A chat with Rachel Renock, Cofounder of Wethos

A quest to help millions of freelancers break six figures

Many companies are trying to help freelancers run their businesses. When I first came across Wethos, I did think, “oh great, yet another project management tool”. As I dug deeper, I realized how cleverly and intentionally the cofounders have designed the product predicated on ideas not commonly seen in their market. They have had an organic journey from working at agencies to starting their own freelancing business to building a software company to service people like them. I believe in the trend of software companies embedding financial services to broaden the scope of customer needs they serve. More often than not, that strategy feels forced to generate revenue superficial growth and get higher valuations. Wethos has impressively crafted a strategy where financial services and product growth are intimately tied. They discovered the fintech unlock in their pursuit of removing the constraints holding self-employed people back from making more money. I wanted to learn more, so I talked to Rachel Renock, the Cofounder & CEO of Wethos.

Sar: You started in the agency world. You now run your startup trying to help freelancers start and grow their businesses. You help turn one-person service shops into studios by assisting them in finding collaborators to work on complex projects and make more money. You do many clever, interesting things around embedded networks, embedded financial features, and proactive project scoping and pricing recommendations. Your mission is to help more freelancers cross six figures in earnings. I want to unpack it all. Help me connect the dots between going from the agency world to the startup world.

Rachel: I used to be an art director; I shot commercials and did a lot of digital social campaigns for big brands like Covergirl and Hershey’s. I met my co-founder Claire at an agency in New York. She was doing client management, scoping, and budgeting. Unfortunately, she saw how we charged clients and how much we got paid.

She and I left to start our freelance studio for two reasons. One, we were looking for meaningful work. We wanted more control over how we were spending our time. And two, we missed out on opportunities because our large agency lost many…