10X client (freelancer) here. I'm the guy living in Thailand mentioned in the article. Let me add to a few of the comments here. I am not writing on behalf of 10X, these are my own opinions.

I would think that people hiring would like potential hires to be unrepresented. An un-represented developer is going to be cheaper. (chrisbennet)

Price is just one factor. If I charge twice as much as someone else but I can solve the customer's problem in one-fourth the time, the customer saves money. Customers are usually focused on solving business problems within their budget and schedule, not just on hourly rates.

It's not about the technology. It never has been. You're number one mission whenever you get a contract is to understand the business and figure out how you can get them making more money. (aantix)

Almost exactly right. It's not always about making more money, though; it may just be to figure out how to make their software do what it is supposed to do. Too many job postings and too many résumés list technologies without addressing business needs or experience. For me, 10X has been good at getting both sides to talk about and describe business requirements and setting clear deliverables and goals.

Boy. As someone who actually runs a contracting + project agency, that looks to be of an approximately similar size as 10x (at least before this was published), this was lifting-cars-painful to read - not just because they have PR and I don't, but because they (Solomon and Blumberg) _are the inefficiencies they are pretending to eliminate_. (scottru)

The New Yorker article was not an exhaustive description of how 10X works or who does what. Most of my interaction with 10X is with Michael Solomon, so to say he isn't adding any value is just not understanding what he does. Everyone at 10X is adding value for me, and the several 10X customers I work for or have worked for have without exception said only good things about 10X Management. In my experience most projects go wrong due to miscommunication and conflicting expectations. 10X, and specifically Michael, are good at heading those things off before they become problems, and working out solutions that are acceptable to both sides.

Yes, 10X has had some great PR. No, they aren't the only good freelancer agency or consulting firm. I've worked for quite a few placement/consulting firms and with many recruiters in my career (35+ years) and for the work I do now and the life I want to live 10X is a great fit. It may not be the right fit for every client (freelancer) or customer, and it may not be the way to go if you want to try to make millions at a startup.

A few years ago I decided to concentrate on stalled projects and broken code, the almost-working or somewhat broken stuff left behind when developers fall out with their customer and stop answering their emails. My customers are mostly smaller businesses and non-profits, without the need or resources for their own IT staff, and without the sex appeal of Facebook or Twitter. They have real business problems to solve, they can't throw everything away and start over, and they aren't qualified to recruit and hire technical staff. I found plenty of this work on my own, but when I decided to travel and freelance remotely I worried about finding customers and easing their fears about hiring someone living overseas. 10X has been a good fit for me -- they bring in plenty of customers, they have clients with every technical skill you can think of when I need help, and they are a real US-based company that can assure customers I will deliver no matter where I happen to be. They have also negotiated better rates and more useful contracts that I was doing on my own.