Do you barter with other startups?

Question

At Alset, we created a mobile app for bartering and I'm curious to know if your startup barters? For example, to barter programming skills for marketing, etc. We feel this could be a really useful way for startups to make strides forward using their resources creatively rather than burning through cash.
What are your thoughts on this idea?

Théo Blochet · Accepted Answer

Bartering as a business model limits supply: startup A needing a SEO marketer can barter one with startup B only if:
(1) startup B has hired a SEO marketer but doesn’t need it critically for now
(2) startup B needs some other help from startup A, for which startup A has both expertise and availability

The bar on available supply seems too high. While you could imagine a system of credits to make the bartering asynchronous in nature (solving for the second condition), the first condition remains. It seems like a pool of highly skilled workers without a contractual bound to a company would eliminate condition 1... but now we’ve just reinvented freelancing 🤷

Ana Bibikova · Answer

It's an awesome idea and I'm certain many founders would be excited to jump in. However, I didn't find this option on your landing page. It's all about creating an account and setting up payments, when bartering is about getting services or goods without payment but rather in exchange for something.  Is this bartering stuff smth you're thinking about and that doesn't yet exist? However, I upvoted your product anyway:)

Aaron O'Leary · Answer

Interesting idea! I suppose it's like when teams trade players temporarily. I haven't seen it done but could imagine so as teams might start becoming slimmer and agile to combat the current climate

Andreea Bunica · Answer

I was just thinking of this the past days- I would love to have such a platform. For example, I'm desperately looking for tech people to guide me/ help me with the development, whereas I could help anyone with marketing, graphics, animations or anything else creative. So, would 9000% use it.

Viktor Frayne · Answer

Never thought about it in this way. But sounds good.

Ian Tyack · Answer

@anab Thanks for the upvote!
We're currently working on the marketing for the product and so feedback like this is super helpful. I think we could better highlight this on our landing page.

Ajay Paghdal · Answer

Have done some SaaS for SaaS access barters. Backlink for SaaS barter. Always looking for more barter opps - it's a fantastic way to save some money and provide value.

Ian Tyack · Answer

@andreea_bunica We are actually looking for some marketing advice. What do you need help with? Maybe we can barter?

Andreea Bunica · Answer

@iantyack hello! I need some general brainstorming around my product development- I'm developing a hardware product, and I think it needs to run on a custom Android. So I need at least some general advice/ pointers towards what direction to go, and work things out with someone.

Ian Tyack · Answer

@theoblochet I agree, it needs to reach critical mass where there are enough opportunities to create good matches. And I see where you're coming from with credits as other barter systems use this, but for Alset, this goes against our principles as we wish to move away from monetary or equivalent credits.

Roman Velitskiy · Answer

Admitting its cost-efficiency when exchanging access to services, adding backlinks, APIs, promo codes, and mutual advertising, I have certain doubts about bartering "programming skills" or any other human resources from the motivational standpoint.

Answer

Arshad khandkar

Mr Ethar Alali · Answer

No. Although the problem has nothing to do with bartering, but market worth. The idea is conceptually, fine. But doesn't work out like that in practise IME. There is also the alignment of that value. If someone is incentivised by output, but the other by outcome, it can make it really hard to get value from your investment as a startup, from the other startup. Especially in environments where 90% of all startups fail within the first year and 95.5% within 2 years.

For example, the market may value a permanent programmer at $100,000 revenue a year while it values a marketer at $40,000 revenue. The person "worth" 100,000 has to be convinced to drop a pro-rata $100,000 gig for, say, 3 hours, in favour of a 40,000 pro-rata for 3 hours.

I once wrote about co-founders and the same thinking applies to startups working together.

https://medium.com/@Axelisys/being-a-tech-co-founder-46a1f7092495

Before that, I wrote about "Contract Theory" which a few years ago, won someone the Nobel prize for Economics.

From a personal perspective, the thing I find myself doing by default, is reducing costs for the customer, as we partner with them and are not just a regular supplier. Some customers massively exploit that, either deliberately or unwittingly. So if I bartered, I and the company would work for zero benefit.

Andreea Bunica · Answer

@andreea_bunica @iantyack coolio, added you guys on LinkedIn- you can email me at andreea@mean-bean.com and we can set up a chat some day this week.

Ian Tyack · Answer

@andreea_bunica I spoke with our team and we'd like to barter with you! Perhaps we can schedule a call this week?
Here's our team so you can see what skills we have to offer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-lo-msod-mba-pmp-six-sigma-33102b4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrozic/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-tyack/

Do you barter with other startups?

Replies