1840 & Company Review – Is It Real or Fake?

I was looking to hire someone to help my work and stumbled upon this fairly new job marketplace site, 1840 & Company. The site looks great but I’m not sure if it’s fully working as it should be. I found myself growing increasingly confused as I searched for more information. 

One of the fastest ways for new freelancers to build their careers is no doubt, through marketplaces. But for a business owner who’s in need of human resources, transparency and trust relationships matter the most. In that respect, I am slightly sceptical about 1840 & Company and I’d like to share my thoughts with you in this review today.

Finding someone to hire is no easier when it comes to job marketplaces online. There are more candidates online, more potentials from all across the world, half of them are probably fake, and shortlisting can be a lot more time-consuming. A lot of job agents can be found online, none of whom you know personally. It’s a recruitment process after all. 

*** November 2022 Update:

Jay, the marketing manager of 1840 & Company has got in touch with me and kindly explained to me why the website didn't look like a conventional recruitment site - mainly because (a) the company deals with corporate clients, and therefore (b) the online presence is not their primary focus. It does make sense. This is what he said;

"We (1840 & Co) work largely with more corporate entities and venture-backed startups (5m+ in seed round funding). We are not the best fit for entrepreneurs as Fiverr or Upwork would most likely be the best platform for them. 

Our background is largely in BPO, especially in call center operations where we typically seat at least 25+ staff at a time – sometimes thousands for our largest clients. Given that nature, we haven’t had much of a need for an online presence, although last year we have been scaling our managed freelance services more. 

But to clarify, this model would be more of a vetted, managed marketplace where we match talent directly for the client (no job posting or backend platform that you might think of with Upwork). Think of this more like a recruiting/staffing agency where we recruit and vet remote teams for the client, but can do so on a freelance or outsourced basis. 

If a client signs up through our website and their inquiry seems legitimate, then we do assign a client success manager to talk with them. We also have case studies that we can send over and often go through 3 rounds or more of calls with them before they signup.

I’m shocked to hear that you reached out to us about hiring and no one contacted you back. I do apologize for that. If you would still be interested, you can email *** directly at ***@1840andco.com to schedule a call and discuss your hiring needs and also learn more about our process." 

(I have removed the email address for security reasons.)

Thank you Jay for your explanation, greatly appreciated.

What is 1840 & Company?

1840 & Company is a recruitment and outsourcing agency. The site claims to help businesses grow by building a team for them, i.e. providing human resources. It is also said to be “actively seeking seasoned professionals” which means the company focuses on supplying temporary job seekers and freelancers.

On the homepage, there is mention of creating an "individualized, sustainable" business plan for the clients. But whether it provides consulting services or not is unclear.

The domain 1840andco.com was privately registered in September 2020. However, according to LinkedIn, the business was founded by Bryan DiGiorgio in December 2020. He lists himself as the founder, CEO, and Managing Director of the company. But he does not appear anywhere on the 1840andco.com website.

Covered Job Categories

According to the “What We Do” page, 1840 & Company covers the following areas.

• Marketing - freelancers include; email marketers, branding experts, content marketers, SEO experts, PPC experts, social media marketers, analysis, and HubSpot experts.
• Finance - freelancers include; CPAs (certified public accountants), financial planners, analysts, tax preparers, accounts receivable/payable clerks, financial controllers, and bookkeepers.
• Sales - freelancers include; outbound sales reps, sales development reps, and business development reps.
• Development - Freelance developers who cover; Python, SQL, Linux, WordPress, Shopify, PHP, Webflow, CSS, and Javascript.
• Call Centre - sales, technical support, customer service.
• Sales Agency - appointment setting, sales development, business development.
• Recruitment - outsourcing service covers; sales, marketing, IT, finance, call centre, and healthcare.
• Backoffice - outsourcing service covers; data entry, translation, transcription, machine learning, online research, data annotation, content moderation, data cleansing & enrichment, and virtual assistant jobs.

As far as the list is concerned, 1840 & Company basically covers any remote work type. The problem is, that the job titles and types are harshly listed that some of them seem to contradict each other.

Take the Finance listing, for example. Financial Controller is a job title, whereas CPA (certified public accountant) is a qualification. So if I ran a big company and would like to hire a Financial Controller, I’d like to make sure that the person is qualified, but would also like to know which qualifications they have.

It would be great to see a real, current list of resource availability, not just random job types.

*** November update:

Jay also says;

"In terms of pricing, we offer a custom package for businesses as our services are exclusively geared towards the needs of the individual business and the talent.

For example, if a client needs a bookkeeper, we can provide them with one, but the rates vary based on the bookkeeper's geolocation, experience, skillset, time needed, and so forth. Another example would be if a client needs 2000 customer service reps.

Our pricing would change based on quantity as well. We do work largely venture backed companies, which would make us a very different choice from Fiverr or Upwork where individuals can create accounts, post jobs and message each other on the platform."

