Braintrust

Decentralized talent network founded in 2018 where top tech freelancers keep 100% of earnings, connecting with brands like Nestle, Goldman Sachs, and Nike.

AI Training AI & Tech Talent Network
Visit Braintrust
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ New (0 reviews)
San Francisco, USA HQ
51-200 company size
2018 founded

What is Braintrust?

Braintrust is a decentralized talent network founded in 2018 by Adam Jackson and Gabriel Luna-Osasteski, headquartered in San Francisco. The platform connects highly skilled technical freelancers — developers, designers, researchers, product managers, AI engineers, and digital marketing professionals — with top-tier companies including Nestle, Porsche, Atlassian, Goldman Sachs, and Nike. Braintrust's unique blockchain-enabled model lets talent keep 100% of their earnings while clients pay a transparent fee, eliminating traditional staffing agency markups. Only approximately 2% of applicants are admitted: 68% of accepted talent have 7+ years of experience and 38% have 11+ years. The platform is remote-first, enabling global work from anywhere. Braintrust also offers Braintrust AIR, an AI recruiting platform using 1.2 million candidate profiles to match candidates and conduct AI-powered video screenings. AI and prompt engineering roles are actively listed.

Mission & values

Run a fully user-owned, decentralized talent network — let freelancers retain 100% of earnings while organizations assemble flexible global teams; governance lives with BTRST token holders.

Qualifications

The vetting process is highly selective. All applicants complete a 10-minute one-way video interview with four questions assessing background, communication, and English proficiency. Successful candidates receive an "Approved Talent" badge. For AI Trainer roles: a Bachelor's or Master's degree is typical, with 3–5 years of professional experience requiring attention to detail, critical thinking, or quality review; advanced English (C1+) is required. For AI Teaching Expert roles: a Master's or PhD in a STEM-related field, 3+ years teaching experience, strong pedagogical skills, and ability to create educational prompts. For Web Scraping/AI Trainer: 1+ years in data analysis or AI automation, Python skills (BeautifulSoup, Selenium), and a Bachelor's or Master's in a technical field is a plus. Software engineers should have 2+ years of experience with strong software architecture and Agile skills.

Leadership

A

Adam Jackson

Co-Founder & CEO

G

Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski

Co-Founder

Hiring process

  1. 1

    Apply at usebraintrust.com

    Submit your profile listing skills, portfolio, and rate.

    About 1 day

  2. 2

    Vetting & quality screen

    Network-driven vetting (other talent helps verify quality).

    About 5 days

  3. 3

    Profile activation

    Once vetted, your profile becomes searchable for clients.

    About 2 days

  4. 4

    Match to client roles

    Apply to client opportunities; clients pay 10% platform fee, talent retains 100%.

    About 7 days

  5. 5

    Get paid

    Direct payment from client; optional BTRST token rewards for community participation.

    About 7 days

Funding

StageSeries C+
Total raised$100,000,000
Investors
Coatue Tiger Global IDEO CoLab Ventures Blockchange Ventures True Ventures

Awards & recognition

  • $100M BTRST token purchase by Coatue and Tiger Global · 2021

    PRNewswire

  • Used by Nestle, Porsche, Atlassian, Goldman Sachs, Nike, NASA, Reddit

    Braintrust

  • BTRST token live on Ethereum mainnet (September 2021) · 2021

    Coinbase / CoinMarketCap

Company information

Frequently asked questions

Who founded Braintrust?
Founded in 2018 by Adam Jackson and Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski as a decentralized, user-owned talent network.
What is BTRST?
An ERC-20 token on Ethereum (250M fixed supply, launched September 2021). Used for staking, governance voting, network rewards, and payments. Token holders vote on platform fees, dispute resolution, and which categories to expand into.
How does Braintrust make money?
Clients pay a 10% platform fee; talent retains 100% of their stated rate. (Conventional staffing firms typically take 30-50% from talent.)
Who are Braintrust's clients?
Global enterprises including Nestle, Porsche, Atlassian, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Colgate, PepsiCo, NASA, Reddit, Wayfair, Honda, and TaskRabbit.
Has Braintrust raised any traditional funding?
Coatue and Tiger Global purchased $100M in BTRST tokens to seed Web3 network development. The company itself raised earlier rounds before the token launch.

Stay in the loop.

One email per week, 5 hand-picked roles.