Introducing the Human Creativity Benchmark. The first eval that scores AI models the way creative experts do.

week 1 ✅

first chair in our new office in NY

Humans are not resources. Introducing Contra, a new professional network for the jobs of the future. Get more creative at contra.com

2 years ago @contra had just been rejected by YC for the 3rd time. Even worse, we were rejected by almost every VC firm we pitched in NYC. It’s hard to believe I get to say this, but today Contra is announcing our launch of Zero Commission Payments and our $30M series B.

current mood

It's Launch Day @contra and this is one of our biggest launches yet. 🚀. Today we are launching Portfolio Magic, an AI powered portfolio builder with built in 💸payments 📈analytics 💰contracts, proposals, invoices + a ton of platform upgrades as well. More in the 🧵

the biggest complaints we get at @contra are 1. not enough leads 2. clients dont respond to applications the reality is, job boards are dead.. the best way to find new projects is from your own network. Today we are launching Indy, and its going to change everything.

yep, we bought contra.com before we raised any $$, had to max out a few cc's and take a domain financing loan + spend my life savings.

wow @loom has become incredible 🤯 Just recorded a product demo for a potential customer and it automatically separated the clip into relevant sections, took out all of the filler words, created a transcription and cut out the background noise. The future is bright for builders

ok this is happening. great idea

Over the last month, @contra teamed up with @DannPetty to survey over 500,000 independent creators to learn about the tools they use to run their businesses. Excited to share the winners and launch the "Creator Tools Show" here on @X, where we discuss the jobs of the future with the people inventing them and interview the creators behind the tools we all use every day. There were some obvious winners like @figma, @canva, @Adobe, @framer, @webflow, but also a bunch of new and up and coming tools like @splinetool, @flutterflow and @rive_app all used by creators to run their businesses. You check out all of the winners and honorees here: contra.com/creator-tools-awa…

Hard to beat New York in the summer 🗽

Asking for a friend… how can @contra fill the hole that dribbble is creating ?

Everything changed in 2020.. The entire world learned that remote work was possible, all at once. But, things are coming back to normal, and we now have: those who embrace the new way vs those who want to go back to the 'old way' @contra we build tools for whats coming next

ok well, @contra hit 1M users and our site went down trying to let everyone know. good news is, we are back up and just getting started. thank you to everyone who was early

It's @contra's 3 year anniversary of our first launch 🥲 In 3 years, we went from a simple product for independents, to a fully built network of 700k+ independents and 20k+ clients Today, we are launching a big missing piece of the platform Introducing @contra for Companies 🚀

this place is awful

After starting and selling my first startup in NYC, it's bittersweet to pack it up and head West 🚀. After a 9 year grind and becoming a self described “New Yorker” → here’s why I’m moving our early stage startup @contrahq HQ to San Francisco / SV😅. Thread :

yesterday was crazy. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on @contra and what we are building. TLDR: we aren't trying to replace old platforms, we are building something different. From the beginning we realized that when you make money off of commission fees (people's earnings), you create an adversarial relationship with your users and community. We will always be commission free. This is playing on hard mode, but we think this will win in the long run. We are building an open platform for the open internet, and we realize we have a ways to go. We got a lot of feedback on how we can improve and I want to address that here -> 1. More work on Contra - We have come a long way and we have a long way to go. Last year we 10x'd the number of opportunities on Contra and we plan to do this again. Today, thanks to @Kulshekhar, @ReardenQL and @erinnhorner we launched the first of many growth initiatives to bring more traffic to Contra. We have created the best infrastructure to hire and get hired, now we need to spread the word. 2. Easier ways to share your work - We hear you loud and clear. Expect some updates on new ways to share your work and new ways to get discovered very soon. 3. Open up community - We have a plan in place to open up the community in the next 30 days. @ajnulty and I brainstormed this morning on what this will take and I think we can do it, with some help from @mortenpx of course. 4. It's too hard to get started - @kuizinas and @joseph_inflight began rolling out something yesterday that will solve this in a big way. Pretty soon you will be able to import content from any link, including your personal website. Fun fact, this was built in a hackathon two weeks ago, but got rushed out thanks to yesterdays events. We have a ways to go, but please know, we hear you and we will not stop improving our product. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to give us feedback. the best is yet to come!

