Experts Speak Podcast with Yakov Filippenko

In this podcast, Yakov Filippenko shares how Intch.org helps businesses hire top professionals part-time at a fraction of the cost. Unlike freelancing platforms, Intch builds trust and long-term relationships, making it easier to find the right talent. Whether you’re a business owner or a professional seeking part-time work, this episode reveals a smarter way to connect.

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Experts Speak Podcast with Michael Bellon: Interview with Yakov Filippenko

Michael Bellon: Welcome to another episode of Experts Speak. I am Michael Bellon. Today, I am talking with Yakov Filippenko. Yakov, thank you for spending some time with me today.

Yakov Filippenko: Hi, Michael. Thanks for hosting me on your podcast.

Michael Bellon: You’re welcome. It’s going to be a fun conversation because Yakov has a great background. He’s done a lot of things to build businesses in a short period. He’s got another business up and running with a team, and today, we’ll be talking about how business owners can find part-time roles for a third of the cost. It’s really intriguing what he’s doing. Whether you’re a business owner or a service provider, this is going to be a really interesting conversation.

Yakov, let’s get into it. Tell us, how in the world did you get into what you are doing today?

Yakov Filippenko: Sure. It actually started when my first startup was acquired, and I joined Altair VC, an Israel-based venture capital firm. This was during the pandemic, and some startups in our portfolio weren’t doing well, while others, like Deel and Miro, started to skyrocket. We began investigating why, and we found an obvious reason.

During the pandemic, professionals moved to their places or even back to their home countries and they started work from home. After the pandemic, when companies started encouraging employees to return to offices, many professionals realized their work-life balance had changed, and they didn’t want to give up that flexibility. They wanted to continue traveling more, spending time with family and friends, and working remotely.

We realized that a new demand had emerged across all generations – Gen Z, Millennials, even older generations – all wanting this new way of working. But there was no dedicated tool for this shift. That’s when we started developing our platform. We found that it was beneficial for both professionals and businesses. Professionals had two options: they could take a part-time job in addition to their full-time role, or they could replace a full-time job with two to three part-time projects.

And it’s important to note that part-time work is different from traditional freelance work. Freelancing typically involves short projects for small fees, and top professionals don’t want to spend their days and nights chasing for additional $40. Instead, they really want to invest their knowledge and experience in meaningful projects, and they can split their resources, which is why they manage up to three or four roles.

For small and mid-sized businesses, this is a great opportunity because they can hire top professionals for a third of the salary cost. Even if the businesses aren’t well-known, they can still hire for part-time roles top professionals in the field. That’s the future.

Michael Bellon: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. When you and I talked beforehand, we discussed how what you’ve created is more of a network. Let me make sure I’m understanding this correctly. This is ideal for small business owners looking for a marketing team, a sales team, a development team, a web design team—whatever they need. And instead of hiring for project-based work, they’re bringing in a part-time employee in a more dedicated way. These remote professionals are more involved in the business compared to traditional freelancers because their role is ongoing, not just a one-off project. Am I getting that right?

Yakov Filippenko: Yeah, exactly. This concept isn’t entirely new – we’ve seen it with accountants, for example. Businesses work with them as part of their team, trusting them with sensitive data over a long period. But for some reason, businesses haven’t traditionally applied this model to other roles like developers or marketers.

or example, when we needed to start our marketing or Facebook ads, we wanted to hire the best professionals. But at that time, we didn’t have the budget for full-time hires. So, we posted a part-time job in our platform, hired multiple professionals, and within four months, we developed our marketing strategy and implemented it and started to grow. Last year, we grew up to 70X, which was huge.

The idea is just to start the marketing we need to invest at least two months to setup all tools, to deep dive to the analytics and so on. And it is a long-long process which can not implement with traditional freelancer. Their projects last from a few hours to a few weeks, and in our case its already a year and a half and we still working with same people.

Michael Bellon: That makes sense. Now, when I first heard about your platform, my mind went to something like Upwork. But you said it’s more like LinkedIn. Can you explain that difference?

Yakov Filippenko: Sure. Exactly. Both freelance and full-time jobs are work, but the hiring process for each is completely different. The most crucial factor when hiring part-time professionals – especially remote ones – is trust. Especially if you are hiring remote person especially if they never visit your office or they are  even from another country.

That’s why we built a professional networking service like LinkedIn, but specifically for part-time roles. Our platform is designed to help businesses and professionals interact, build trust, and make connections – this is the core, and on the top of that – job posting and so one.

In contrast, platforms like Upwork focus on price and speed. That’s not how you want to hire a marketer or a key role in your business. If you’re paying for a marketer, you’ll likely invest even more in your marketing budget, so trust is essential.

We created a networking platform where professionals and businesses can connect, and on top of that, they can find part-time jobs or employees.

Michael Bellon: And you’ve seen significant growth. You went from 75,000 users to over half a million! That’s incredible. This isn’t just a small startup where the tree people are in – this is a major a worldwide network.

If you’re a business owner looking for help on some area, this could be a great place for you to go because you’re getting a full part-time professional without the full-time salary cost. You’re also building trust and long-term relationships. Did I summarize that correctly?

Yakov Filippenko: Yes, exactly. And beyond cost savings, this model allows businesses to test different approaches. Let’s say you have a hypothesis about a new marketing strategy. You can bring in part-timers for three months, test it out, and if it doesn’t work, you move on. This kind of flexibility and agile approach is crucial in today’s business environment. If you’d like to tested it, you just go on Intch.org. By the way, Intch stands for “be-in-touch” which is also about network.

Michael Bellon: That’s great. So INTCH.org, which means let’s be in touch. This is easier to remember. And for business owners who want to explore this, how should they get started? Do they download an app? Visit a website?

Yakov Filippenko: They just need to visit Intch.org. At the bottom of our landing page, we have different categories—whether you need a designer, marketer, or developer, you can select the right option and follow the process.

For example, when we needed to grow, we needed to increase a number of users, but I wasn’t a marketing expert. And I posted a job post. So, instead of saying, “We need an SEO expert,” I just posted a question about growing our business and increasing the number of users. People suggested various approaches – some offered SEO, others Facebook ads. We tested both, and while SEO didn’t work, Instagram ads did. This question-based approach allows businesses to find the right solution before making a hiring decision.

Michael Bellon: I love that. Business owners often don’t know exactly what they need, so starting with a question makes the process more effective. Your platform creates a networking experience that helps businesses and professionals build relationships before hiring. That’s really smart.

I’ll make sure to include Intch.org in the show notes. If you’re a business owner or a professional looking for part-time work, check it out. This platform connects both sides in a meaningful way.

Yakov, thanks for sharing your insights and for being my guest today on Experts Speak.

Yakov Filippenko: Thanks for the opportunity. It was my pleasure.

Stay tuned with Intch! Start part-time hiring now!