Professional collaboration
UrbanTrustGet the app
Back to home

Guides

Walkthroughs for the things people actually do.

Each guide is a short sequence of steps. For one-line answers instead, try the Help Center.

Set up a profile people can act onWhat creators are looking at when they read your application, and how to give them something to work with.4 steps · 4 min read▾
  1. 1

    List the skills you would actually be hired for

    Skills are how you surface in search and how collaborations get matched to you. Be specific: "React Native" tells someone more than "mobile".

  2. 2

    Say what you want to build, not only what you have done

    Your bio is the one place you can point forward. Someone deciding whether to invite you wants to know what you are looking for.

  3. 3

    Add the links that prove it

    A portfolio, a repository, published work. One good link does more than three lines of description.

  4. 4

    Get verified

    Verification confirms you are a real person and feeds your Trust Profile. It is the part of your identity you cannot write yourself.

Start a collaborationTurning an idea into something other people can evaluate and say yes to.6 steps · 6 min read▾
  1. 1

    Pick the purpose

    Project, product, business, research, initiative or content. This sets expectations before anyone reads a word of your description.

  2. 2

    Write a title someone can answer

    Name the thing being built. "Marketplace for secondhand lab equipment" gets a decision; "Exciting new venture" gets a scroll.

  3. 3

    Describe the context, not just the ask

    What exists already, what stage it is at, and what you need help with. People decline vague collaborations because they cannot tell what they would be signing up for.

  4. 4

    Define roles and how many slots each has

    Roles are what people apply to. Splitting "designer" into "brand designer, 1 slot" and "product designer, 1 slot" gets you better applicants for each.

  5. 5

    Be explicit about compensation

    Paid, equity, revenue share, volunteer or negotiable. Whichever it is, saying so up front avoids the conversation everyone dreads three weeks in.

  6. 6

    Set the terms and the deadline

    Work arrangement, engagement type, experience level, expected duration and an application deadline. These are the filters people search on.

A collaboration is reviewed before it is published. Writing it clearly the first time is faster than resubmitting.

Screen applicants without wasting anyone’s timeGetting to the right two conversations instead of twenty.4 steps · 4 min read▾
  1. 1

    Ask two or three screening questions

    Ask what only a genuine candidate could answer: how they would approach the first week, or something specific to your domain.

  2. 2

    Require a CV or portfolio link only when you will read it

    Both are available as requirements. Asking for either raises the bar to apply, so ask when it changes your decision.

  3. 3

    Read the Trust Profile alongside the application

    Verification status and collaboration history tell you how someone has worked before, which the application itself cannot.

  4. 4

    Reply to everyone, including the no

    A short decline costs you a minute and saves someone else a week of waiting. It is also visible behaviour on a platform built around reputation.

Apply so that you get a replyWhat to do before, during and after sending an application.4 steps · 4 min read▾
  1. 1

    Read the roles and required skills first

    Apply to the role you actually fit. Applying to everything on a collaboration is visible and does not read well.

  2. 2

    Answer screening questions specifically

    These are the part a creator reads properly. A short answer about their problem beats a long answer about you.

  3. 3

    Link the most relevant thing you have made

    One piece of work close to what they are building is worth more than a full portfolio of unrelated work.

  4. 4

    Know when to move on

    Applications have deadlines and slots fill. If you have heard nothing and the slots are gone, withdraw and put the effort somewhere live.

Invite people directlyWhen to go and ask someone rather than wait for applications.3 steps · 3 min read▾
  1. 1

    Invite by email or from their profile

    An invitation names the role you want them for, so it is a concrete question rather than a vague approach.

  2. 2

    Say why them

    The note attached to an invitation is the whole pitch. One sentence about why their specific work fits does more than a paragraph about your idea.

  3. 3

    Watch the state

    Invitations are pending, accepted, declined or expired. An expired invitation is not a no. It is usually a bad week.

Run a collaboration to a clean finishThe part after everyone says yes, which is where most of them fail.6 steps · 5 min read▾
  1. 1

    Set milestones before the work starts

    Milestones and their deliverables are the shared definition of progress. Without them "how is it going?" has no answer anyone agrees on.

  2. 2

    Put every commitment in a task

    If who has something lives only in a chat message, it will be lost by the following week.

  3. 3

    Keep files in the workspace

    Files shared in DMs disappear when someone leaves. Files in the workspace stay with the collaboration.

  4. 4

    Close it properly

    Mark it complete when it is done. That record is what your collaboration history and Trust Profile are built from.

  5. 5

    Leave a review

    Reviews go both ways and are revealed to both sides at once, so neither is written in response to the other.

  6. 6

    Raise problems while they are small

    If it stalls, say so in the workspace. If it needs someone outside it, the dispute route exists for exactly that.

Looking for something shorter?

The Help Center answers single questions, and the FAQs cover the platform in general. Anything else, ask us.