Crowdflower helps you earn extra bucks

Interview with Crowdflower CEO and co-founder Lukas Biewald on providing jobs

Even though the economy is looking up, jobs are still tough to find. And, for companies, particularly startups, hiring full-time workers, particularly for simple tasks, is a tough proposition. What's a startup or the unemployed to do? Check out Crowdflower, a startup that recently raised $5 million in funding in January from Bessemer Ventures and Trinity Ventures. 

In this interview, Crowdflower co-founder and CEO Lukas Biewald talks about how 200,000 workers have found simple tasks on Crowdflower. The type of worker runs the gamut, Lukas said. Many of the workers have college degrees. At the same time, Crowdflower is working with Samasource, which helps "marginalized people from refugees in Kenya to women in rural Pakistan" to get small jobs.

The jobs seem relatively simple, ranging from checking user-generated content to ensure they don't violate policies, or verifying copyright images and business listings. One job sought someone to verify a list of drink specials from various bars. Because the jobs are very simple and menial, the payout is well below the hourly wage of some $8 in California and $7 in the U.S.

Nonetheless, it's an opportunity for the worker and the employer. 

Watch the interview for more on how Crowdflower monitors quality.