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Alex Chepovoi

Expert Remote - Hire remote developers vetted for tech & soft skills

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Choose from 400+ developers, AI/ML engineers, data scientists, UI/UX designers, product managers, DevOps, QAs, etc. All our talents have been vetted for technical and communication skills. Sign up this week to get a 10% discount on all hiring for 1 year!

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Alex Chepovoi
Maker
📌
Hi Hunters! 👋 I’m Alex, founder of Expert Remote. And I’d like to share my story. I started as a freelance developer on Upwork in 2012. Then in 2014-2019, I ran my own IT agency. We helped dozens of startups build their engineering teams, and some even became unicorns. After our agency was acquired (we had 50+ devs) I worked on 3 startups as a co-founder. Suddenly, I was on the hiring side! What could go wrong, right? Well, I’ve still made a couple of common hiring mistakes, which cost me a lot of time, money, and headaches. 😆 Being a freelancer, an agency owner and a startup founder gave me some perspective. I realized “agency” and “freelance marketplace” models have too many flaws: often poor quality, slow time to hire, and unreasonably high costs. There should be a better way, right? 🤔 So, a year ago, I met with my former CTO (@alex_dyadischev), and we came up with a simple idea: 1. Source developers across different countries 2. Thoroughly verify their tech skills, communication skills, and English 3. Accept only top-1% of applicants to our elite talent pool 4. Build a platform that will allow startups to hire from this pool easily What we’ve got today: ✅ 400+ vetted IT talents ✅ 30+ countries coverage ✅ 9 active clients ✅ Rates from $20/h The process is simple: 1. Signup. And start browsing available IT talents immediately. 2. Interview within 24h. Select developers yourself or leave it to us. We’ll organize the interviews. 3. Hire in 2-3 days. With pre-screened candidates, it takes only 1-2 interviews to find a perfect match. 4. Ongoing support. You focus on building a product. We take care of payments, taxes, IP, etc. 5. Buy-out. After 1 year you can hire our developer in-house for just a “1-month gross salary” fee. If you've had frustrating experiences with freelancers, expensive agencies, crowded job boards, and a hectic schedule full of interviews, you may find our platform useful. 🙈 But in the first place, we are looking forward and would very much appreciate your feedback on our platform, talent pool, business model, anything! Feel free to reach out on X: https://twitter.com/alekseychepovoi Thank you! ✌️ Alex
Serall
@alex_dyadischev @alex_chepovoi it's just incredible!
Momcilo Stojkovic
@alex_dyadischev @alex_chepovoi Love the pivot from freelancer to solving a real pain point in the hiring world! My journey’s been somewhat similar — transitioning from freelancer to co-founding Videobolt, I’ve tasted both worlds and see so much value in what Expert Remote is offering. By the way, your approach to vetting IT talent immediately caught my eye. With such a thorough verification process, how do you keep the time-to-hire short and efficient? Huge congrats on the launch, Alex! Your progress on this platform already looks promising, and here’s to scaling it even further!
Alexander Ptitsyn
Hi Alex! You have such a cool app. Congrats!
Fred
This sounds like a win-win-win for all three parties.
Vitali Krupenka
@alex_chepovoi congrats to the launch! and good luck :)
Igor Petrovets
💡 Bright idea
Gongrats! Describe please couple moments (legal/tax): -how it work from accounting/bookkeeping point of view? -You give 1 monthly invoice to the client? -From what jurisdiction? -How looks invoice/invoices? what services you write in invoice? -Platform work based on public agreement? or you could customize agreement with every single customer? -potential VAT/withholding tax on your services for the clients from EU/USA ?
Alex D
Maker
@igor_petrovets Thanks for the feedback Igor! Contractors sign-up B2B contract with ExpertRemote, we're signing a contract with client. So, the payments are done through us. Usually it's monthly invoice, client pays us, we pay to contractor. Usually payments are done from USA. No any service is used for invoices right now but this is a bright idea, thanks. Usually we propose our contract form for our clients but often they have their own forms and preferences so it's ok to align some parts of the contracts individually. Question regarding VAT is always open and depends on jurisdiction but still not an issue.
Igor Petrovets
@alex_dyadischev tnx for quick responce! one more question: what services/ subject of contract /work description you write in agreement with customers and in invoices ? So its "Software development"? or some "cosulting services" ? (sometimes its matter for accountant)
Igor Petrovets
@alex_dyadischev and what about IP transfer ?How the flow "contactor -> ExpertRemote - > customer" organized ?
