EP 505: Qwil.co Pre-Pays Contractors/Freelancers $10M in 2016 with CEO Johnny Reinsch

Johnny Reinsch of Qwil which is a company that provides instant pay for the growing freelancer segment of the work force. He’s the co-founder and CEO and also a cryptocurrency nerd. Listen as Johnny shares how he shifted his career path and why Qwil is different from most startups.

Famous Five:

• Favorite Book? – Zero to One
• What CEO do you follow? –  Elon Musk

• Favorite online tool? — Toptal
• Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— No
• If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “I didn’t have to go to law school”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:24 – Nathan introduces Johnny to the show
• 01:57 – Johnny got tired of making rich people richer so he started his own startup
• 02:28 – Johnny shares his learnings from the cryptocurrency company
• 02:50 – Qwil helps freelancers collect their pay on time
• 03:21 – Qwil has a low price point
• 03:40 – Qwil is a transactional based model
• 04:05 – Qwil started summer of 2015
• 04:20 – First year total transaction volume is in low seven figures
• 04:51 – Target transaction volume for 2016
• 05:05 – Qwil’s funding rounds
• • 05:45 – It is an equitable note
• 06:07 – “We are not disclosing a round at the moment”
• 07:20 – 2016 total transaction volume
• 07:40 – Qwil has a similar metric with GMD
• 08:51 – Some freelancers won’t release their payment right away
• • 09:35 – If freelancers keep their money in Qwil for 30 days, they won’t be charged any fees
  • 09:50 – Qwil can’t touch the cash of the freelancers
• 11:30 – Qwil offers conveniences to the users
• 13:28 – Profit margin base
• 13:44 – Team size
• 14:10 – Number of contractors who have used Qwil is in the thousands
• 15:21 – “We are trying to make a freelancer’s lifestyle much easier than it currently is”
• 17:10 – Connect with Johnny through his website, blog, and Twitter
• 18:50 – The Famous Five

3 Key Points:

• Be sure to USE and APPLY what you learned well.
• Be in a unique niche where competition is not very tough.
• School does NOT always lead you to your future, don’t let it narrow your scope.

Resources Mentioned:

• Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments
• Drip – Nathan uses Drip’s email automation platform and visual campaign builder to build his sales funnel
• Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to the quality of Toptal
• Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible.
• Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• The Top Inbox  – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens and follow-up with email sequences
• @Qwil – Johnny’s business Twitter handle
• Blog - Johnny’s business Twitter handle
• Qwil.co – Johnny’s business website
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives