My Honest Review After Spending a Fortune on Freelancers

A week ago marked six years since I opened a company Lingvanex to delve into machine translation. A lot has happened since then. Now, we have a team of 40 people, 120 servers, and over a million users. But it wasn’t always like this. I remember the days when there were just two of us, crammed into a tiny, poorly-ventilated room. We had to open the windows every hour to keep from suffocating. We were bursting with hope, ideas, and a burning desire to create a project that could give Google a run for its money.

Back in 2017, we had a prototype translator for Linux that could already do some translations. We managed to assemble one for iOS as well. But things weren’t so straightforward with Windows. Clients wanted an installation for this OS, and we had to take action. To tackle this task, I had to recompile a bunch of libraries with a heap of dependencies, but I didn’t have the experience. When I went to freelance websites and posted a few ads, only a handful of applications came in. It became clear that the task wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

The internet was flooded with offers from outsourcing companies promising to develop projects of any complexity. As a software engineer by education, the claim “any complexity” piqued my curiosity, while also raising an eyebrow. I decided to give it a shot! Everything seemed legit on the surface, with communication conducted on behalf of a legal entity. Our company wanted to order the development, but first, we needed an estimate of how long the task might take.

It’s worth noting that the companies I spoke with varied in size. One of them was a well-known brand and a leader in Europe. I contacted their sales manager and was promised a follow-up. After a week without a response, I reached out again, and they assured me once more that they would definitely get in touch. They didn’t. Oh well!

Then I started looking for smaller companies, with up to 100 people, a good portfolio, and niche expertise. Before starting any conversation, I would always ask if it was true that they could handle projects of any complexity, as stated on their website. They would assure me that yes, they had done projects much more complex than mine, and they just so happened to have a programmer available who had been involved in the development of a quantum supercomputer.

Great! Shall we get to work? Not quite! First, they needed two weeks to dive into the subject and required payment for researching the issue at a rate of $40 per hour. Only then would I get an answer as to whether or not they would take on the project. The offer was tempting, but of course, I wasn’t going to accept it.

One of the companies said they needed exactly 12 days to evaluate the task, and they would provide an answer on the 12th day at 1:45 pm. This was unusual but kind of cool since they didn’t charge any money for studying my issue. Right on time at 1:45 pm, they called me on Skype and provided a detailed answer about the task. They talked about neural networks, their configurations, Windows and Linux libraries, computers, processors, and even molecules. The answer was long and logical, but after 20 minutes, I just asked — “Can you do this, just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’?” — of course, the answer was “no.”

Somewhere around the 30th call, fortune finally smiled upon me, and the company’s manager said, “Yes, we’ve done something similar, and we have a person who can complete this task in a couple of days, but it’s Friday evening, and he’s already left for the weekend.” I desperately clung to this last chance, promising good money, a steady stream of orders, and anything else I could think of — just get this done for me. Let him look at the task right now. — “Alright, you’ve convinced me.” While I was still on the call, the manager started calling this developer on the phone, simultaneously talking to him on Skype.

In the background, I could hear disgruntled phrases, a bit of swearing, children’s cries, and a rowdy group of people — clearly, this guy knew how to both work hard and play hard :) Nevertheless, their programmer was on Skype with me within an hour, listening to what needed to be done. According to his estimates, the task could be completed in one evening for $500, which delighted me. However, it wasn’t done that evening; on Saturday morning, he said it would take two more days. By Wednesday, the task was completed, and a month later, we released the first version of our translator for Windows. We then found freelancers who could assemble a Mac OS version and create a prototype. That was one of the few positive experiences in our journey.

When it came time to develop the Android version, I thought I’d figured out how to work with outsourcing. I allocated a budget of $200 for each test task to assess a potential company. Finding another contractor with a good reputation, we had a call with the manager, who introduced us to an energetic programmer named Brian.

In one day, he efficiently created the main screen of the app, and everything seemed fine. But our tech lead decided to ask why he chose a particular approach. As the questions began, the programmer started to falter and went silent. “Brian, are you with us?” I inquired. “Yes!” That was all he could answer clearly. After a bit more mumbling from him, my patience finally wore thin.

• Who wrote this code, Brian?

  I’m not Brian!

• Then who are you?

  I’m Peter!

• And where is Brian?

  He went home!

• Why didn’t you say so?

  My boss said I couldn’t.

• Get him on the phone.

  He’s right here.

  
  

The manager picked up.

Why are you all lying to me?

• Calm down! Brian just had a stomach ache, so I let him go. I’ll get you another developer.

• That’s fine, we can manage without him. I’ll just pay and …

  
  

At this point, the manager started offering me every specialist he had on the payroll. I got the feeling he’d sell his grandmother right now if the hourly rate was reasonable. Eventually, I hung up the phone and sent him $200.

It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

In the end, we had to create the Android translator ourselves, and after a year, we released it, covering apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac.

Mr. Hong and his magic script

After sorting out the apps, we needed to whip up a data filtering algorithm that would run on our servers at lightning speed. Lo and behold, we found our coding wizard in just a day. And the price? Just the cherry on top!

Mr. Hong’s profile was impressive. Glowing reviews, an impressive portfolio, and similar projects under his belt. He had a solid grasp of English and a clear understanding of the task. Ready to jump in immediately for a cool $600. Well then! Let’s get to work!

In just a couple of days, he sent over a script that worked both quickly and efficiently. We ran a few tests, asked him how he tackled the task, and everything seemed reasonable. The script was a few thousand lines long, so we decided to dig into it later when we had the time. But, a couple of days later, the script stopped working, and we started searching for the cause.

