
The Pop-Up Employer: Build a Team, Do the Job, Say Goodbye - dpflan
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/12/business/economy/flash-organizations-labor.html
======
Animats
The pop-up employer and the disposable employee. The future of work. What's
wrong with this picture?

Hollywood does it that way. They're heavily unionized, which gives the workers
some bargaining power. Construction used to be heavily unionized, which made
per-project employment not too oppressive.

To see how unions can work in software areas, see The Animation Guild, IATSE
Local 839, which represents most of the people who make animated and CGI
content in Hollywood. They have a standard contract and minimum rates for
different jobs.[1] Most projects pay more than the posted minimum; that's
negotiable. The lowest rate for any job under the union contract is currently
$31.50/hour, for an "inbetweener" in the first 6 months of work.

There are also provisions which keep employees from being jerked around. A
basic feature of Hollywood contracts is that there may be situations that
require extra work, even extreme hours, and all that costs the employer. Time
and a half after 40 hours or 5 days. Double time after 14 hours, including
meal breaks. Any day where work is required must be paid for at least 4 hours.
(This is why film scheduling and budgeting is a real discipline while software
scheduling is a joke.)

[1] [https://animationguild.org/the-guild-contract-one-year-
in/](https://animationguild.org/the-guild-contract-one-year-in/)

~~~
nawitus
One non-American anecdote: Finnish software engineers are "heavily" unionized.
However, the minimum wages the union has negotiated are really low, $52643 per
year for the most senior roles (less senior roles have even lower minimum
wages). Of course, unions work differently in different countries, and Finland
is one of the most unionized countries in the world.

I personally hate the fact that I'm subjected to the agreement negotiated by
the union even when I'm not a member of a union. They negotiate for things
that I don't need/agree with, yet don't negotiate for things that I would
like. In effect, I'm "paying" for benefits that I don't need, yet this
agreement makes it more difficult to argue for benefits that I actually want
in my contract.

~~~
coldtea
> _They negotiate for things that I don 't need/agree with, yet don't
> negotiate for things that I would like._

It's about what the majority wants, not each individual.

~~~
Bartweiss
Yes - that's the major problem with group negotiation, and the complaint here.
I'm unclear on whether this is meant as a defense or a criticism of a union
system?

~~~
coldtea
A defense.

It's not like a system like a union that represents many people could cater to
any particular person's whims.

At the same time, if it didn't represent many people, it wouldn't have any
negotiating power.

At the more limited case -- representing only one person and its desires -- a
union would just have that individual's own negotiating power. But of course
if the individual employee already had the power to make employers respect his
desires, then he/she wouldn't need a union.

~~~
Bartweiss
> But of course if the individual employee already had the power to make
> employers respect his desires, then he/she wouldn't need a union.

This is why I wasn't sure it was a defense. We're talking about software here,
and the US experience is that without a union you can have not only a good
job, but enormous control over your outcomes. You can trade between money,
stock, benefits, and time off by changing employers, or even within a single
employer.

I agree with your initial breakdown: unions cannot offer every configuration
an individual might want, but they can't be effective without representing
lots of people. But that implies they're only worthwhile when the alternative
is that without a union, most people end up unhappy. Adding collective
bargaining to a field where individual bargaining works well seems harmful.

------
projectramo
Here is the issue: software is not a product, it is a service.

It has to be modified, supported, updated, debugged, improved, and so on.

I don't think a "flash" organization can produce a "serious" product. And by
serious I don't mean one that is complicated or large -- it can do that -- by
serious I mean one that is intended to be used for more than a few months.

~~~
criddell
I know companies in the video game space that do this. They either are hired
to write something or produce something in house. They staff up, write the
title, ship it, do one or two patches, then essentially disband the team while
they look for the next project.

~~~
barrkel
Video games are show business, though, and follow the same gig-oriented
pattern.