Alex D
Maker
@igor_petrovets Usually it's IT services
Alex D
Maker
@igor_petrovets Right questions! So, the contractor transfers IP to us, then we transfer it to our client. This is the one of most important things.
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
@alex_chepovoi + @alex_dyadischev Congrats on the big launch!! Your journey from freelancing to forming a platform that streamlines IT hiring is really cool. With 400+ talented individuals from 30+ countries and a straightforward hiring process, you're offering a valuable solution to startups and SMBs alike. Curious about your vetting process - Are the interviews multistage? Are they personality based? and for the technical interviews - who on your team is deciding if they're qualified enough? Always eager to hear about technical vetting metrics and how you've decided to do this at scale!
Alex D
Maker
@alex_chepovoi @dzaitzow Hi Daniel, thanks for the support! Of course technical interview and decision is always a tricky thing. We have to pass developers through the process of proving as much as possible skills and trying not to do 2-hours interview. Some clients trust as and hire developers giving them a try, some want to conduct their own interviews. Our offer is always the same: to decrease hiring time and we do everything to accomplish this. Do you have any insights on how to make technical vetting process easier/clearer?
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
@alex_chepovoi @alex_dyadischev I am sure you are already vetting for communication aptitude / soft skills so I won't touch on that but I would standardize as much of it as possible. It very much depends on the role but I would ask all BE Devs the same set of questions (sort by programming languages if you need to as well or swap out those questions 1 for one) and really dig into the quality of responses you're getting. If you have someone (a BE Dev / Development lead) from your team who is able to review the technical component section and also sit in on those interviews to dig deeper - that is always wildly helpful (although not cost effective haha). Don't be married to any specific questions and if they are no longer serving their purpose - think of new ones and test them out. I would be very cautious also with resume duplicates / exact same formatting (you'll run into them soon if you haven't already) - Salesforce developers / salesforce admins are the ones I've run into the most that are just outright lying about their experience. During the interviews I would be really mindful of response times too. If there is a sketchy/weird delay in any technical response where it seems like they are getting responses from elsewhere I'd move on quickly. Don't be shy pulling the plug on interviews early if they aren't going to be a fit for the platform.
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@dzaitzow Wow, thx for a comprehensive feedback! really appreciate it. Yeah, interviews are not cost-effective, but it's smth that works for now. Later on, I agree, we need to standardize and automate as much as possible! Also, part of our HR interview is checking for inconsistencies in the candidate's pitch and his/her CV. And we actually pull the plug a lot at this stage :) The reason why we can pull the plug is because we have a huge inflow of candidates to choose from. So, we just don't have to compromise.
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
@alex_chepovoi a good problem to have!! I think the upwork/fiverr/99designs model for rating prospects is a good way for users to feel confident as well. Specifically if you're vetting them at the front end but for your model it might be hard to remove that personal touch to automate the interviews as sometimes you really need to dig into the answers to get the information you need. Really neat product either way!
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@dzaitzow Thank you, Daniel! Really appreciate your feedback ;)
Naveed Rehman
Most of the hiring platforms are just the match-making places where both the parties have to spend hours to find the best match, all by themselves. But this one just grabbed my attention. "already vetted", covers probably everything an employer wants. Also, from employee perspective, there will be a good faith that they're competing with the bests. Congratulations on the launch!
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@naveed_rehman thank you, Naveed, for this comprehensive feedback, really helpful. What's your experience with remote hiring?
Suyash Adhikari
Congratulations team! Which startup did you guys helped? Which company became unicorn? could you please elaborate so that it will help us. Thanks
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@suyash_adhikari Hi Suyash, I'm not sure I can share this data here because it was part of my previous company that was acquired. But, I can tell you our previous IT agency name: SmartexLab. You can google "SmartexLab Clutch" or "SmartexLab GoodFirms" and find a bunch of reviews from our previous customers. If you check the names, you will find many SeriesB, SeriesC startups and a unicorn ;)
Suyash Adhikari
@alex_chepovoi thanks for the response. This is helpful.
Will definitely give it a try. Thx Alex and the team!
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@yury_shlaganov thank you, Yury!!
Levan Katsadze
This hiring platform seems really cool, and I hope I will be in their list of talents soon.
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@levan_katsadze hi Levan, thank you very much!
Ejiro Onose
Expert Remote is an amazing place to get Talented workers! Congratulations on the launch
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@ejiroonose thank you, Ejiro!
Esus 🛡️
Congrats on the launch! Since you mentioned honest feedback - - It would be great to see some pricing points previous customers have paid. I see $20/hr and up, but would love to see "Rob paid $400/month for a part time dev" - I'd love to hear more about the vetting process for developers to be listed on your site. Just some first impressions, congrats again!
