In his earlier look on the podcast, in November 2022, Jai Dolwani was the CMO of a wine subscription firm that may shortly declare chapter. It was his third struggling startup, he says, prompting “critical self-reflection.”
The end result? He pivoted to entrepreneurship and launched The Starters, a market for fractional ecommerce expertise, in late 2023. The corporate has thrived, having attracted greater than 600 freelancers and 500 consumer manufacturers.
In our latest dialog, Jai addressed the demand for ecommerce expertise, ideas for hiring freelancers, and plans for 2026 and past.
Our whole audio is embedded under. The transcript is edited for size and readability.
Eric Bandholz: Inform us what you do.
is a Doats: I’m the founding father of The Starters, an organization that helps ecommerce manufacturers entry top-tier fractional expertise by way of a curated, vetted market. We join manufacturers with skilled entrepreneurs, creatives, and technologists — professionals who’ve helped construct among the world’s finest corporations — to allow them to rent flexibly and effectively.
Earlier than that, I used to be CMO at Winc, a wine subscription firm. We had just lately gone public, however behind the scenes, the enterprise struggled. Just a few weeks after my final dialog with you, Winc declared chapter and was later acquired. I used to be provided a task, but it surely marked my third startup in a row to fail financially, prompting some critical self-reflection.
I questioned whether or not it was unhealthy luck or my very own shortcomings. Finally, I made a decision I wanted full possession of outcomes and have become an entrepreneur. I bootstrapped the enterprise with a $5,000 private funding, and it’s grown steadily since. My mission now could be twofold: assist freelancers discover significant, versatile work and assist ecommerce manufacturers construct lean, environment friendly, and worthwhile organizations.
Bandholz: You’re constructing a two-sided market. How did you appeal to expertise early and create traction?
Donate: From day one, my philosophy was to draw the perfect expertise first, and types will observe. Manufacturers are all the time on the hunt for prime expertise. To do this, we constructed what I consider is essentially the most talent-friendly market within the trade.
We don’t cost freelancers a fee. In contrast to platforms similar to Upwork or Fiverr, 100% of what freelancers invoice goes on to them. We provide personal profiles. Many prime performers have already got jobs and don’t need a public market profile seen to employers, so entry is proscribed to vetted manufacturers. We additionally keep away from the race to the underside. Most marketplaces turn out to be transactional and price-driven, with median charges of $10 to $15 per hour. We keep extremely curated and vetted, specializing in strategic match over value.
Because of this, expertise on our platform competes on experience, not value. The median charge is about $90 per hour, reflecting high quality and outcomes. We’ve attracted executives from nine-figure corporations and world-class specialists who would by no means be a part of typical freelance platforms.
Early on, it was exhausting — sourcing and onboarding the primary freelancers myself. Over time, sturdy experiences generated word-of-mouth from freelancers and types.
Bandholz: If expertise retains 100%, how does what you are promoting generate profits?
Donate: We monetize completely on the model aspect. Manufacturers pay $295 per thirty days to entry the platform and rent expertise by way of us. We cost the price upfront, earlier than they will view or contact freelancers, which ensures excessive intent. If a model isn’t glad or we will’t meet its wants, we refund the price.
This mannequin is straightforward and truthful. We’re not making an attempt to construct a billion-dollar, venture-backed firm. We’re bootstrapped, and the pricing displays the worth we offer whereas permitting freelancers to maintain 100% of their charges.
Funds to freelancers undergo Stripe. We by no means contact that cash — funds transfer instantly from the model to the freelancer. We orchestrate the expertise and facilitate the connection, whereas the working relationship stays direct.
Most of our purchasers are ecommerce manufacturers incomes $1–10 million that want help however aren’t prepared for full-time hires, although we additionally assist pre-launch and nine-figure corporations.
Bandholz: How do manufacturers work with expertise in your platform, and what varieties of experience can they entry?
Donate: Engagements are versatile and rely on what the model and freelancer agree on, however I like to recommend a transparent development. Begin with a small, capped hourly trial — round 5 hours — to guage high quality. If the work doesn’t impress you instantly, it doubtless received’t enhance. After that, work collectively for one to 2 months on an hourly foundation, with a cap, to grasp the output, pace, and communication.
As soon as expectations are clear and issues are working effectively, shifting to a month-to-month retainer is smart. Retainers cut back time monitoring and preserve everybody centered on outcomes quite than hours.
We now have simply over 600 vetted professionals on the platform. Our core strengths are advertising and marketing, inventive, and expertise — every little thing from media consumers and fractional CMOs to designers, inventive administrators, Shopify builders, and heads of knowledge and analytics. We’ve just lately expanded into operations, product improvement, provide chain, finance, and retail growth for client bundle manufacturers, with extra progress deliberate for 2026.
We’ve succeeded at our preliminary objective of serving to ecommerce manufacturers entry higher fractional expertise than they’d discover elsewhere. However the world is altering. As AI reduces the necessity for human execution, the worth shifts away from activity completion towards specialised information and higher decision-making.
Corporations will win as a result of they’ve deeper human perception guiding technique. That’s the place I see us going. Past a freelancer market, we’re constructing a house for ecommerce experience.
Meaning making information accessible by way of programs, guides, webinars, dwell Q&As, consulting calls, and ongoing advisory relationships — hiring being only one choice. Lengthy-term, we hope The Starters turns into a vacation spot for ecommerce manufacturers to construct their “human benefit” to create differentiated methods and win.
Bandholz: The place can folks observe you? Rent some freelancers?
Donate: Our web site is Hirethestarters.com. I’m on X and LinkedIn.
