About the Company

Vettted is an online marketplace focused on connecting businesses with vetted digital marketers offering productized services. The platform stands out by allowing freelancers to keep 100% of their earnings, addressing one of the major complaints freelancers have with other platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Founded by Vasco Monteiro and his co-founder Afonso, Vettted emerged from the realization that existing marketplaces lacked transparency and took hefty fees from freelancers. Monteiro, having worked in the digital marketing and freelancing space since 2014, built Vettted to create a fairer platform for both freelancers and clients.

Vettted is built by freelancers for freelancers. This means that unlike many other platforms, it puts the needs of marketers first, ensuring that the freelance professionals on the platform are fairly compensated without hidden fees. The company's mission is to create a streamlined, transparent service for outsourcing marketing needs, while focusing on quality and niche-specific expertise.

Idea Behind Company

The idea for Vettted came from Vasco Monteiro’s frustrations with existing freelance marketplaces. Having worked on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, Monteiro saw major flaws, such as high fees, lack of transparency, and a surplus of low-quality services. His own experience as a freelancer and agency owner since 2014 highlighted these shortcomings and led him to believe there was a better way to serve freelancers and clients alike.

Monteiro’s vision was to create a platform that vets its freelancers to ensure quality, avoids unnecessary fees, and focuses solely on digital marketing rather than trying to serve every niche. He believed that building a marketplace specifically for high-quality digital marketing services could address the pain points freelancers and clients faced on larger, more generalized platforms. Inspired by successful niche platforms, he set out to create Vettted to be the best in its specialized field.

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Creating the Company

Monteiro and his co-founder Afonso spent a year developing Vettted in Monteiro’s parents' basement, investing around $20,000 into the startup. This investment covered essential costs like development, UI/UX design, and hosting services. Monteiro's previous experience in freelance marketing helped guide the initial design and prototyping phases. Early wireframes were developed in Figma, and a UI/UX designer from Upwork was eventually hired to enhance the look and functionality of the platform.

Building the platform from scratch required Monteiro to rely heavily on his intuition and past experiences. The process involved rigorous manual work, from outreach to freelancers to perfecting the platform’s design. Despite having a clear vision for Vettted, Monteiro encountered many challenges along the way, including the complexities of creating a marketplace from the ground up and ensuring the quality of freelancers on the platform.

Launching the Business

The launch of Vettted, while planned carefully, did not go as smoothly as Monteiro expected. He initially hoped to leverage his personal brand, built over several years as an SEO expert, to drive users to the platform. However, due to contractual obligations with another freelance marketplace he worked for, he was unable to promote Vettted using his existing audience. This forced him to start from scratch in building Vettted’s user base and marketing efforts.

Monteiro began manually reaching out to freelancers through other platforms and communities, such as Facebook groups and Twitter, to attract high-quality professionals to Vettted. Although this process was slow, he believed it was critical to vet every freelancer carefully to ensure the platform's reputation for quality. Early outreach efforts involved offering small incentives, such as paying freelancers to sign up and list services.

Earnings
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Vettted's earnings in its first month of operation were modest, with only $245 in revenue. The platform has a growing user base of 287 users, 65 of which are sellers. Vettted’s burn rate is currently around $2,000 per month, including costs for part-time developers and cloud services. Despite the slow start, Monteiro is confident in Vettted’s future growth, as he continues to focus on attracting more high-quality freelancers and buyers.

In terms of future goals, Monteiro’s focus is on increasing both the supply and demand sides of the marketplace, with a long-term vision of becoming the go-to platform for businesses to outsource digital marketing efforts. The company is not yet profitable, but Monteiro is optimistic that consistency and focus will lead to success.