Fiverr CEO says he’s building the ‘everything store for digital services’

Freelance marketplace Fiverr has become closely associated with the gig economy, but Micha Kaufman argued that not all gig economy companies are created equal.


I spoke to Kaufman yesterday afternoon, after Fiverr debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and spent the day climbing to 90% above the IPO price.

As we talked about Fiverr’s community of freelancers, I brought up the driver strikes before Uber’s IPO and wondered how Kaufman can ensure freelancers can benefit from the company’s success. In response, he pointed out that Fiverr sellers are often highly-skilled, and they determine the terms of the job and of payment.

“That is very different than [some of the] other platforms called gig economy,” he said.

He added that this structure means a freelance designer in (say) San Francisco doesn’t have to worry as much about about matching the prices of someone across the world, who has much lower costs and can charge less.

TC