workers hate being in the office so much; many would rather get a root canal - Sure, putting hard pants back on after three years of sweats can hurt. But is it that bad? The answer is yes, for some workers. More than one in four (26%) would instead get a root canal—the notoriously painful dental procedure—than work in their offices five days a week, according to job site Monster's new Work Watch Report. Monster surveyed 1,806 U.S. workers across industries about the return to office in September 2022. 

PAUL ESTES, founder of XpertLinkAI and the best-selling author of the best-selling book Gig Mindset, is an unstoppable advocate for ensuring that all voices are heard and that all people have access to opportunity. This passion is inspired by the quote from the late Leila Janah "Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not." Now is the time to address systemic location bias and encourage companies to reach beyond their organizational boundaries to engage the world's best minds. For 20 years, He struggled to balance his life with fast-moving leadership roles at Dell, Amazon, and Microsoft. He led a team of progressive H.R., procurement, and legal trailblazers to launch Microsoft's Gig Economy freelance program. Hiring his first virtual assistant transformed the way he lived and worked.

Paul is the former host of the Gig Mindset and Talent Economy podcasts. Each week, Paul provides insights and perspective to over 100,000 readers of his weekly LinkedIn newsletter, and he frequently shares his insights as a keynote speaker and panelist.