Putting the BootB into crowdsourcing
By Hugh Jordan. Italian jobs. Launched two years ago, BootB was one of the first on the online crowdsourcing scene. But lacking the backing of some of its rivals, it has remained pretty much under the radar. Until now, that is.
“We have been building the plane while flying it,” says company founder Pier Ludovico Bancale of his project. “It was a typical garage set-up in the beginning, funded by family and friends but the idea has always been there and the idea is what counts.”
Bancale flirted with the idea of taking venture capital from some of San Francisco’s finest but, in the end, expansion has come courtesy of Italian backers.
“The guys [involved] are all successful businessmen, they have all started their own companies and they all believe that the future of creativity is online,” explains Bancale. “Creativity has always been an asset of Italy,” he adds wryly. “It’s what we do well.”
The site’s format is familiar enough. Clients post a brief and the creatives come up with solutions. The client’s fee is then 80/20 in favour of the creative, a pretty attractive split in comparison with other crowdsourcing sites.
So, is compensation the only thing setting BootB apart from the rest?
Bancale says not. In fact, he is adamant that most of the crowdsourcing sites out there have a fundamentally different offer.
“Out of all the crowdsourcing sites, we are probably the least community based,” he explains. “We are strictly business. The client posts a brief, creatives post solutions anonymously – just numbers, no names – and then the client picks their favourite. That is our platform.”
crowdSPRING is the most similar offer on the market, according to Bancale, with Zooppa and Guerra Creativa being more community based – the former, in fact, actually allows its users to pick the winning design. Victors & Spoils is totally different, a traditional agency, minus the creative department overheads, says Bancale. He is also quick to point out that main rival crowdSPRING only offers around $200 on average for a winning a brief, while BootB offers $8000.
What really sets BootB apart, though, is what Bancale dubs ‘Unlimited Creativity’.
While other crowdsourcing sites focus on traditional agency ground – logos, website designs and branding – BootB crowdsources everything from fashion and architectural design to business design. Anything creative, basically.
“Our clients are all very different animals,” says Bancale. “We have international companies such as Unilever, Disney and Reckitt Benckiser but we also have smaller clients. I believe our core business in the future will come from these smaller clients as it is the only way for them to ensure that they get world class creativity.”
He acknowledges, though, that the crowdsourcing market is getting competitive and says it will be interesting to see who eventually comes out on top.
Needless to say, his money is on BootB, quite literally.
“I’m a father, an Italian father at that,” he states emphatically. “I have raised the business from the beginning, like a son. I am passionate about it. What am I going to say? My son is a monster?
