On Demand Labour with Noah Labhart
Today we’re talking to Noah Labhart from Texas all about on demand labour. He’s all about code and must be in huge demand at the moment whilst everyone is online! What does he think the new normal will be? Noah thinks technology will be made more of, and embedded within the heart of the new normal. The internet might even become a utility rather than a luxury/extra service.
Coding first – an on demand labour
Noah graduated form Texas University with a degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics. He knew he didn’t want to be a mathematician but wanted to work in computer software. He then did some consultancy for a year and worked for Alcom Laboratories for 8 years.
During that time, he got the entrepreneurial itch. He saw it didn’t matter how hard he worked in the corporate space – the needle would only move a little. Alcom were a great company to work for but he didn’t want that to be where he stayed. As a result, he started an agency called Touchtap. He developed mobile applications which turned into digital solutions and platforms for start-ups.
Soon after, he was introduced to his now business partner Mike Kinder, who had the idea for Veryable. This is an on demand market place for manufacturing labour. This idea was pitched to Noah in 2016. He couldn’t shoot holes in it! Now, they have nearly 100, 000 workers in the platform. Growth, growth, growth.
Hard-working labourers
We could have really done with Noah in 1979! That would have been an amazing way to deal with the on-demand labour market! Now, he must be a market of his own surely?
Is Noah a virtual monopoly of this space?
There are a few people out there who are tech-enabled staffing and so Veryable is lumped in with staffing agencies a lot. They readily reject that. They are an operations tool for labour, only supporting manufacturing supply chain and the industrial environment distributions. Therefore, Veryable as a tool is tailored to their needs. That sets them apart and are, therefore, on their own.
Typically, Noah’s business recommends people to use discrete work opportunities (a week/a day/etc). They don’t want staff augmentation because that sits them in the staffing industry.
Your Labour Pool
Veryable created something called Your Labour Pool. It’s essentially a set of favourites – people you’ve worked with before, know the drill and can be hired and trusted to hit the ground floor and start working. Manufacturers get a little hesitant because it’s not efficient to get lots of people in for labour and have to train them every time. So, this group of favourites gives businesses their own private on-demand labour pool. They can post just to that labour pool.
The opportunity for Noah’s business is to chunk down on manufacturing. America has gifted a lot of its own jobs to other countries elsewhere through trade deals. However, manufacturing is bound to grow in America. Therefore, by being the expert as Noah and his business is, the market will grow him.
A matter of attraction
How does Noah attract the staff to his business, and how does he attract other businesses?
Well, there are two different selling process Veryable uses. To get people aware of the platform, they use a tool called ZipRecruiter and post opportunities or awareness posts for people to sign up to the platform. There are a few requirement steps to sign up, and do a background check before they can bid on work. That process has been great.
On the business side, it’s a bit different. They’re introducing a third paradigm (you’ve got part time, staff augmentation, etc) which is on demand labour for your spikes and weekly rises and falls. Noah has to do a lot of relationship building and education with this, showing businesses how they are the experts in this field. They essentially point out the current inefficiencies and problems and offer their solution as the solution. However, what they are trying to do as a business is build in those sort of consultancy conversations into their technology.
Is there enough manufacturing capacity for your growth ambitions?
Absolutely. The market size is (approx.) a three trillion dollar market – it’s massive. If Veryable take a small portion of that market, they’re a huge company. If they solve their clients’ problems, then they are making a huge success.
So, what is the problem that they are solving?
It can be a few things:
- Operational inefficiency
- Costs from overtime
- Administrative costs
Auctioning jobs – a conflict of quality?
When bidding, in the US in order for them to be considered official contractors they need to be able to make a bid. If they can’t be a part of that decision or negotiation, it’s one of the factors that push them away from an employer.
Code Story
Noah Labhart is actually a bit of a podcaster himself. He interviews tech leaders about the human story around building digital products. Well then, as a closet tech-y Kevin will be listening in every week! If you want to listen to the most recent episode, listen here.
And, if you want to know more about Noah’s business, follow the link here.
