Toptal

Last updated
Toptal, LLC
Company type Private
Industry Freelance
Founded2010;14 years ago (2010)
FoundersTaso Du Val
Breanden Beneschott
Headquarters
United States  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Taso Du Val (CEO)
Website www.toptal.com

Toptal is a global remote company that provides a freelancing platform, connecting businesses with software engineers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The company has no headquarters. [1]

Contents

History

Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott founded the company in 2010. Du Val was previously an engineer at Fotolog and Slide.com [2] [3] while Beneschott was an undergraduate at Princeton University. [4] The name stands for "top talent", and it was started as a virtual company with no dedicated offices. [5] [6]

Toptal had more than $1 million in revenue by the time Beneschott graduated from Princeton. [4] The co-founders moved to Budapest, Hungary to access software developers with fewer employment options than in the United States. [4]

Talent search and growth

The firm developed personality, language, and skills testing to remotely screen engineering candidates, and accepted the top 3% of several thousand monthly applicants. [2] [3] [7]

The firm matches business engagements with developers from its network and brokers the terms of each job. [3] In 2015, it expanded to include freelance design. [8] In 2016, it acquired the freelancer platform, Skillbridge, which offered freelance accountants, statisticians, and consultants in market research, financial modeling, and due diligence. [9] In 2017, the company launched a vertical specializing in software engineers and designers for the automotive industry. [10] It also launched a vertical for blockchain engineers in February 2018. [11]

Funding

Toptal accepted a $1.4 million seed round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz and angel investors including Quora founder Adam D'Angelo. [8] The company is said not to have raised additional funds since its seed round because it has been profitable. [8] In 2015 and 2016, Toptal's annual revenue was $80 million and $100 million respectively. [3] [4]

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References

  1. "Toptal". Remote.co. 2020-02-07. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  2. 1 2 Soshana, Solomon (19 March 2017). "Dropout turned entrepreneur helps find talent amid engineer squeeze". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ankeny, Jason (8 September 2015). "Why a High School Dropout's Staffing Company Is in a Class of Its Own". Entrepreneur Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hartmans, Avery (17 September 2016). "This startup has no offices and unlimited vacation, and its cofounder has lived in more than 30 countries in 5 years". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  5. Rockwood, Kate (26 October 2017). "How to Build a $100 Million-Revenue Business With Zero Offices". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  6. Caminiti, Susan (3 April 2018). "The dream job that's all the rage across America". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  7. Lagorio-Chafkin, Christine (5 November 2014). "How To Build A Killer Team--Sight Unseen". Inc. Magazine. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  8. 1 2 3 Constine, Josh (7 October 2015). "Massive Freelance Engineer Marketplace Toptal Now Sells Designers". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  9. Taft, Darryl (6 April 2016). "Toptal Buys Skillbridge to Advance Freelance Tech Market". eWEEK. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  10. Winter, Drew (28 November 2017). "Supplier Toptal to Fill 'Extreme High-Skilled Talent Gap'". WardsAuto. Retrieved 2018-07-02.
  11. Stein, Samantha (14 February 2018). "Blockchain engineers are in demand". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-02.