ever wonder what AI models and tools you can actually use for your work ? introducing the Creative Arena powered by @FAL and @contra Creative Arena is where creative professionals judge AI models and tools vs real client demand, not just speed or accuracy want to try it?

Thousands of people come to @contra looking for brand designers every month. Could it get any easier?

So @perplexity_ai is now the default research tool for the @contra product team It’s crazy how it can accurately index and summarize niche growth and product strategies from around the web.. The future is bright for builders

who's going to @figma's Config ? @contra is teaming up with @splinetool to throw the ultimate Config pre-party👀 DM me for invite link!

People ask me in dm's how to build reputation and get more clients on @contra, but so many people have no idea we have free world class proposal, invoice, escrow and contract tools that you can use to run your business and supercharge your reputation and discoverability at the same time. + it's 100% commission FREE. You can get paid out via bank accounts, paypal, payoneer, USDC etc. We also have some huge upgrades coming to our payouts as well, making it even cheaper for your clients to pay you on Contra. We want to make @contra the best place on the internet to run your business, find new clients and connect with other creatives. More to come 👀

tomorrow we are launching probably my favorite product we have every built @contra this creates an entirely new type of network effect on Contra that will help our users in ways that were previously impossible going to be hard to sleep tonight

today @contra changed forever. we invited 150 people to our community alpha and showed them the future.. and the response has been overwhelming.. more to come on.contra.com/CJMBnT 👀

coming very soon ... new profiles (and so much more) on @contra 👀 The theme for Contra in 2025 is all about getting out of the way so your work can truly shine. We are also launching so many new ways to share your work and get discovered. 🚀 more to come very soon

Finally met @jornvandijk and the @framer team in person in Amsterdam this week. More @framer x @contra coming soon 🚀.

august has always been the slowest month for @contra everyone is off on vacation feeling the summer slow down.. but something has changed august was our biggest month ever w/ $12M in opportunities coming to our users. this is what its all about. more to come.

some big changes coming to @contra over the next couple of weeks+. we are building a new professional network for the jobs of the future. There is so much FUD around creatives being replaced by AI, but the reality is the demand for true creativity is going to skyrocket 🛸🛸

Our biggest community event on @contra ever.. Now live - the @figma Make-a-thon, with over $100k in prizes 🤑 1st Place : $50,000 🤯 2nd Place : $15,000 💰 3rd Place : $7,500 💵 Most Creative: $10,000 💸 Most Innovative: $10,000 🤑 Best Figma Make Prompt: $7,500 🏦 🚀

inspired by @thatguybg, We now have "design engineer" as a skill on @contra.

And here we go! @webflow has been a supporter of the creative community since day 1! The ecosystem they have built for creative professionals and agencies has been inspiring to observe from the outside looking in. Today @contra is no longer on the outside. Im thrilled to announce the @Webflow x @contra partnership. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with @webflow to help even more talented web designers and developers access incredible opportunities, now 100% commission-free on @Contra.

