#291: The Story Behind The $110M Acquisition of Stoke Talent by Fiverr within 15 Months with Shahar Erez

Shahar Erez is an expert in the gig economy. He’s co-founder and CEO of Stoke, an on-demand talent platform empowering companies to adopt a hybrid workforce model that scales as quickly and efficiently as needed. The platform provides a streamlined interface to make sure all your “non-employees” are operating according to the correct policies, legal constraints and workforce classification. Because let’s face it, most of us only need a specialist’s help a few times a year—but when we do, we need that person right now.

Services providing on-demand specialists have been growing in popularity in recent years for both employers and workers alike. As companies downsize and turn more positions into remote work, the number of skilled workers becoming permanent freelancers has increased significantly in recent years. Shahar understands this all-too-well and grew his company into an appealing $110M acquisition for industry giant Fiverr in 2021 that took only 15 months once he exited a strategic "stealth mode."

In this interview, Shahar shares how this trend toward freelancing is dramatically impacting the economy and how you could be capitalizing on it. We’ll look at the changing labor market, how companies access talent, and who is competing for that talent. This is a must-hear if you’re looking at creative ways to get the knowledge and talent you need, without breaking the budget.

What You Will Learn

Shahar explains his mindset about the risk of leaving corporate America to start a new business with 3 little kids
The mission behind stoke and why COVID accelerated their mission
The mismatch with what companies need/want from an employee and the compensation they’re willing to provide (or that the company can afford)
Why highly skilled freelancers have more job security - and potentially a higher income - than taking a traditional W2 job
Why Shahar has the “grab a beer rule” when looking for capital
The definition and strategy overview of “stealth mode” and why it’s important
Why Shahar only paid attention to FOUR KPI’s and still does today
How Shahar confronted the out of the blue offer and why he believed being blunt helped the transparency aspect of the deal
Why the 45 days post LOI is the time to perform for an entrepreneur
Why Shahar wasn’t nervous of Fiverr taking his code during the due diligence process

// USE YOUR FINANCIALS TO CLARIFY A PATH TOWARDS A MORE VALUABLE BUSINESS: Intentional Growth Financial Assessment

Bio:

Shahar Erez is a tech-scene veteran and serial entrepreneur in Israel and Silicon Valley and has 20 years of executive experience in engineering, product and marketing under his belt at companies like HP, VMware and Kenshoo. He sold his gig-economy on-demand talent platform Stoke in 2021 to Fiverr for $110M, just fifteen months after putting it up for offer. He has a BA from IDC University as well as an MBA from the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel, loves to read, is an amateur cyclist, and has three children.

Quotes:

08:30 - “Throughout my career, I learned a ton. Growing up in Israel, our exposure to the western world was limited.” - Shahar Erez

10:34 - “I wanted to feel that innovation again. I think I met with 10 different CEOs and VCs and I thought, ‘I don’t want to work for any of these dudes. I don’t think any of these guys will let me execute the way I want.’” - Shahar Erez

11:08 - “I wanted something that could be fun, that would let me innovate the way I thought of innovation, that would let me execute the way I thought execution should look like. There’s no choice, I’ll just start something new.” - Shahar Erez

21:39 - “One in every two Americans is freelancing.” - Shahar Erez

24:31 - “The world out there is changing and it is very difficult for corporate America to understand that the world is changing.” - Shahar Erez

25:06 - “The amount of reach to potential customers is constantly changing. And freelancers are the ones opening your mind to something interesting.” - Shahar Erez

34:21 - “I think it’s super important, when you’re raising funds, to make sure that you’re taking it from someone that you’ll be willing to have a beer with afterwards.” - Shahar Erez

37:17 - “The future is freelancers.” - Shahar Erez

46:15 - “If you want to have a scalable business, do things that don’t scale. So in the beginning, don’t put any effort into scaling. Don’t try to scale. See if you can make it work.” - Shahar Erez