RemoteHacker is great! We came across it on Product Hunt yesterday and posted one project. We have been very impressed by everyone who has reached out so far.
It seems like there's a gap between small one-off jobs that are posted on Upwork, and projects that require multiple full-time engineers. RemoteHacker seems to sit perfectly in between those two options.
Please take Upwork as the model of what not to do.
Competing on price with bottom-of-the-barrel programmers, crazy hoops (skill tests) to jump through to prove your worth... I get why these things arose out of their model, but I will never participate in their marketplace because of them.
Just let people sign real contracts, for realistic prices, and let people's skills speak for themselves based on their own portfolio.
I had the privilege of seeing Salopek announce the project at the Knight Civic Media conference, and based on his presentation I can tell you that he is not taking this lightly. This isn't a project that he decided to do on a whim without evaluating the risks. This is a very well-planned, calculated project that desires to not only be fascinating, but also to make a statement on journalism itself. He won't compromise the integrity of it. Of course, there will be people aiding him along the way out of necessity (translators, guides, etc), but I guarantee you there won't be a helicopter or truck involved.
Out of curiosity, I skipped through his talk. He says he will leave Vladivostok on a research vessel and cross the North Pacific that way.
If that is not the proverbial "truck", I don't know what is. I don't blame him, but National Geographic/BBC should really know better than publish such misleading maps.
It seems like there's a gap between small one-off jobs that are posted on Upwork, and projects that require multiple full-time engineers. RemoteHacker seems to sit perfectly in between those two options.