
Ask HN: Have You Used TopTal (Independent Contractors / Devs/ Devops) Recently? - mancerayder
No, I don&#x27;t work for them but the model looks very interest to me as a freelancer and I&#x27;d consider working for something like this.  However...<p>I found this old thread:  https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=10107448 and there&#x27;s a lot of negativity (2015).<p>But it&#x27;s an old thread, relatively speaking.  Today, is this a great way to get consistent side gigs?  Or is it primarily for global devs in lower-cost jurisdictions and isn&#x27;t for those of us who live in expensive spots?  Is it exploitative?<p>Are there alternatives to Toptal for those of us in expensive locales?
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jppope
Try the "old fashioned way": Meeting people (also known as sales).

Many business owners are uncomfortable with giving free reign of important IP
to people that live really far away. I sympathize, its an especially bad idea
with contractors that live in places where IP law is un-enforced. Check out
some meetups with other developers, and just let them know that you're looking
for gigs. I've never met a dev that wasn't hit up frequently by contacts about
projects. If thats not your cup of tea look for overflow work from agencies or
venture studios.