🚀 It's launch day @contrahq and we have some exciting things to share with the world. First up, Contra has raised a $14.5M Series A led by @sarahleary + @Unusual_VC and @twang + @jomayra_herrera + @CowboyVC + @AtelierVentures Read more about it here 🚀techcrunch.com/2021/02/23/co…

Inspired by this post to make something people want introducing YC hired - A curated list of creatives that YC co's have hired on @contra discover experts in - Product design - Eng - Video / Content - Animation - @framer, @webflow, @jittervideo hired by @ycombinator co's

and we are live! thank you for everyone who came to our event. the best is yet to come!

its crazy that this all started w/ @framer and a dm from @jornvandijk so many tools are helping @contra users make $$$ this is the way

as you may have noticed, we are creating tons of new ways to get discovered on @contra. Yesterday we launched the first batch of pages, featuring our best users, that are optimized for LLM search and general SEO. More to come 🚀

Hanging with @dudufolio and @MarkKnd + contra team. Love seeing the @contra community irl

Another @uns__nstudio x @contra collab in the books. Ever wondered if you should hire "full-time" vs "independent" for a new project? This calculator can help. Check it out here: contra.com/project-rate-hiri…

this is out to 50% of @contra now, but profile import is coming along nicely. thanks to everyone who helped us test last week. Should be rolled out to 100% in the next couple of hours.

Today, @Contra turns 4, so we are releasing a completely re-imagined platform. Big shout out to @FonsMans , @mortenpx , @DannPetty , @Volagn @erinnhorner @alxndrabrown @rymagno @ajnulty @kuizinas and the entire @contra team + community for helping us get here.

fixed ✅ thanks for pointing this out Alex

@framer is breaking the internet. I’ve been a user and fan since 2020, when we were prototyping the early versions of @contra. Can't believe I get to say this, but today, @framer is launching their new expert network, powered by @contra Want to become a framer expert? ->

ever wonder who the creatives are behind $1B companies? well now you can see for yourself introducing "The Unicorn Club" on @contra A list of real creatives hired by companies valued at 1B or more 🚀 have you worked for a Unicorn ? Apply below.

"It's more important than ever for products to have really great design" - wisdom from @guidorosso, CEO of @rive_app. I sat down with Guido to hear how he and @luigirosso built and sold their first company, which led them to founding @rive_app. Full episode out next week🔥

Distribution is one the hardest problems that startups face. Over this last year we have seen more startups utilize the power of TikTok to achieve insane growth. Today @contra is partnering with @tiktok_us to give this power to independents. 🧵

Coming very soon, we are opening up discoverability on @contra. You will be able to understand exactly what drives clients to your profile and applications and what you can do to improve your ranking. Our goal with this new feature is to make it easy increase your earnings and find new projects.

who did this ?

its so over... or we are so back.. 🎙️ Introducing "Client Flow", a fully streamlined workspace for freelancers and studios, built w/ @boltdotnew Full tutorial below.

building @contra has been the hardest thing I have worked on. Half the time we are deep in "the pain cave" with bugs, outages, disappointing users etc but sometimes we get the type of feedback that makes it all worth it, and without this I don't know how we would do it.

this is the record I think

Such a great conversation with @chrisleavens from @AgeofLearning. We discussed his journey from being a freelance illustrator, to working with @stewart on Tinyspeck that turned into @SlackHQ... and then his journey at @Disney creating the top two apps in the app store. I actually learned about Tinyspeck and Glitch from @andrewchen's book "The Cold Start Problem". Chris also talks about how @AgeofLearning uses tools like @rive_app, @Scenario_gg and @figma to make industry leading education products and mobile apps. We even discussed @Procreate 's genAI stance vs @Adobe's head first dive into AI tooling. So much wisdom on how to evolve and stay true to yourself as a creative. Thanks again Chris for being on the show and sharing your knowledge with the @contra community! As always, on @X first!

Everyone is asking how @contra made our latest launch video. I know its hard to believe, but we make our launch videos 100% with ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but 99% of people are using it wrong. Here are the 10 prompts I used to make this launch video really pop🧵

I interviewed @guidorosso from @rive_app on all things design, animation, the Rive origin story and more. 🔥Creator Tools EP2 - Rive🔥 on @X first of course.

this is true on @contra as well. Framer opportunities went from $10m -> $14m before i could blink.