~~~
criddell
Sure, but it's still just software.

~~~
barrkel
I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of maintenance (perhaps even the majority of
maintenance) for games is done by a different team to the one that wrote it
originally; especially any patch releases that come out many months after the
original release.

~~~
meheleventyone
The majority of this sort of thing is usually platform ports, these have a
long history of being outsourced. Bug fixing will tend to involve at least a
subset of the original team as shipping code in a game can be err...
interesting by the end. Otherwise it's mostly bringing in specialists to write
specific things that will then be maintained by the original team.

With the rise of games as a service it's also becoming more common to
outsource the development of the game and develop the platform layer in house.
Or visa versa depending on the expertise of the studio.

~~~
criddell
Platform ports was the main line of business for the company I was talking
about. It was very much a feast or famine situation.

------
untog
Stuff like this reminds me that politics is inescapable. Why? Because living
in the US, my health care is tied to my employer, so no matter how desirable
this kind of work might look to me, I'm not going to do it, because while I
can tolerate instability in work (developers are lucky to be able to get a job
very easily) I will not tolerate instability in my family's health coverage.

For a few years there it really looked like the US was going to go in the
right direction, but alas. And this ought to be a totally off-topic rant, but
when you tie employment with other statuses like the US does, you can't ignore
it.

~~~
moron4hire
If the pay is lucrative enough, you could just buy your own health insurance.
You probably already are notionally adding the cost of private health
insurance into your understanding of your salary, just to have a more accurate
representation of your benefits package.

~~~
untog
You can, but from my understanding the math is not equivalent - employer-
subsidised healthcare is cheaper even when you factor everything in, because
they benefit from group-buying discounts.

So yes, if lucrative enough. But that's quite the qualifier, especially when
you won't have a reliable income.

~~~
Apocryphon
Sounds like a case for unions or some other professional association where
workers can band together into common insurance pools.

~~~
westbywest
The ability to negotiate healthcare benefits as a group is indeed a popular
justification for unions in fields not historically associated with union
labor. Freelancers Union is an example, in addition to others mentioned up-
thread.
[https://www.freelancersunion.org/benefits/](https://www.freelancersunion.org/benefits/)

------
crispyambulance
This sounds similar to the "tour of duty" concept of employment that Reid
Hoffman wrote about ([https://hbr.org/2013/06/tours-of-duty-the-new-employer-
emplo...](https://hbr.org/2013/06/tours-of-duty-the-new-employer-employee-
compact)).

It seems like a good idea and, if done right, could be a win-win for employers
and employees.

Unfortunately, very few companies can even make their annual performance
evaluations work using baloney "SMART" goals, 360-reviews and whatever other
bullshit HR dogma they're attempting.

Pop-up teams (or tours of duty) require a really fine ability to measure the
value of individuals and understand their strengths and weaknesses. I just
don't see how that kind nuance is remotely possible in most workplaces. The
chances are more than very high that pop-ups are just going to end up being
heavily loaded with asshole-driven project managers and hapless line workers
who get jerked around until they quit.

~~~
s73ver
At the moment, however, that's less workable due to the way that benefits and
health insurance are tied to employment.

------
awjr
TBH this is pretty much how most freelance work is these days. However tying
the end of a contract to the delivery deadline is usually hard to achieve.

My last contract was an initial 2 months that eventually lasted 7 months but I
agreed in the last month to leave the moment the work was complete.

If it wasn't for the 18 UI improvements the product manager came up with in
the last two weeks, I would have had a nice break between contracts. :/

What I have noticed that there seems to be a skeleton dev/architect skill set
within these organisations with a focus on sales/marketing. In effect us
freelancers facilitate fast delivery of a product, but do leave the resident
dev to hold the fort while we head off onto pastures new.

~~~
jmkni
> However tying the end of a contract to the delivery deadline is usually hard
> to achieve.

That's by design. Why end a project when you can drag it out for another month
and secure another month of those sweet day rates for your big team, skimming
off the top?

