Extract from Dot Net article...
Phenotype.net is not a traditional agency but a network of smaller companies or ‘pods’. Each pod is small, often just one or two people, and is a specialist in one aspect of the digital realm. So, for example we have a team whose specialty is OpenSource software: another that does email delivery and reporting. This means for each project that comes along I can put together a “dream team†for that one project.
It’s a method that works really well. Clients like the fact that you get fantastic experience cheaply, and it is quite seamless in execution. In total there are probably about 30+ people in the Phenotype Network, all of whom are in the UK. It is rare for a project to have more than three people involved.
The dream team that I put together differs from what many agencies do, and also other larger freelance based companies.
Firstly, the pods are not a matter of getting freelancers in. All the pods are people either recommended or more usually folk that I have worked with in the past. We are working towards a common goal and sharing work among us, though each pod has its own work and is autonomous.
Secondly, agencies have a salaried workforce, which means that they must find work for this team. So if you employ a fulltime flash designer then you need flash work all the time. It also means that a project will automatically go directly to whoever is free, not necessarily the best person for a task. The pod model allows a greater choice of specialists who are more ideally suited to one kind of job - not all programmers are the same.
Put simply the networked pod idea allows an incredible flexibility that medium sized or even large agencies do not have. We have the agility to change direction, to take on projects that agencies are not able to because it’s outside of their field and to resize on the fly for specific projects, so we can take on massive projects as well as tiny ones often considered too small for most.
A lot of our work comes from TV production companies, who are used to the network model. They will cast directors, cameramen and lighting designers specifically for one shoot. We slot right into what they do and form one part of their network as they do ours. We also do a lot of web production for larger digital agencies (that we can’t tell you about). Again we can do this because the pod model allows such flexibility.
The Phenotype Network was born out of our specific skills, experience and circumstances in that the people we work with we trust implicitly - usually as we have worked together before at various agencies.
So what’s next for us? Firstly our philosophy states that if we grow larger than five people we will simply splinter into more specialised pods. This process is already happening as our viral game creation area is becoming very popular. Secondly, like a lot of agencies out there we are preparing to weather the coming storm. We believe that keeping things lean has got to be the smart thing to do.
Written by Sam Collett, January '09
If you are interested in finding out more about the network or want to see how we work, get in touch.
