Shahar Erez is an expert in the gig economy. He’s co-founder and CEO of Stoke, an on-demand talent platform empowering companies to adopt a hybrid workforce model that scales as quickly and efficiently as needed. The platform provides a streamlined interface to make sure all your “non-employees” are operating according to the correct policies, legal constraints and workforce classification. Because let’s face it, most of us only need a specialist’s help a few times a year—but when we do, we need that person right now.Services providing on-demand specialists have been growing in popularity in recent years for both employers and workers alike. As companies downsize and turn more positions into remote work, the number of skilled workers becoming permanent freelancers has increased significantly in recent years. Shahar understands this all-too-well and grew his company into an appealing $110M acquisition for industry giant Fiverr in 2021 that took only 15 months once he exited a strategic "stealth mode."In this interview, Shahar shares how this trend toward freelancing is dramatically impacting the economy and how you could be capitalizing on it. We’ll look at the changing labor market, how companies access talent, and who is competing for that talent. This is a must-hear if you’re looking at creative ways to get the knowledge and talent you need, without breaking the budget.

 

What You Will Learn

Shahar explains his mindset about the risk of leaving corporate America to start a new business with 3 little kids

The mission behind stoke and why COVID accelerated their mission

The mismatch with what companies need/want from an employee and the compensation they’re willing to provide (or that the company can afford)

Why highly skilled freelancers have more job security - and potentially a higher income - than taking a traditional W2 job 

Why Shahar has the “grab a beer rule” when looking for capital

The definition and strategy overview of “stealth mode” and why it’s important

Why Shahar only paid attention to FOUR KPI’s and still does today

How Shahar confronted the out of the blue offer and why he believed being blunt helped the transparency aspect of the deal

Why the 45 days post LOI is the time to perform for an entrepreneur 

Why Shahar wasn’t nervous of Fiverr taking his code during the due diligence process

 

// USE YOUR FINANCIALS TO CLARIFY A PATH TOWARDS A MORE VALUABLE BUSINESS: Intentional Growth Financial Assessment

 

Bio:

Shahar Erez is a tech-scene veteran and serial entrepreneur in Israel and Silicon Valley and has 20 years of executive experience in engineering, product and marketing under his belt at companies like HP, VMware and Kenshoo. He sold his gig-economy on-demand talent platform Stoke in 2021 to F