~~~
crispyambulance
It really depends on how the contract is designed. Many government contracts
have a "point of total assumption" wherein the contractor "eats" costs that go
beyond some agreed threshold. In other words, if the project slips, they start
losing money.

------
mattnewton
This reminds me of a certain cyberpunk staple where a team is assembled by an
AI for a task(omitted to not spoil). I wonder if we'll get to the point where
this team assembly is mostly automated or if there are things that it will
remain cheaper/ more effective to keep humans making the hiring decisions?
They say they are using AI, but it was unclear if they are using AI to train
on human-picked teams now or if they already have a model that is working.

~~~
exit
i feel like an ai capable of assembling a team of humans for tackling a task
will have better things to do than assembling teams of humans for tackling
tasks

~~~
justonepost
Not to spoil too much but the task was definitely a part of the reason why it
didn't have better things to do. Neuromancer, by William Gibson definitely a
classic

~~~
s73ver
SPOILER QUESTION

So the thing mentioned above is not something you know from the get go?

~~~
Pulcinella
No but you find it maybe around halfway through the novel. It is definitely
not like the main twist or anything.

------
zitterbewegung
I have seen this with other types of organizations like when bands go on tour
(such as Radiohead) they created an organization to manage their tour in
addition to their album release. I have also seen this in Anime where a
company is formed to produce anime. On the other hand a bunch of movies have
production companies that are tied with the Director and that company is not
transient.

------
JeromeLon
This is predicted by contract theory: in a perfect free market (we are still
far, but we keep getting closer), and a perfect contract market (we are still
very far, but we keep getting closer), there are no companies at all. Just ad
hoc contracts.

~~~
dsr_
Firm theory says that all companies exist to reduce the friction of
negotiating all these things over and over again.

~~~
0xbear
With transparent, market driven pricing, you don't have to negotiate.

~~~
ebiester
Doesn't that assume that contracting resources are all the same?

~~~
0xbear
Not necessarily. You just need a trustworthy reputation system to go with
everything else. Some things will cost more, some less, more reputation costs
more, too. Relevant, in demand experience costs more.

~~~
ebiester
Oh, goodie. I get to compete against people who are gaming the system to
enhance their artificial reputation in the name of a market.

Do I get to trade recommendations with 30 people on "Agile Methodologies?" We
can turn LinkedIn into a MMORPG! Great!

~~~
0xbear
You're already competing against those people. You're just doing it in an
environment that puts you at a disadvantage.

------
reggieband
One of my fantasy ideas was a pop-up company that did destination projects.

Like, have the project in Hawaii or Aspen or some other destination. Provide
travel, accommodation, event planning, meals, etc. Imagine renting a huge
mansion somewhere, or an entire compound of cabins by a lake. Go out on group
activities, have "expert presentations". Put together like a "mission
impossible" group of exceptional experts and build something. People commit
for 1-3 months, all inclusive food, salary, etc.

~~~
matthewleehess
In the oilfield, workers generally have rotational schedules.

Something like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

The 2 weeks on is intense. 84+ hour work weeks, and still hitting the bar and
partying every night. When you're on site, all laundry/meals/etc. are taken
care of for you. Toolpushers (project managers) have budgets to cover booze
(off-site), entertainment, and so on.

The 2 weeks off is to go back home, spend time with family, go fishing, and
whatever else you to have to do to relax and be refreshed for your next 2
weeks on.

The workers usually get double occupancy rooms. One person works the day
shift, the other works the night shift, both working on the same thing. During
transition periods, they update each other with statuses of what's going on.

As far as I can tell, this is the most ideal way of pushing limits on how to
maximize output without burning everyone out completely.

If someone had that kind of business model setup, I'd sign on in a heartbeat.

~~~
voltagex_
Sounds like something you can only sustain when you're young and healthy.

