Isn’t it time we thought differently about work?

Today is a special day. The VeChain Ecosystem will witness its first summit here in San Francisco but this is also a big day for me personally. Some of you may already know me from Twitter but the time has come to reveal the project I have been working on for the past two years:

WorkPi - Work Performance Intelligence

I would like to introduce myself and share my story!

Since I was a child it has been my dream to become an entrepreneur and build my own company. I grew up watching my father establish his own successful executive search firm and it’s clear this inspired me in many ways. I went to University in Amsterdam to obtain a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Marketing. During my studies, I developed an interest in blockchain because of its huge potential to disrupt traditional business models. I bought my first Bitcoin in 2012 and I was one of those unfortunate souls who lost them all thanks to the Mt. Gox hack. Yes, it still hurts. For obvious reasons I lost faith in the space and in the technology. But then, many years later I learned about VeChain. And found myself being inspired once again. From an economic perspective, their permissioned public blockchain and governance with known validators seemed the best solution to the classic Blockchain Trilemma. Their deployment of MPP and the wealth of valuable partnerships spoke of a project that really understand what they were and where they were going. I hadn’t seen that before. VeChain grabbed my attention in a big way, and it hasn’t let go.

Like my father, I’m passionate about what a great match between a person and a company can do for both. Thanks to him it’s an industry I’ve been in contact with my whole life. Therefore it makes sense to realise my vision of being an entrepreneur by building a blockchain powered recruitment business. The rise of platform economies like Uber, Airbnb or Upwork within the recruitment industry is already blurring the relationship between service providers and consumers. However, during my research in university, I realised that this is really only the start of a new paradigm defining how we will work in the future. Coupled with the realistic fear that AI and robots are coming for our jobs, I see a market that will look radically different in ten years time. And that’s a big business opportunity.

The platforms as we know them today suffer from cost-inefficient business models caused by large commercial commissions up to 25% (!) between the service provider and the consumer. We will see a shift to decentralized business models where people will be able to do business peer-to-peer, without the commercial commissions. This removal of friction will be especially significant in industries where consumers could also be the service provider (like Uber & Airbnb).

It is my vision to create a shared economy which is owned by its users — a data driven recruitment ecosystem. WorkPi is designed to facilitate a decentralized Internet of Jobs, a place where every employer will be able to hire workers with any type of contract and without forced intermediaries. The WorkPi job exchange can be described best as an Uber or Airbnb platform for the labour market, but owned by its users without commercial commissions and enriched by data applications powered by smart contracts. The data application for enterprises will be sold as a subscription service to optimize employee matching on the platform. The revenue stream will be used to guarantee the continuous development of the WorkPi Exchange. All data will be tokenized and given back to its rightful owners. Users will be incentivized to share their data and this will then be used to train a smart AI-recruiter which defines & matches vacancies with job-seekers.

I’m excited to be here today, to be able to finally lift the lid on what I’ve been creating, and I’m humbly looking forward to becoming a part of the amazing VeChain Ecosystem. The enterprise adoption strategy of VeChain is a natural fit with the WorkPi proposition because every enterprise needs efficient acquisition and retention of high-performing employees.

To a brighter work future, for everyone.

Work. Smarter.

Rik

Website: www.WorkPi.io

Twitter: www.twitter.com/WorkPi_official