Amidst the vast and tangled chunk of code, he had sneakily inserted an API call to some paid service. So, if you were to remove all the code except for this call, the program would still function the same. However, we discovered this far too late — the free trial period of that service had expired. Meanwhile, Mr. Hong had already received a 5-star rating and a glowing review. What a clever guy! It just goes to show that we really need to be more careful.

Beach, Bikinis, and Neural Networks

Aside from the negative experiences on freelance platforms, we’ve had our fair share of positive cases as well. Once, we had a task to improve the speech recognition quality for the German language, and we began searching for someone who could help us. When we posted the project, about 20 applicants responded, mainly consisting of professors, bespectacled hairy bearded fellows with advanced degrees and high rates. Overall, they all looked similar except for one application. The profile had dozens of completed similar projects with a rating — all five stars, absolutely all of them. No one else had such an impressive rating. The sheer number of technologies this person knew was truly incredible. A genius, really! But there was one detail that made me hesitate to choose them as contractor. Their profile was named “Nicky” and the photo featured a girl in a swimsuit by the sea. Their hourly rate was three times cheaper than the others, and we couldn’t afford to pay more. I decided to take the risk.

When she gave me her Skype profile, it showed up as “Scott,” and after saying hello, I asked, “What’s up with that?”. Scott explained that the photo was of his wife, and he’d provide the contact of a person from China who would do everything we needed for $300, with the language model training being on his dime. It was practically impossible to complete the task for that price, as renting servers for this task would cost a few thousand dollars, but Mr. Li assured us that he’d work at a loss to gather positive reviews and ratings. He had his own servers. Lots of servers! Mind-blowing! In just two days, he sent us a trained language model that provided excellent German recognition quality.

Hello, I’m Your Long-Lost Aunt!

At the dawn of our company’s founding, we relied heavily on outsourcing and freelancers, which we later deeply regretted. People kept changing, and with them, expertise was lost, as newcomers had to familiarize themselves with the project all over again. By 2019, I was completely fed up and decided to ditch them for good.

It was decided to assemble the dream team from scratch, and to quickly scout for experts, they started publishing articles about the project. The first article turned out to be quite the hit. The editor, in his infinite wisdom, suggested focusing on the million dollars earned from mobile apps as the headline — you know, to rake in those sweet, sweet views. At the end of the article, I left my email, personal phone number, and office address, inviting one and all to swing by, learn more about the project, and perhaps propose a cheeky partnership. And that’s when the wild ride began!

The phone was ringing off the hook. I spent the entire first day just answering it, afraid of missing something important. But folks offered us coffee, computers, grocery delivery, and even guitar lessons for the team. After lunch, a dapper gentleman knocked on our door, asking to speak with the company’s founder.

Sporting a snazzy jacket, a large briefcase, and a confident gaze, he seemed like an investor, a client, or at the very least a potential partner. He immediately asked for the founder, and when I emerged, he suggested we step aside to discuss a few matters. Within seconds, he whipped out a huge jar from his bag and asked, “Do you need honey?” — “What?!” — “Honey??” — “Man, we’re developing a neural network-based translator.” — “What the hell do we need honey for?”

He then proceeded to tell me about his bees, his apiary, and how this honey would do wonders for our team. But, frankly, I couldn’t care less. I headed back to the office to continue fielding calls.

An hour later, an elderly man walked in, carrying a massive chart detailing some mega-algorithm for learning English. He wanted to partner up with us. The partnership would involve us developing an app based on his work, at our expense, and then pocketing part of the future profits. “Very tempting,” I said sarcastically, before dashing off to resume my call-answering marathon.

Next, was a very weird call from a lady:

• Hey there, Alex!

  Well hello there, who might you be?

• It’s Helga!

  Good day, Helga. Is there anything you need?

• You.

  And who are you?

• I’m your relative!

  
  

I had relatives with that name, but the voice was absolutely unfamiliar.

• Do you have a question?
• An important one!
• Well, spit it out, then!

In response, there was silence, and I wasn’t in the mood for chatting with a stranger. A few seconds later, the conversation was over, and I removed the phone number and office address from my profile under the article. It felt more peaceful. Communicating via email and social media was easy, and I replied to everyone within the next two days. Overall, the outcome was positive — we found clients, partners, and team members. In short, articles work!

To end with…

When I first watched the TV show “Silicon Valley,” I thought it was hilarious and absurd. Our company had just opened, and I couldn’t believe that such things could happen in the IT business. Boy, was I wrong? It turns out that such shenanigans happen to many, and it only becomes funny when the company starts doing well.

When it all begins, everyone’s stressed, and it feels different. Sometimes it seems that instead of developing and selling services, we should have just filmed a TV show about everything that happened to us. Then sell it to Netflix and make a billion. And maybe even snatch an Oscar, but that’s not certain.

Despite all the challenges, we persevered, improved our product’s quality, found serious clients, and expanded our team. The most important thing is your team — with the right people, you can tackle any project. I still believe in that. But you have to know how to pick the right folks.

Now we’re focused on two products:

a) Unlimited translation into 100 languages

b) Unlimited voice-to-text transcription in 90 languages

Why would anyone be interested in this?

Well, for starters, for $200/month, you can translate 30 billion characters and convert 30,000 hours of audio into text. That’s a whole lotta bang for your buck. And all your data stays with you. We spent years achieving these results.

To get our free trial, shoot us an email at [email protected]