[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-18/fifo-work-can-lead-
to-...](http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-18/fifo-work-can-lead-to-
heightened-risk-of-mental-health-issues/6556138)

[https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/fifo-lifestyle-
poin...](https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/fifo-lifestyle-points-to-
poor-health/)

------
justonepost
Yeah I've been thinking about this for a very long time. I think something
like this would work really well with the lean start up type approach at least
until you hit product market fit. Every good pitch should have an estimate for
the cost of the flash corporation and the expected non vanity metrics they
should achieve at the end of the initial phase.

------
ryanmarr
This is how Film and Television has always worked. Often times with even more
people and extremely complex relationships and functions.

~~~
btilly
Nope. It has only worked that way since the breakdown of the studio system in
the early 1950s.

But the key to making it efficient is well-defined and well-understood roles.

------
girvo
This is how I ran my web agency back in 2007, to some decent success.
"Hollywood" model, of a small network of trusted contractors, we'd find a
client and come together to work on the project.

Hardest part was ensuring the contracts in place were fair and strong, but
once that was done it was mostly smooth sailing.

------
lkrubner
The best writing on the subject of temporary businesses is by Ted Goranson,
especially his short monogram "Whale of a tale", now out of print (I've
suggested to him that he simply upload it to Amazon and self publish it, but
he has not yet done so).

Of businesses that exist for a specific job he calls them Agile Virtual
Enterprises. He traces the history of the AVEs to the whaling ships of the
1600s. He points out that the laws created then continue to shape modern AVEs,
and countries that did not do whaling in the 1600s generally don't have AVEs
now. He focuses on industries such as film to look at how AVEs evolved during
the 20th century and how that culture helped influence modern startup life.

------
songzme
I would consider myself a pop-up employee. Looking back at my professional
career, I've pretty much switched companies every year (4 companies in the
past 5 years since graduation). This has been tremendous for my growth
(financially, emotionally, and intellectually).

The financial upside is obvious. In addition to stock options, RSU's, the
sign-on bonus adds up nicely. The additional 20-50k to my (already pretty
high) yearly salary helped me buy my first 2 homes faster than I had planned
for.

Giving myself a timeframe with a company helped me prioritize what is
important. If I had a track record of not producing much during my time at a
company, I would probably have a hard time finding a job again (and I don't
want that). So I learned how to work with people collaboratively to get things
done. For example, if I wanted to implement a new framework or system, I
learned to work with my teammates to convince them to try it out with me. Then
when I bring this up to my manager it is easy to switch because everybody is
already doing it. (Sidenote: I learned to avoid taking the spotlight. I
learned to encourage my teammate to bring up new solutions that we've been
working on so they get the credit).

By working with a few companies, I got to see (and compare) how different
companies set up their technology stack. I thought about the stack I was
accustomed to and tried to see why the company went with choices they went
with. These different experiences helped me grow as an engineer.

Also, I didn't have to put up with anyone's bullshit. I simply did what I
believe was right (sometimes cautiously against what my managers say). My
coworkers were my greatest ally (and litmus test). If I can't convince them to
do whats right, then I was probably wrong. With a whole team convinced, it
makes the manager's life easier.

Now, 4 companies later, I live off my rental income, help my mom with
gardening, and teach people how to code (and more importantly, how to think).

Here are some concerns that you might have if you consider doing the same:

1\. Do employers get worried that you switch jobs frequently? Depends. If you
can show on your resume that you were able to produce great results, it won't
matter. Here's a line I typically use: "I love my job, but I came across (your
company) and I love the way you are (company's vision)."

2\. Was it hard to quit a company? Yes. Having a goal to help my teammates get
promoted and help them get visibility makes things easier. Friendship doesn't
end with the job. You can still hangout with your manager and your coworkers!

Tips: Don't apply for jobs, ask your friends to refer you. Don't have friends?
Walk into a bar closest to your dream company and make one. This way, you can
respond to "why do you want to leave your current job" with "I love my current
job. But my friend told me that ... (insert great things about company) ..."

~~~
downrightmike
This sounds awesome/perfect

