eLance.com: Projects Versus Personnel

eLance.com had just opened its online services to the public. The site was designed as a platform allowing buyers to post projects that freelancers (sellers) could bid on. After three days of operation, three requests for temporary positions appeared. Recruitment was not the intended purpose of the site and the co-founders disagreed on whether these requests should be allowed to stay on the site. Both founders knew that the choices they made now would directly affect future Web site development as features to support a projects-only site would be somewhat different from a combined projects and personnel site. They had to look ahead and consider the strategic and IT implications, and determine the objectives of the site and what products they would launch.