Finally, we launched our first commercial @contra. Huge shout out to the creative genius of @DannPetty @JoryFrey @BradenBenz @erinnhorner @DroggoTrogger and the entire cast. Also shooting a commercial is hard af. 😅

last week we introduced a totally new way to share your work on contra today we are giving away $50k to people who share their best work have cool projects ? share it to your profile and the community and you could win a $25k grand prize 💸 what a time to be alive 💰 none of this would be possible with out our sponsors and partners @Replit @figma @webflow @ideogram_ai @instanthq @jittervideo @bubble @readymag @MagicPathAI

So many people I know are using @framer to build absolutely mind blowing sites. Really loving the latest work by @deereis for @loops We made it dead simple to find the best @framer experts on @contra. No excuse not to have an beautiful site for your startup or product. We launch 10+ new @framer pages per month using experts on @contra.

We want @contra to be the best place to get paid as an independent creative. How ? 1. 100% commission free 2. When you get paid, you build your reputation 3. Your reputation brings in more clients from @contra bonus: new referral program Get paid to get paid. Its that easy.

this is huge .. we have a new hackathon coming to @contra 👀 this will be our first partner hackathon ever Lets see what you can you create with @splinetool's new interactive design tool Hana $5K in prizes 🤑💸💰 7 days 🗓️ endless creativity 🎨 If you want to join, dm me for the link

We have been huge fans of @splinetool and @alelepd since we discovered Spline in the @contra community back in 2020. + The @contra team loves playing around in Spline when it comes to creating 3D assets for our brand. Today, we are excited to launch Spline Experts on Contra!

Partners like @framer @splinetool @lummipics @rive_app @jittervideo @Wix @adobe @PeachWorlds_ @InstantHQ @webflow @replohq are the life blood of Contra’s network. Today we are launching all new partner pages so you can show off your expertise on a whole new channel. Who else should we partner with?

A lot of people don't realize @contra is a 3 sided network. 1. Independent Creatives 2. Companies, agencies, startups etc 3. Tools like @lummipics , @rive_app, @webflow, @framer etc We are going to make discovering and learning new tools even better.. dropping this week.

we are building something new on @contra that will be a core part of our product and community moving forward best part, we are trying it out first for the Contra platform itself. Interested in joining ? shoot me a dm!

seeing @maxhuni_visar hit $250k on @contra is probably one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a founder. def fuel to our entire team to keep going. Thanks for using contra Max 🙏

the biggest unlock for @contra's growth was when @jornvandijk reached out about hosting @framer expert badge back in 2023 tbh, we did not realize how big of an growth driver this would be Now we are scaling this up and adding new badges who else should we partner with?

@bubble is one of the most powerful no-code builders ever built. + There is so much buzz going around their new native mobile app builder for iOS & android🤯(coming soon) Excited to share that @bubble and @contra have teamed up to launch the Bubble Expert network on @contra.

Update w/ @deereis and @zoecolivas

yesterday was electric @contra, we have been building for 4 years to get here and now we have an infinite roadmap of ideas excited to build this together

over the weekend the @contra team shipped an all new transaction log to track your payments. this was much needed. here is another reminder that you can get paid in over 200 countries across a bunch of different payout methods including USDC, 100% commission free. more to come.

🐐

before the Indy launch, July was @contra's biggest month by far in terms of job value $$ going to our users. $10M+ in just one month Now with Indy its going to explode. Can't wait to see where we are this time next year. just getting started.

people are sleeping on @screenstudio. What an incredible tool. Our workflow is, record flow w/ @screenstudio then add hype audio to the exported video. Creates killer product demo videos. Also new on @contra ...

Send an invoice -> get paid (commission free) -> grow your reputation -> get more leads This is the virtuous cycle we are creating on @contra running your business on Contra is one of the best ways to create stored value as an independent outside of a referral network. more to come

Jobs of the future wont be boring, and they won’t require resumes. They will require creativity and tap into what makes us truly human. We re-imagined a new professional identity based on what you can do and the outcomes you have brought to life.

