About UpworkCreating an online workplace for the worldSay hello to talent without boundariesUpworkU_67849918-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a71CompaniesThe best companies win with the best talent. But great people can be hard to find.Freelance ProfessionalsWe've created an online workplace for the world -- connecting clients with top freelance professionals from San Francisco to Sao Paulo.WritersWhether you need one writer or an entire team of programmers, we help you find the right experts to fuel your success. ProgrammersExpertsUpwork TeamStephane KasrielCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER -- As CEO of Upwork, Stephane is driving the company's vision of connecting businesses with talent faster than ever. He is an expert on working with professionals around the world, having also managed the company’s global tech team of 300+ product managers, designers and engineers. Stephane has 16 years of leadership experience. Previously, he was Global Head of PayPal Consumer Products, Global Head of PayPal Mobile Business Development and Managing Director of PayPal France, held leadership roles at pioneering companies including Fireclick, Work4, and Zong, and was a founder of Fireclick and iFeelGoods. Stephane is also the author of "Hire Fast & Build Things," an ebook on how to manage geographically distributed teams...Stephane holds an MBA from INSEAD, Master’s from Stanford in Computer Science and a BS from Ecole Polytechnique in France.Brian LeveySENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL -- With more than 20 years of legal and business experience, Brian oversees Upwork's legal, corporate and governmental affairs functions. Prior to joining us, Brian served in a global legal leadership role at eBay Inc. for over 13 years, where he began as eBay's first corporate attorney and most recently served as its Deputy General Counsel & Assistant Secretary. Before joining eBay, Brian acted as Vice President, Legal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and as a corporate associate at Latham & Watkins.Brian holds a law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Stanford Law Review, and a bachelor's degree in Economics, with honors and distinction, from Stanford University.Stratis KaramanlakisCHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER -- Stratis, one of the company’s founders, leads Upwork’s technology team. Before co-founding oDesk, Stratis served as VP of Engineering at Postscriptum Communication Informatics, directing development of the multimedia content management system that was deployed on the Athens 2004 Olympics Youth website. He has also worked at L-Cube Information Systems, where he supervised R&D in IT projects for the European Union.Stratis holds a diploma in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece.Rich PearsonSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING AND CATEGORIES -- Rich leads the marketing and categories teams at Upwork. Prior to joining Upwork, he led marketing and business development at Posterous through its acquisition by Twitter, and previously held senior marketing positions at Yahoo!, Attributor, Homestead, Segasoft, and Del Monte Foods.Rich holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business and a BS in Marketing and Finance from UC Berkeley.Daphne LiSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERPRISE -- Daphne spearheads adoption of our online work platform for enterprise customers, Upwork's Enterprise offering. With her track record cultivating enterprise solutions for early-stage and Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, ADP and Bain & Company, she brings unique insight into assisting agile companies and their external talent as they reimagine how to best engage in today's changing workplace. A passionate advocate for education, she is also on the board of Northern California public media station KQED.Daphne holds both an MBA and bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.Elizabeth TseSENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS -- Elizabeth is responsible for Trust & Safety, Customer Success, Global Payments, and Customer Support at Upwork. Prior to joining us, Elizabeth was the Chief Operating Officer for Samasource, a non-profit that provides online work to women and youth in Africa and South Asia. Previously Elizabeth was VP of Global Billing, Payments and Collections at eBay and held senior positions at Zuora and Providian Financial (now JP Morgan Chase).Elizabeth holds an MBA from Cornell University and a BA in Psychology from Yale University.Upwork InvestorsBenchmarkGlobespan Capital PartnersKPCBNEASigma WestStripes GroupUpwork Board of DirectorsThomas LaytonEXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN -- Thomas has a long history of successful web business leadership, having served as CEO at both OpenTable and Metaweb (acquired by Google in 2010) and having co-founded CitySearch, Inc. He is currently a board member for OpenTable and Doxo.A Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, Thomas holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a BS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Betsey NelsonBOARD MEMBER -- Betsey is an experienced public company CFO and board member with a passion for helping entrepreneurs scale their operations and build great companies. She currently serves on the boards of Nokia, Pandora Media, and Zendesk, and earlier helped Ancestry.com and SuccessFactors go public. Betsey spent ten years at Macromedia where she was responsible for leading the finance and ops teams as EVP and CFO, and began her career at Hewlett Packard.Betsey earned her M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and her BS magna cum laude from Georgetown University.Gregory C. GretschSIGMA WEST -- Start-ups are in Greg's blood. He's failed at one and succeeded at two; GiftOne sold to SkyMall and Connectify sold to Kana Communications. Now he gives advice to help entrepreneurs navigate the terrain. He makes early stage investments in technology that changes the way people do business. Greg started his career in product marketing at Apple and has a BBA in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Georgia. When he isn't helping build companies, he is striving for Strava records on his bike or in his running shoes.Kevin HarveyBENCHMARK CAPITAL -- Kevin is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of successful venture investing. After starting two successful software companies, Kevin co-founded Benchmark Capital in 1994. Since then he has invested in many startups in the software, infrastructure, mobile and