First we went and knocked on the doors of the most interesting companies we could think of and asked them for the most challenging questions currently on their mind. We then took those questions and tried to find people with answers. One of our favorites so far: A large global oil company wanted to know which aspects of the ExxonMobil/Rosneft Deal they didn’t look at.

First reaction: How the **** can a non-existing marketplace startup provide any meaningful answers the smartest analysts at one of the leading global oil firms didn’t look at?

Well the answer was more convincing than even we thought and came in the form of LSE students and PhD’s, and a small Russian think tank. It’s not so much that they did say something completely new, an all-changing revelation moment, but more about that they provided their unique, fresh and thoroughly grounded angle. The value for both sides came for being able to have a structured ad-hoc conversation they wouldn’t have had before because of the overhead of finding each other and transacting. The experts being able to market their expertise. The company to tap new insights for a very specific need.

A startup is like your joint baby, and ones own baby of course is the most beautiful and inspiring. But leaning back and looking at each after seeing how that experience went induced a sense of being after something big. That also rang true when we faced resistance:

A large telco wanted to get more insight into low latency IP connections between European financial centers. Plainly speaking, a faster internet connection helps banks and others to trade faster and thus get a very decent competitive edge. There are a few boutique consultancies focused on that area, and we thought that they will be very happy with the prospect of a paid first gig with one of the biggest research customers in the industry. But a mixture of tradition and, in this case, special British entitlement made them wary: “Yes, might allow you to represent us but it would have to happen on our terms and our turf.” Nevermind guys.

Knowing what you want to tear down is sometimes nearly as important as knowing what you want to build. For us it’s the gatekeepers of services who skim off money and energy by their outdated assumption of their ability to control transactions. Just like the internet tore down choking ways of consuming music, or the way people trade goods, we want to tear this Gothic turf thinking down. If you’re good at something and care about something someone anywhere in the world needs, there should be nothing between each other.

 
The Present
 

Right now we’re busy laying the finishing touches on the first beta we’ll hopefully open to more public access at the end of Q1/12. Some of the best Python, Javascript and UX talents are, across three continents, making this happen. And if you fit the profile described above (first one that is) and want to source via workio, drop us a note to see if pre-beta access makes sense.

 
The Future
 

So no matter if you are part of the competitive intelligence team at a large corporate, or someone who has a deep passion for Russian politics: This is going to be good.

The notion of having to fit into mutually non-sustainable long-term relationships doesn’t work anymore. No matter if you’re young and can’t grasp the very nature of years in the same 9-to-whatever pigeon hole, or older and see the promise of life long constant employment fading away: It’s not what you’re looking for and certainly not what you expected. And why should it?

Work wise, the i|nput as well as the o|utput are often flat out broken. Things got so overly complex that a static workforce can’t possibly have the breadth to keep the company moving forward. And even the best employers have a hard time providing single jobs that are sufficiently engaging to find, motivate and retain the talent they’d need. And yet we keep cramping work into those years long relationships in the hope that it magically will get better.

It won’t. Even when the economy recovers, we won’t get back to the old normal. And that’s a good thing, and the biggest opportunity to reinvent a new, better normal.

work.io does exactly that. We offer a platform that lets you split up complex work into smaller, interesting and portable units. We then take those tasks and distribute them to the best people around the globe, creating an ad-hoc team that is not only capable, but really likes to get exactly those things done. And once results are in, you’ll get them back in one cohesive way.

Companies will be able to, starting with research, get things done more effectively than ever before. No more futile googling around for ages, clogging your staff with things that they don’t have the bandwith or expertise for. No more global procurement hell. Just the stuff you need from the best sources around the globe, faster and better than the opaque chains you rely on now.

Our platform also enables individuals and teams to market, sell and provide their expertise to businesses around the world. Real-time communication and 100% transparency in both directions included. The stream of tasks to pick from always keeps adjusting itself to your personal background, experience and passions.

So far the web disrupted so many industries by removing middlemen and gatekeepers. But the collaboration platforms, semantic searches and other platforms thrown at organizations didn’t do the job when it comes to knowledge work. Just changing the tools isn’t enough, we have to change the very rules and the game itself.

With a team that includes serial entrepreneurs, ycombinator alumnus and some of the finest designers and developers, we’re all set to do exactly this. Your participation is what turns readiness into action. So just sign-up, engage on Quora or just stay in touch for now via Facebook or Twitter.

Great to have you on board and looking forward to the ride.

Also see our previous ReadWriteWeb guest post The Long March from Crowdsourcing to a Global Meritocracy and the corresponding Hackernews thread for more information and discussion.