A·Team is a VC-backed, stealth, application-only home on the internet for Senior Independent UX/UI Designers (along with developers & product managers) to team up with hand-picked, high-growth companies on their next big thing.
After talking with hundreds of independent engineers, designers, and product folks, we heard over and over that finding vetted, high-quality, consistent clients is hard, and projects are often too small to be rewarding. A·Team matches small teams of the most talented builders in the world with companies backed by a16z, YC, Softbank, General Catalyst, etc. on a contract basis for many of their most important initiatives. We quietly launched in May 2020, and have helped A·Teamers earn $11.4+ million since.
As part of A·Team, you can expect:
- High-paying, meaningful missions with the most audacious companies sent your way; generally $110-$190/hr, with vetted, fascinating clients doing work that matters. We’re picky about who we partner with; new clients only come in via trusted referral. We’ve worked with Lyft, McGraw Hill, ClearCo, irl.com, the former CEO of Waze, the leading vaccine production software, several new unicorns we can’t say here, and dozens of startups backed by a16z/YC/Softbank/etc.
- Work alongside friends old & new: our niche is small/diverse product teams, since clients with larger budgets and higher-impact work tell us they want teams, not individuals. Of course, we keep friends together whenever we can.
- Full autonomy: say “no” to things that don’t excite you. The most talented builders often juggle a few things at once, so there’s never pressure to join an A·Team mission if you don’t have the bandwidth. If we’re no longer a fit, it’s easy to leave or pause too.
- Small, curated, off-the-record gatherings: for conversations hard to have elsewhere. Long-term, we’re creating micro-communities for the world’s top builders to become friends around the things they care about.
- Keep 100% of what you earn: if you charge $130/hr, you get $130/hr. A·Team makes money by charging a small, flat, transparent platform fee on top of your rate.
What you’ll do:
- Once part of A.Team, you’ll regularly be invited to impactful missions that match your interests, which you can accept or decline. Take your pick from early-stage incubations with world-class founders, to fast-growing super-funded companies, to old school non-tech incumbents looking to build as a tech giant would
- Missions usually involve building an ambitious piece of software from 0 to 1 as part of a small 3-4 person team.
- You’ll be paid to scope it out, give the client options, guide strategy, and execute on the selected solution. Sometimes the client has a clear vision, sometimes not; which is why A.Team builders tend to be senior folks who can work together to find the right direction.
Who A·Team is for:
- Senior UX/UI Designers who left large companies and high-growth startups to pursue their craft with autonomy.
- Those who prefer consistent contract work over a full-time role, who want to create a variety of new products alongside other top-tier builders.
- The majority of A.Team designers spend most of their time doing independent work, but a sizeable percentage are either employed full-time (but testing out client work), bootstrapping a side project, or looking for their next big thing
Who A·Team is not for:
- People looking for small gigs
- Folks looking to build simple wordpress/wix/squarespace-style websites
- Those still early in their careers and recent university/bootcamp grads (at least not yet)
Our long-term vision:
A·Team is a new type of company for a new kind of independent software builder. We call them “unhirables”: people who traditional companies couldn’t hire full-time even if they wanted to, but who want to do their most meaningful work with their favorite people in small, autonomous, distributed expert teams.
To help us secure amazing missions, we raised $5 million+ (not public, yet) from NFX, Village Global, and Box Group, along with the former CEO of Upwork, the founders of Fiverr and Lemonade, Apple’s Global Head of Recruiting, YC Partner Aaron Harris, Wharton’s Adam Grant, and Duke’s Dan Ariely.