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🤝 Grants Program kicks off.
The Braintrust Grants Program launched in January to empower community-led projects on Braintrust. The $100M of BTRST purchase in December is being channeled into a series of work opportunities for community members to build projects that are essential to Braintrust’s success.
The first wave of the program included 12 grants projects, and through the course of the two months that applications were open, we received over 450 applications! That’s a LOT of enthusiasm from people wanting to jump in and build the future of work on Braintrust.
⬆️ Community-led protocol upgrade.
Building on that momentum, the community just completed the biggest protocol upgrade in network history: the Fee Converter.
In accordance with the Governance proposal that passed with a unanimous community vote in October, a key change in the client fee model has gone into effect. Through the Fee Converter smart contract, the 10% fee from client invoices is automatically converted into BTRST and funneled directly into the Braintrust DAO to fund community programs.
This upgrade automatically links demand for $BTRST to the GSV (Gross Service Value) of the network. In short, the better the network does, the more $BTRST funds are made available to support community-led development. You can learn more about it in this article written by Aidan Musnitsky, the community member who built the fee converter.
You can also see the fee converter’s progress on the live log, built by community member Noah Keller here: https://fees.btrstinfo.xyz/
💸 Talent earnings.
Braintrust aims to spread economic opportunity more equitably around the world. We do that by connecting skilled freelancers with world-class global brands for high-quality work opportunities.
So far, we’ve accomplished that mission and more by helping Talent all over the globe earn over $37M, completely free of any rake or fees. And we are just getting started!
💼 Client updates.
The total number of jobs posted to the Braintrust platform.
In January, we officially surpassed 2,300 total jobs posted on the network.
That’s a lot of great opportunities for Talent to find work, and a lot of brands who are embracing Web3 technology and the Ownership Economy.
Just take a look at the 50+ brands who hired world-class talent on Braintrust in January:
🦄 Network growth.
The total number of Talent who have signed up for Braintrust.
The total number of Talent who have signed up for Braintrust.
The Braintrust community continues to grow! Over 43,500 Talent have signed up to join Braintrust at the time of this writing. That’s Talent from over 150 countries who are excited to take ownership over their careers, eschew extractive and outdated employment models, and be part of building this user-owned network.
🏛 Network infrastructure.
Help the community. Level up your membership.
In January, the network officially launched decentralized community customer service with a perk attached. Now, instead of being bottle-necked by a small support team, community members with questions and support requests have two fast options for getting the answers they need:
- An updated Help Center.
- The #help-support channel in Discord.
What’s more, any user who wants to help out by fielding questions in the #help-support channel on Discord can level-up their membership!
Not only does this decentralize support capabilities and make it easier for anyone in the community to get the help they need, but it is another opportunity for community members to contribute to making Braintrust better.
Unfamiliar with the Braintrust membership system? It comprises 3 levels, and users can progress to new levels by helping contribute to the growth of the network. In doing so, you also unlock perks, new features, and special privileges!
Here's a peek at how involved the community has been the past month in actively leveling-up to get more out of Braintrust:
🖨 Hot off the presses.
Co-Founder Adam Jackson spent decades working in Web2 marketplaces, so he has seen firsthand how the success of such businesses only come at the expense of the users. That dichotomy never sat well with him, so he ventured off to find a better way.
In The Negative Rake: How Marketplaces Can Solve an Age-Old Dilemma, an article on CoinMarketCap, Jackson shares how Web3 technology ensures a fair distribution of value and makes success possible for all parties.
In fact, there have been a lot of great articles published recently by Braintrust community members.See their unique perspectives about the value Braintrust brings by reading their posts:
- Braintrust: A Story of Hockey Stick Growth in Record Time by Mary Mellino.
- Braintrust is a unique solution in Web3 by Lolitaaa.
- Braintrust by Назар Луцишин.
- Braintrust — we save talent by Kadjit.
🚩 Challenges:
The Grants Program was the source of confusion for some members of the community. Uncertainty around who was eligible to apply or what skillsets were required made it obvious that improvements to program messaging and communications were needed. We'll improve this for the next round of grants.
👪 Community spotlight.
Community is the heart of Braintrust, and last month we got to tell some incredible stories from three accomplished women in the community.
The past few years have been tough for talent in the corporate world, and Amanda Cathey knows that firsthand. When 80% of her team got laid off in January 2021, she knew it was time for her to take her work future into her own hands. That’s when she found Braintrust, and quickly landed a job that earned her over $100k in six months. Read her inspiring story here.
Natasha Crosby is a UX Designer living in Orlando, Florida. Her problem has never been a lack of skills — it’s finding access to the right opportunities where she could put them to use. Thankfully, thanks to the uptick in remote work and finding Braintrust, she’s doing what she loves and making twice as much as she ever earned working through staffing agencies. Find out how she got here.
Self-promotion isn’t easy. For Kate Bagoy, it was a pain and a drain on her time. She loved freelancing, but the constant slog to find clients and share her story was taking its toll. That is, until she found Braintrust, where she suddenly gained access to high-quality jobs with reputable brands and got to own her relationships AND her work history. Check out her inspiring story.
Would you be interested in sharing your story on Braintrust? Email nickf@usebraintrust.com and let us know!
💻 Product improvements.
With more than 2,300 jobs posted on Braintrust, we’ve learned a thing or two about what was missing from the job postings in the product. That’s why the community has implemented so many great upgrades to the job cards, job details pages, client pages, and action bars in January!
Now, finding jobs that interest you is easier and cleaner than ever! You can easily see job status, the number of other applicants, helpful contacts, and more.
Plus, thanks to easy-to-use referral links, you can help build Braintrust and help your friends get jobs with one easy click.
🤝 How to get involved:
There’s a lot happening on Braintrust, and there are tons of ways you can help build this growing network:
- Apply as Talent or hire phenomenal talent as a client of Braintrust.
- Sign up for the Braintrust Grants Program.
- Chat with the community on Discord. Learn how to start earning and governing with the BTRST token on the Braintrust community channel.
- Get social. Share your thoughts on the future of work and the BTRST token by tweeting @usebraintrust.