Stop trying to make Polywork a reality. It’s already happening. This could be your first step towards poly working.
Polywork, a venture-backed startup that helps people to express their multi-hyphenated professional lives, is building. Polywork offers a place for journalists who want to publish a book and podcasters who would like to teach at universities. Peter Johnston (CEO and founder) says that the name is deliberately spelled like a verb for “that type of work.”
Polywork today announced it had raised $28 Million in Series B funding. It was led by Nat Friedman (former CEO of GitHub) and Caffeinated Capital. Instacart CEO Fidji SIMO and the founders and co-founders of Instacart. Andreessen Horowitz, who led Polywork’s $13 million Series B financing, also participated in the round. However, he didn’t lead.
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Polywork: $28 Million More to Add Hyphens to Your Job Title
The official launch of Polywork from private beta marks the round. Polywork founder and CEO Peter Johnston did not share user numbers. However, this shows confidence in the platform’s ability for users to express their opinions.
This means that the startup believes it has found product market fit. Polywork started tracking who signed up for the site to better understand their interests and goals. Johnston says that soon after the initial launch, the call to action became about helping people to find collaboration opportunities.
He added that LinkedIn was a network for full-time opportunities and that LinkedIn is a network for collaboration.
All features won’t be made available to everyone. Polywork has launched Clubs into private beta. It is a dedicated space for people to work together. Imagine a group of people brought together by badge-based entry, proof of experience, and a badge. The moderator will facilitate collaboration between the groups, according to Polywork.
The company’s first users were mostly tech professionals looking to increase their income as part-time podcasters, angel investors, or newsletter writers. According to the founder, some people view multi-hyphenated work as glorifying hustle culture. He said, “This generation of people absolutely gets energy from doing more; it’s not tiring them out or burning them out.” Meanwhile, more Americans take on second jobs to help combat inflation. This is not a sign of their passion. Fast Company claims that more than 50 million people consider themselves creators.
The conflicting trends give nuance to both the demand for more fluid professional networks and the realities that make multi-hyphenated job opportunities more prominent.
Johnston said that Johnston’s expertise enabled them to test multiple things at once. “A lot of things do return to money and people looking for supplemental income. However, it really started with people needing and wanting energy.
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Polywork doesn’t have revenue plans. It focuses more on product growth and product development. Future monetization might include customizing Polywork templates for users or advanced search similar in nature to LinkedIn premium.
Polywork faces the same problems as any other marketplace. If Polywork’s value proposition is greater collaboration opportunities, how can it not only onboard people who want to be book agents but also enough book agencies to make perusal possible? Although everyone is looking for a podcast cohost, what if everyone has their own ideas?
The future of collaboration is complex and fruitful, but it also complicated. Polywork, however, is branding itself as a career network that focuses on the future. This taps into people’s hopes and dreams.
