Meet Worksible, Winner of Startups of the Year 2024 in Community of Madrid and Generative AI

The special Startups of The Year 2024 Winners Interview series is a celebration of all this year’s Tech Champions. You’ve earned it! The HackerNoon community can’t wait to learn more about your journey!

Tell us about you.

I'm Sergio Conejo, founder and CEO of Worksible — a startup born from one simple idea: that work shouldn’t feel like a cage. At Worksible, we’re building the future of work — one that’s flexible, meaningful, and centered around purpose and talent. Our mission is to connect the best freelance talent with projects that matter, while redefining what it means to work, grow, and belong in the digital age.

Tell us how your startup is changing the world.

Worksible is not just a marketplace — it’s a movement.

We're using AI to match freelancers and companies based on skills, culture fit, and mission alignment. But more than that, we're building a platform that helps people find purpose through work. Our long-term goal? To become the backbone of the purpose economy — where your job isn't just a way to pay bills, but a way to leave a mark.

What sets you apart from the competition?

Worksible lives what it preaches.

We don't just promote remote work and flexibility — we live it. This April, we brought 10 members of our team to Portugal for a full month to rethink, rebuild and reimagine our company from the inside out.

We call it the Worksible House — a space where team culture, speed, and innovation collide.

Also, we’ve built our own AI engine — WorkAI— that not only matches freelancers to projects, but helps companies design better briefs, estimate budgets, and accelerate onboarding.

Our vision is guided by a deep manifesto: a future where tech liberates people, not replaces them.

What does it mean for you to win this title?

Being recognized by HackerNoon — not once, but twice — means the world to us.

In 2023, we won Startup of the Year. In 2024, we’ve done it again — this time in two categories: Community of Madrid and Generative AI, out of 15,000+ votes.

It’s proof that staying consistent, focused and purpose-driven pays off.

What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to set out for this mission?

What stands out about the Worksible team is the level of alignment around the mission. Everyone is here because they believe in changing the way we work — not just optimizing it, but redefining it from the ground up.

This isn’t just a group of employees; it’s a team of individuals who care deeply about building something meaningful. We combine strong technical skills with a constant drive to question, iterate, and improve — always with a shared sense of ownership and ambition.

We’re suited for this mission because we don’t just talk about the future of work — we actively shape it. That clarity of purpose is what keeps us moving forward, even when the path isn’t obvious.

Looking back, what milestone was the biggest turning point for your startup?

One of the most important turning points for Worksible was when we shifted our mindset from iterating on a product to redefining the foundation of what we were building. Instead of trying to fix isolated features, we zoomed out and questioned everything — our value proposition, our user flows, and even our company structure.

This shift allowed us to achieve much clearer product-market fit. We stopped thinking like a freelance platform and started operating like a system designed to empower purpose-driven work. That reframing changed how we build, how we communicate, and how we grow.

What’s one valuable lesson you learned this year that you’d pass on to other startups?

You don’t always need to move faster — sometimes, you need to pause, zoom out, and ask if you’re heading in the right direction.

In 2024, we learned that reinvention is part of the journey. You can’t cling to what worked yesterday and expect it to carry you into tomorrow. Startups often associate change with failure, but sometimes change is just the cost of getting it right.

How do you envision your industry evolving in the coming years, and how will your startup stay ahead?

The freelance industry is evolving from a transactional gig economy into a more sophisticated and purpose-driven ecosystem. Companies are looking for flexibility, but also for quality and cultural alignment. Freelancers are looking for more than just projects — they’re seeking meaning, community, and long-term growth.

We believe AI will play a central role in enabling this transition, but it has to be guided by human insight. At Worksible, we’re investing heavily in AI tools that don’t replace people, but amplify their ability to find the right opportunities, collaborate better, and grow.

By staying close to our users and moving fast on product innovation, we aim to lead this shift — not just follow it.

How do you or your company intend to embrace the responsibility of this title in 2025?

Winning this title is a signal of trust and momentum, and we don’t take it lightly. In 2025, we’ll use this recognition as a platform to share more openly, lead with more clarity, and build with more intention.

We want to show, not just tell, what the future of work can look like. That means continuing to build in public, launching tools that genuinely improve the freelance experience, and creating a community that inspires action — not just engagement.

What goals are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2025?

In 2025, we’re focused on a few core goals:

• x4 our revenue & GMV
• Launching our AI-powered assistant to support freelancers in finding, planning, and managing their work more effectively.
• Expanding our marketplace with new verticals and tailored solutions for companies with ongoing freelance needs.
• Scaling our presence worlwide, where we see strong demand for talent and purpose-aligned platforms.
• Doubling down on our vision of combining technology, community, and purpose into one unified product experience.

2024 has been crazy, with all the new techs, and all the geopolitics fluctuations. What are the impacts of these to your startup, and to your industry as a whole? Be as brief or as detailed as you like.

2024 has accelerated everything — from AI to remote work adoption, and even broader questions around productivity and human potential.

For startups like Worksible, this environment has been both a challenge and an opportunity. We’ve had to stay lean, adaptable, and deeply connected to user behavior. The global nature of talent is more visible than ever, but so is the need for better systems to manage that complexity.

AI has helped us automate parts of our matching process, assist companies in defining their needs better, and support freelancers in showcasing their strengths. But ultimately, technology is only valuable when it enables real human outcomes — and that’s where we continue to focus.

We would love your feedback on HackerNoon as a tech publication! How has your experience been with us?

HackerNoon stands out for giving startups a real voice. The platform feels accessible, community-driven, and focused on substance over hype. It’s been a great space to share our journey and connect with others building in tech. We hope you keep growing while staying true to your editorial soul — that’s what makes you different.

Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?

Don’t build to impress — build to transform.

Success doesn’t come from doing what’s trendy, but from solving real problems in your own way.

And if something feels too comfortable… it’s probably time to break it.