The Six Million Dollar Man is back. Steve Austin? Nope. In this case, The VAR Guy is referring to Jeffrey Leventhal (not pictured). The founder and former OnForce CEO apparently has raised $6 million to build Work Market, a forthcoming B2B marketplace that will “deliver and manage labor and services.” It’s safe to say the effort will include VARs, MSPs and solutions providers. Here’s the scoop.
First, a little background. Leventhal previously launched OnForce, an online marketplace that allows VARs and solutions providers to outsource work to one another across the U.S. and Canada. OnForce is an eBay of sorts, allowing solutions providers to bid on projects in real-time. Leventhal left OnForce around 2007 and has since been consulting with CA Technologies (formerly CA Inc.) and iYogi, among other companies.
Back in the Game
Now, Leventhal appears poised to get back into the B2B marketplace game with the launch of Work Market. According to a brief description posted on his new venture’s web site:
“Work Market is a new venture, backed by Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures. We are building a modular web platform, designed to power anyone or any business to efficiently deliver and manage labor and services.”
Sources say Work Market has lined up about $6 million in funding. Leventhal will apparently use those dollars to build his staff. The Work Market web site currently lists about a dozen job openings at the company, though there apparently are plans to hire at least 18 team members.
Plus, The VAR Guy hears some OnForce veterans may join Leventhal at the new venture. (As with any good sequel, you need to bring back a few of the original cast members…)
More details could emerge later this week. The VAR Guy hears Work Market may issue a press release soon to offer more details on the company’s business strategy.
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My guess is this six million dollar man is going to become the six billion dollar man by the time he turns 50! Best of luck to everyone involved in this new start-up!
Jo: Six Billion? Jeff better watch out… Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are visiting billionaires to see if they’re willing to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity (no joke).
All that aside, The VAR Guy will be watching Jeff & Team as they begin to build the business.
-TVG
Wow! This is simply amazing, he is now building a bigger and better sweatshop than the original computerrepair.com / onforce.com. The world of labor will never be the same again, but we are ready to fight these new form of sweatshops that many see as innovation. OnForce is nothing but a sweatshop and we are gearing up to show them for who they are and what they do.
A number of technicians who came before me were brave enough to stand up to OnForce and point out their unfair practices. To retalliate whenever anyone stands up to them or bring up their unfair practices, they suspend or kick them off their so called marketplace.
I have been with OnForce since they were computerrepair.com and I watched them becoming a sweatshop. A number of small businesses and individuals see the platform as a way to make a quick buck, but they miss the larger picture. Company like Pomeroy and AT&T could have hired an IT force to complete their work orders or subcontract directly to small IT firms. Instead they turn to the OnForce sweatshop. In months to come we will boycott all IT companies that do business with OnForce. We will spread the word about their unfair practices and injustice and how they have destroyed the IT profession.
We will expose the secrets behind this giant sweatshop. We will provide other alternatives to OnForce, companies like Gurus2Go and others that deal with technicians directly.
We are taking a stand, we say no to OnForce, no to IT Slavery, no to flat rate fee, no to IT slave master like Pomeroy, no to the destruction of the IT profession.