First of all, how did you come up with the idea for the FREEforce?

Being freelancers, we wanted to bring the freelance business on a higher level. To do so, we combined the fact that all freelancers can be found online and the fact that agencies always prefer to hire someone that is recommended by someone they trust. So we built a website where only the best freelancers, recommended by agencies and other freelancers, present their profiles.

And it’s free.

Yes, it is. We didn’t start this business to make money. Our intention was to introduce something useful and unique into the market. And since this kind of information is available online anyway, asking money for simply bringing it together on a platform, feels somewhat anachronistic. If we happen to make money anyway, we’ll donate it to Unicef. And the benefit of working this way is that third parties more easily contribute to the site. Thispagecannotbefound, for example, built the site for free.

I can see the logo was free – who did that?!

Sorry, that information is confidential. [Zuidema laughs out loud]

But seriously, all the existing recruitment agencies and headhunters must hate you; you are putting them out of business!

Well, to our surprise it’s actually not that bad. First of all we work with freelancers. Most professional recruiters earn their money on permanent contracts. And the ones that work with freelancers still have added value, because they know who they need to approach for certain vacancies. But for agencies that never use a middleman and quickly want to be able to see who’s out there, we are the perfect solution.

So, how does it work exactly? I send you my CV and you upload my profile on the website?

No. It’s invitation only. Because quality is our key proposition, we only allow freelancers who are recommended by at least 8 members of the FREEforce – this can be both freelancers and agencies. There’s actually a waiting list at this moment.

How do you see the future of the FREEforce?

I am very optimistic. From day one both freelancers and agencies know how to find us. We can only grow now. And we will introduce new services around the FREEforce. For example, we organize FREEinspiration nights, with creative minds from the industry that present their work. Last time Janne Kyttanen from FOC (Freedom of Creation) gave a 3D printing workshop. This worked both ways; our members got inspired to use 3D printing and Janne found some potential new clients. We are also working on FREEoffice; free, flexible office spaces exclusively for FREEforce members. And we are planning to go overseas and offer our freelancers to foreign agencies.

It sounds like your business is the living proof of Chris Anderson’s book ‘Free’ – give digital “bits” away for free and growth (and money) will follow eventually.

I hope so. It would make Unicef very happy. [Zuidema smiles broadly]