EmployGig
Testing a new gig-work proposition and US go-to-market model through rapid market and channel experiments. Market discovery → proposition → experiments → US launch.
Context
EmployGig / EmployBridge was a new US gig-work proposition. The initial launch work focused on Cincinnati, Ohio and neighbouring Kentucky. Before investing heavily in acquisition, I researched local gig-economy size and pay, worker categories, platforms, competitors, advertising channels, employment trends and changing work patterns following Covid. Alternatives reviewed included ZipRecruiter, GigSmart, GigLaunch, Indeed, Snagajob, ShiftGig, AppJobs, Jobs2Careers, TaskRabbit and Thumbtack. The aim was to understand where workers looked, what alternatives they considered, what they earned and how EmployGig could be different.
My Role
As Venture Builder, I led work across the product concept, value proposition, market research, customer segmentation, experiment design, channel testing, go-to-market strategy, cross-functional delivery and launch. I coordinated the team around hypotheses rather than treating launch as a fixed marketing plan. The principle was: test the market before scaling the market.
Problem
How do you introduce a new workforce proposition into a crowded gig-economy market without simply copying existing platforms? We needed to understand who the target workers were, what they valued, where we could reach them, which acquisition channels might work and what could make the proposition more distinctive.
Approach
We broke proposition and acquisition into hypotheses and chose low-cost feasibility checks before committing to expensive live campaigns. We explored research communities; workers and rates on TaskRabbit and Thumbtack; local and physical acquisition such as billboards, freeway signage and place-based advertising; radio and Spotify; YouTube creator audiences; and local community platforms including Nextdoor and Yelp. We also explored product value, including whether a paid warm-up led by a local trainer could help workers doing physical gigs. We investigated the availability and costs of local trainers and wellbeing professionals. The work moved through market and customer understanding, assumptions, hypotheses, cheap feasibility checks, live experiments and go-to-market.
Experiments / Evidence
SurveyMonkey research identified approximately 650 targetable respondents in Cincinnati using broad demographic filters; Kentucky offered a smaller directly accessible audience through the same route. TaskRabbit and Thumbtack research surfaced worker categories including moving, cleaning, handyman work, delivery, furniture assembly, heavy lifting, administration, repairs and yard work, as well as the rates workers could already earn.
Channel research examined audience availability, targeting, reach and costs across physical media, audio, YouTube and local community channels. Some ideas remained feasibility research rather than paid live campaigns; only assumptions with a credible audience, reach and cost case needed to progress.
Outcome
The work informed the product concept, worker value proposition, customer segmentation, channel strategy and go-to-market approach. I built and coordinated the cross-functional team to move EmployGig from proposition development into the US market. Early user engagement and market learning fed back into the model; launch was another stage of learning, not the end of validation.
What I Learned
Go-to-market is a set of assumptions. Test whether the audience is there, whether it can be reached and what that will cost before buying the channel. Better targeting cannot fix a weak proposition, so acquisition experiments should also inform product learning. Experiments can be offline too: billboards, local partnerships, radio and physical interventions are tests when the hypothesis and decision are clear. Launch is another learning stage; customer behaviour should keep reshaping the proposition.
