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TopCoder, the company that runs the world's most popular computer programming contests, has been acquired.
The decade-old company is now part of Appirio, an outfit that helps businesses use and build technology, with a particular focus on cloud computing. Appirio announced the deal on Tuesday but did not disclose the terms.
TopCoder has made a name for itself as a way for the world's programmers to prove their worth against the very best, but it's also a way for companies to get help with software development projects.
>'We had a lot of success with CloudSpokes, but it left us wanting more'
Narinder Singh
Typically, if you're a company that's building some new piece of technology, you can either hire your own coders or outsource the job to a services provider such as Accenture or Delloite. And if you're not happy with the way the project turns out, you then have to pay someone to do it all over again. But with TopCoder, companies can give multiple developers the same project at the same time and then select the one they like best.
You pay the winner for their work, but you may also pay the runners-up. According to the company, the more runners-up you're willing to pay, the more entries you'll get.
Appirio already offers a similar service called CloudSpokes, which was inspired in part by TopCoder. But TopCoder draws on a much larger pool of developers than CloudSpokes. "We had a lot of success with CloudSpokes, but it left us wanting more," says Appirio co-founder Narinder Singh.
TopCoder also runs contests for user interface design and algorithm design, attracting expert designers and data analytics specialists -- two constituencies that CloudSpokes doesn't touch.
The rub is that these contests are a bit controversial. They're often called "spec work," meaning they get people to complete work without a guarantee of payment, and detractors say it's not fair to the people doing the work. "The reality is that they often yield little extra work, profit or referrals," says the Spec Work FAQ, a website dedicated to educating workers about spec work. The site also warns that spec workers may lose the rights to their creative work, undervalue their skills, or even drive down wages for other professionals.
Yet contests ranging from Kaggle's algorithm competitions to the graphic design competitions at 99 Designs have become a popular way for companies to outsource work, and there's certainly no shortage of people willing to participate. Many believe they're getting a good deal. One TopCoder competitor, Justin Gasper, says he made so much money from the site that he quit is day job.
"Over the first year I made more money doing contests than I did at my full-time job," he says. For him, the big advantage is that he gets to keep living in central Wisconsin, rarely has to travel for work, and gets to set his own hours.
"I think the pay is reasonable," he says. "If you know what you're doing, you're looking at making $50 an hour." That's more, he explains, than he's likely to make from freelance gig sites that focus on connecting employers with low cost labor. He says that most of the contests have only a "handful" of completed entries, so the competition isn't extreme.
Singh adds that programmers also see TopCoder and CloudSpokes contests as a chance to learn new skills they might not be able to pick-up on the job. "Even if you don't win, your code gets evaluated by three experienced people who give feedback," he says.
Appirio will turn to people like Gasper as it completes the acquisition of TopCoder. The plan is to merge CloudSpokes and TopCoder into a single site. Singh says both sites were already built through contests, and the process of merging the two will be farmed out as contests too. "We want to make sure we get the right voices from each community," he says.