I wish @framer existed when I started in design. It's so crazy what Framer enables designers to do. Truly gives us superpowers. Congrats @maxhuni_visar on getting to $100k. To celebrate, @framer is giving the @contra community 25% off your first year 🤯. (have you seen the banner?)

before yesterday, @contra hadn't done a @ProductHunt launch in years, but wow that was fun. thank you to everyone who tried Indy and voted for us. now back to work 😅

this is a spicy one 🌶️ we all see the fake $$$ and work on x and around the web .. projects built from templates that never hit production etc etc.. here is our controversial take w/ verified projects on @contra coming soon 👀

first week on the @contra community is coming to an end. only 15 people have access so far, so here are some stats: - 91 unique posts - 1.3k replies 🥳🤯 - 2.7k upvotes (not sure we are keeping this or changing) - 3 new features shipped based on community feedback @framer was the most popular topic, followed by @splinetool and @visualelectric Onboarding the next wave of members very soon thank you all for showing excitement and support for what we are building have a great weekend everyone

It’s @contra but IRL With @deereis @Danielgbright @MarkKnd @hiiinternet

2/ Rejection is one of the hardest parts about this journey. It's even harder not to take it personally. Somewhere along the way we all learn it’s more about the people who say yes. I'm super grateful to be welcoming @annbordetsky and @NEA on this journey with our team.

something new and exciting coming to @contra.. and its been a long time coming. Can't wait to show the world. It's time to take back our creative community. Join the waitlist for early access.

one of the most powerful combo's : @framer + @splinetool 🔥🔥 Sheeeeesh. Too easy on @contra

We have completely reimagined the editor experience on @contra. Big shout out to @ReardenQL for rebuilding this from the ground up. This isn't just for projects, its across our entire application and soon to be community. Exciting times ahead.

Showing what you can do has never been more important. Today @contra is launching the largest database of verified work on the internet. When you add work to your portfolio, you can verify your project with paid invoices and client recommendations. This sets a new standard that will help the creative ecosystem celebrate and discover real, production quality work.

We are creating so many new ways to get discovered and earn on @contra. just getting started. more to come very soon.

Had an EPIC time at @Epicurrence. Thanks @DannPetty and @krispuckett for putting this together. Also got to meet some twitter heroes like @graceongrid and @soren_iverson. What an epic two days with an epic group of people.

This is what its all about for our team @contra @maxhuni_visar and @deereis hitting $100k earnings using @framer on contra. Two of the most talented designers in the game right now, so we can't take that much credit.. but its the most motivating feeling to know we have created something that can help them shine. more to come. This is a huge milestone. Congrats guys 🚀

Inspired by the @DannPetty portfolio reviews. Soon, all @contra profiles and portfolios will have new OG images / social thumbnails that show off what they do and their work. All in the name of better conversion, so independents can get more clients. More to come 😍

no one: absolutely no one: contra: LIQUID GLASS CONTRA PRO BUTTON

I think competitions are set to be the most rewarding part of @contra journey so far. People get to learn new tools with a chance to earn life changing money. another huge hackathon coming your way. This time from @anythingai

throw back to our first launch video where it all started for @contra 4 years later and we are starting to roll out some of these ideas 😅

Im so excited for this one. @jittervideo x @contra fresh off the press. Love seeing designers like @driceroland and @socoloffalex using @jittervideo to make incredible animations and product videos. thanks @i_Robi for making this happen. So glad we met up at config!

Can't say this enough, getting leads on @contra is 100% about the quality of your work. Fred is insanely talented and you can tell by his work. Thats why he's getting inbound.

🤑

Chat on @contra got an insane glow up last week 🔥🔥 What do you think so far ?

this is actually crazy.. @Shopify but for @framer I have always been a big fan of @theryanhayward and the @insertframe team. New on @contra !! If you are killer at Framer, you should definitely check out @frameship_io

Our goal with the new community 💰