consumer segments. Seven of these startups, such as RedHat and Proofpoint, have gone on to be publicly traded companies while dozens have reached successful M&A exits.Kevin's interests span all aspects of mobile computing, the consumer Internet and computing infrastructure. He holds a BSEE degree from Rice University.Dan MarriottSTRIPES GROUP -- Dan brings years of operating and strategic investment experience to teams and is currently Managing Partner of Stripes Group, a growth stage private equity firm. Prior to Stripes Group, Dan spent 11 years at IAC/InterActiveCorp, where he played a variety of executive roles including: head of strategy and corporate development of IAC, founding CEO of Pronto, Inc., President of Citysearch, and head of corporate strategy and development at Ticketmaster. Before this Dan spend six years with PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Division, where he spent time in Brand Management, New Product Development and Operations.Dan earned both his B.S. (1990) and M.B.A. (1991) from the University of Illinois, where he was a Bronze Tablet Scholar.Fabio RosatiBOARD MEMBER -- As former CEO of Upwork, Fabio drives the company's vision of creating an online workplace for the world. More than 10 million businesses and professionals connect and work together on Elance and Upwork, two leading online work platforms that merged in 2014. With annual 2013 billings of $750 million, and thousands of public and private "talent clouds," the Upwork community is one of the most productive on earth. Fabio has been featured in media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, and the BBC, and at events including The Economist Human Potential, World Economic Forum and Staffing Industry Analyst conferences.Fabio holds a BSBA from Georgetown University.Stephane KasrielCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER -- As CEO of Upwork, Stephane is driving the company’s vision of connecting businesses with talent faster than ever. He is an expert on working with professionals around the world, having also managed the company’s global tech team of 300+ product managers, designers and engineers. Stephane has 16 years of leadership experience. Previously, he was Global Head of PayPal Consumer Products, Global Head of PayPal Mobile Business Development and Managing Director of PayPal France, held leadership roles at pioneering companies including Fireclick, Work4, and Zong, and was a founder of Fireclick and iFeelGoods. Stephane is also the author of "Hire Fast & Build Things," an ebook on how to manage geographically distributed teams. Find more of his perspective in a CareerDean Q&A here.Stephane holds an MBA from INSEAD, Master's from Stanford in Computer Science and a BS from Ecole Polytechnique in France.To connect businesses with great talent faster than ever before._67849b48-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a71To create economic and social value on a global scale by providing a trusted online workplace to connect, collaborate, and succeed._67849c56-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a71EvolutionPART EVOLUTION -- Our story begins with two leading pioneers in online work: Elance and oDesk. Each had created thriving global communities with separate paths to success. In 2014 we realized that we could do more together and merged to form Elance-oDesk, combining ideas, technology and resources.RevolutionPART REVOLUTION -- As we formed a shared vision, we saw that our impact would be even greater if we focused on building one great workplace. With the oDesk platform as the foundation, we kept the best of both legacies and added new innovations. In 2015 we re-launched the company as Upwork, representing a renewed vision and commitment to creating the world’s best online workplace -- for existing and future customers alike.OpportunityCREATING OPPORTUNITY AND FREEDOM -- Today, Upwork is the premier platform for top companies to hire and work with the world’s most talented independent professionals. We're creating a world of unmatched talent and opportunity, where global teammates who are thousands of miles apart can work together seamlessly.FreedomFreelance WorkWork with freelancers_67849d46-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a71FreelancersGraphic DesignersWritersSoftware DevelopersExpertsOur platform lets you work effortlessly with freelancers anywhere. Say goodbye to business as usual.What kind of work can I get done?Anything that can be done on a computer -- from web and mobile programming to graphic design -- can be done on Upwork. Freelance experts can tackle a range of projects:* Big or small* Short or ongoing* Individual or team-basedWhether you need a writer to knock out a 500-word blog post or a full-fledged software development team to support your business, our tools and the expert freelancers in our marketplace can accommodate.Job PostingsWrite job postings_67849e36-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a711How do I hire the right freelancer?Start by writing a clear and concise job post.Applications & RecommendationsReceive applications and recommendations_67849f26-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a712FreelancersEach freelancer submits a cover letter and link to their Upwork profile covering:* Skills, experience and portfolios* Client feedback* Language and communication skillsIndependent ProfessionalsYou'll get applications from independent professionals and receive our personalized recommendations within minutes.Interviewing & HiringInterview and hire candidates_6784a016-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a713From there, just interview your strongest candidates and hire your favorite.Safety & TrustProvide a safe and trusted workplace_6784a110-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a714How do I know I'm protected?Enjoy peace of mind with systems designed to provide a safe and trusted workplace, including:Work DiaryCapture snapshots of your freelancer's screen every 10 minutes_6784a1d8-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a714.1This tool captures snapshots of your freelancer's screen every 10 minutes, helping to verify that on hourly jobs, work has been completed as invoiced.Payment ProtectionPay only for approved work_6784a2a0-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a714.2Upwork Payment Protection assures you that you pay only for work you've approved.Dispute ResolutionResolve disputes_6784a430-2e52-11e5-b647-f50348404a714.3If an issue ever should arise, we have programs to help fix the situation.2015-07-19https://www.upwork.com/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net