Alex D
Maker
@esus I Esus, thanks for the feedback! Since our willing is to find developers for long-term projects, we more concentrated on their hourly/monthly. Together with that we're not on the stage where we can say that some of our clients paid us millions :D Regarding developers vetting process, there's information on our web-site but generally it looks like the following: firstly we screen them with a bit of automation, then pre-screening interview to asses soft-skills and English level. After that, technical interview and additional legal checks if applicable. Do you have any concerns or proposals on how to make vetting better?
Joseph Petty
I wish this was around a few years ago when I was still freelancing! Love the approach of pre-vetting the talent pool. I know a few freelancers who would be perfect for this. Sending them your way!
Alex D
Maker
@joseph_appsmith Thanks Joseph! Remote workers market is just growing across the globe. Thanks for sharing it with your friends!
Екатерина Гундарева
Congrats on the launch and thanks for your hard work!!! Let's do the world of remote work better!
Olya Proskurina
My congratulations, great result!
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@olya_proskurina thanks, Olya!! :)
Konstantin Kudelko
Maker
It’s amazing product! Congratulations 🎉
Pavel Osadchuk
I am always happy to see a product that gives devs more opportunities for remote work. Good luck with the launch!
Alex D
Maker
@xakpc Thanks Pavel!
Kunal Mehta
Your platform offers a valuable service. Here are some suggestions to make it even better: Implement a detailed rating and review system for each expert to help users make informed decisions. Provide a trial period or a way for users to test the skills of the experts before committing to long-term contracts. Offer project management and collaboration tools to streamline communication and workflow between clients and experts. Now, I'd like to introduce you to our new product, Mentor.AI( https://www.producthunt.com/prod... ), which offers AI-powered mentorship. We believe it can be a valuable addition to your platform, helping clients and experts connect for mentorship opportunities. We'd love to hear your feedback and potentially explore ways to collaborate on Product Hunt. Let's connect and share insights!
Alex D
Maker
@realkunalmehta Thanks Kunal for such valuable suggestions. You can contact me at email [contact at expertremote dot io]
Adam Fry
Congrats on the launch, solid idea and appears you're executing well. I can certainly see this removing a lot of the remaining friction from hiring marketplaces. I would consider a 2 way rating system to further facilitate the process.
Alex D
Maker
@adam_fry Thanks Adam! We'll consider it in the future. Can you share some successful examples of such ratings?
Yemi Oyepeju
Congratulations on the launch, Alex! Your journey from a freelancer to launching Expert Remote is truly inspiring. The approach of vetting and maintaining an elite talent pool certainly addresses many concerns startups have today. I'm curious, with such a rigorous selection process, how do you ensure that you keep the talent pool engaged and avoid them moving to other opportunities, especially given they're in the top 1%? Best wishes with Expert Remote!
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@uxyemi hi Yemi! Thanks for a great question! So, Engagement. When we started a year ago we thought it would be a big problem. We were prepared to invest into building a community, etc etc. Turns out it's not a problem at all :) At least today. 80-90% of all talents on our platform, when messaged, reply within a couple of hours and most are available for work. I see 2 explanations: 1. Cooled job market. All these layoffs, investment freeze, etc etc. Even some top people lost their jobs. And the overall sentiment has changed, now it’s a company market, not a talent market. This should change back in 1-2 years. 2. Passive job market. So, we found a niche. It’s actually pretty huge. We target people who have jobs now, but are looking for a change. Actually, it’s 80% of our talent pool. Unlike people who lost their jobs, “passive job market” is not in a rush. These people are ready to wait for months for an interesting project with good rate. I hope this remains. But if it changes, we'll start investing more into the community.
Yemi Oyepeju
@alex_chepovoi Brilliant! Thanks.
Darya Antonyuk
cool service, congrats on your launch!
Alex D
Maker
@darya_antonyuk Thanks Darya!
Ahmer Saud
It's great to see how your experiences have led you to create Expert Remote. The idea of sourcing and thoroughly verifying top-1% developers from different countries is brilliant.
Alex D
Maker
@ahmer_saud That's how it works! The market changes and we need to understand it at the right time
David Laubner
I signed up, but the account was immediately deactivated?
Alex D
Maker
@bostondave Hi David! Sad to hear you had an issue during signing-up. In case it still show an error, please contact us by email: [contact at expertremote dot io]
Alex Chepovoi
Maker
@bostondave hi David! Sorry to hear that.. maybe there was some bug, but I see in our analytics many successful sign-ups. Please, try to sign up again. Thank you!