[Full Interview] How he built the future for 1M freelancers

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State of Play

Tommy Geoco

7 episodes

2 weeks ago

Host Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders.

All content for State of Play is the property of Tommy Geoco and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Host Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders.

[Full Interview] How he built the future for 1M freelancers - Ben Huffman

State of Play

52 minutes

2 months ago

[Full Interview] How he built the future for 1M freelancers - Ben Huffman

Ben Huffman built a freelance platform with NO fees. Every investor told him it was the stupidest idea they’d ever heard.
Now Contra has 1M users and a $120M run rate.

We talk about living in the pain cave (the place your ideas live before anyone believes in them), building mission-driven companies, avoiding the “marketplace commodity problem,” and why community-led growth might be the future of creative work.

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 – The “pain cave” explained
01:12 – Investors called it the “worst idea ever”
04:51 – Why rejection always feels personal
07:32 – Building for the younger version of yourself
10:47 – The humanity problem with commission fees
13:41 – Early internet communities (Themeforest, torrent sites, Newegg)
15:30 – Solving the marketplace commodity problem
18:44 – Going “feed first” to foster authentic connections
20:28 – Becoming an independent discovery engine
24:08 – Partnering with creative tools like Framer
27:26 – Why open networks might win over closed platforms
30:28 – Building leverage as an independent creative
33:53 – The “Hollywood model” for creative projects
37:55 – Resumes are dead, project-based identity is the future
40:39 – Small core teams + specialist networks
43:17 – How indie communities share work and clients
46:05 – Branding yourself to get discovered
48:01 – The story of a 19-year-old making $50K/month from design
50:31 – How Contra makes money without fees
52:21 – Almost out of the pain cave

LINKS:
UX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.co
Follow Ben: https://x.com/_BenHQ
Try Contra: https://contra.com

FOLLOW ME:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertom
X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertom
Threads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom

NARRATIVE EPISODE:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2CrESEW03tMCrVGMCWlO8d?si=NVpYWxEKSVugGu5okwvh7w
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/he-built-a-freelance-platform-with-no-fees-now-1m-use-it/id1829478829?i=1000719514305