Category Archives: spec work

The Spec Work Smell Test

I’ve had quite a few people say “I still don’t get what spec work is” lately.  There is quite a bit of gray area, but here is my definition I use to see if something smells like exploitative crowdsoursing (spec work).
Professional custom work completed by many for the slight chance of non noteworthy payment.
I put [...]

The Black Eye of Crowdsourcing

I’ve had some passionate conversations about crowdsourcing in the past few days. So many that my voice is horse. I’ve come to a realization:
For Crowdsourcing to live, Spec Work must not be associated.
Just like for Small Business to live, Pyramid Schemes must not be associated.

Imagine brands being attacked with hundreds of posts [...]

Victors and Spoils, Crowdsourcing Evolution, a Touch of Rage

Let’s start out by saying last night I cued up parts of the following post.  It was the most rage filled post I have ever written, I was pissed.
I reached out to John Winsor and had coffee this morning (sitting out on the cold, sorry about that).  The direction they are going is much different [...]

GeniusRocket: Toxic Environments and Startups

On a run last week I was exploring just why I was so against spec work. The core of the reason, is because it creates a toxic environment, that is destined to fail.  A house of cards or a pyramid scheme, doing things ‘because you can get away with it’ is unethical and just [...]

Why Not To Use Stock Graphics On Your Startup

I really love stock sites like iStockPhoto.  I’ve purchased almost a hundred images.
During SXSW, an article was published about Twitter’s main homepage image being stock, with some pretty heavy faux outrage about how this is bad.  Horrible, off topic headline.  First off, the author doesn’t differentiate between spec and stock.  Stock = 100 people can [...]