How You Actually Start with 1840 & Company

Initially, I thought 1840 & Company was a job marketplace, and it did publish a press release in January 2022 to say it had launched a new “marketplace”. But the website has no live information. No personalised portal is provided (i.e. you cannot sign up and set up your 1840 & Co account). It means effectively, the company is functioning as a recruitment agency. 

Whether you are a job seeker or a recruiter, you will need to fill in the form, and someone from 1840 will come back to you to discuss anything any further. I did fill in the form a week ago to ask for more information about hiring a freelancer, but unfortunately, nobody has come back to me to this date.

Likewise, a chat facility is there on the site but seems to be inactive - I have tried to send some questions a few times but no one seems to be available at all. 

Ambiguous Descriptions

The biggest problem I have is the fact that the whole site is full of ambiguous, fancy words. I don’t understand any of it in a practical sense.

“Its services are designed with the breadth and depth to bridge the gaps in your resource needs…whatever they may be.” Well, what are they!?

In fact, not just the 1840 & Co website but both the press releases and Facebook page are also full of big words that mean very little, paragraph after paragraph;

“...retain exceptional people whose synergetic skillset accelerates startups to become enterprises…”

It’s the exact kind of expression that you don’t want to see on any service website, you know. Because website content should represent the style of the service. They talk like that on the website, then they’ll probably talk like that to you when you work with them, you see what I mean? Imagine every time you want a straightforward step by step guidance, you receive a paragraph full of nonsensical words…that would be a nightmare.

I haven’t spoken to anyone from 1840 & Co (because they don’t respond to my messages!) But you’re most likely to end up banging your head against a wall when you communicate with people who keep throwing big, fancy words. You may already know that from your life experience. 

“Fractional” Resources

The very first thing I wanted to learn about 1840 & Company would be how the system works, and there’s indeed a top menu named “How It Works”, so I clicked it. Unfortunately, I don’t understand what the page is trying to say. In my opinion, descriptions are all over the place and it just does not tell me how it works.

The page describes that 1840 & Co provides “fractional” services, meaning “flexible team members who fill your needs through freelancing or outsourcing, to help you resolve short or long-term issues.”

It makes me wonder why they call it “fractional” instead of “flexible” but anyway, I think it would be good if they could elaborate on it. I mean, any service provider from any industry in this world offers some level of flexibility. 

How It Works and What They Do

Furthermore, what I’m confused about is the 2 service options listed on the “How It Works” page and the 2 service types listed on the “What We Do” page. The site doesn’t seem to tell you how the 2 and 2 go together - it doesn't tell you how it works!

The 2 options on the “How It Works” page are;

• “Client Led - Freelancers will deliver fractional (i.e. flexible) services to meet your needs.”
• “1840 Led - 1840 & Co will handle your business needs and refine your operations.”

My interpretation is that, with the first option, 1840 & Company will simply send you a freelancer. Whereas with the second option, 1840 & Co offers to deliver a business consultancy service - but the detail is not explained and it has no portfolio to prove the credentials.

The 2 options on the “What We Do” page are;

• “Vetted Global Marketplace” - Connect with and hire expert freelancers. Job areas to cover: Marketing, Finance, Sales, or Development.
• “Global Managed Services” - 1840 & Co’s outsourcing services, tailored to your needs. Job areas to cover: Contact Center, Sales Agency, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, and “Back Office”.

Now, the difference between these two is unclear, as “hiring an expert” and “outsourcing” are the same thing. It may be that the first one is with individual freelancers, and the second one is with specialist companies, so 1840 serves as a middleman? I’m only guessing.

Non-Transparency Issues

I believe 1840 & Company lacks complete transparency with its users for several reasons.

The Absence of Real People

As I mentioned earlier, 1840 & Company is said to be owned by Bryan DiGiorgio. But his name is not even mentioned on the website. All the photos on the site are stock photos, not a single photo of a member of staff.

Office Rental Addresses

Two addresses are listed on the website, one in Kansas, and the other one in the Philippines; 

• 5440 W. 110th St, Building 2, Suite 300, Overland Park, KS 66211
• RCBC Plaza, 6819 Ayala Ave, Yuchengco Tower 1, 30F Metro Manila, Philippines

When I checked these addresses on Google Maps, they come up as office address rental spaces. The company name “1840 & Company” against these addresses is not tagged by Google. 

If a business address is shown, I would like to know more about it - how many people work there and what they actually do in the office. Do the offices really exist?

No Proof of Workforce

1840 & Company claims to have so many hundred “workforce” connections in each continent. But there’s no evidence of it.

No testimonial by the existing users (neither freelancers nor clients). Well, there are a couple of testimonials, but they’re both full of bombastic words that don’t mean anything. 

I think you know what this means, but I would like to hear something more practical. “The data 1840 & Co provided allowed us to identify skill gaps to address with our team to improve audits and interactions…” What data? What did 1840 & Co actually do?

I’d rather like to see the real voice of real people there, not just numbers.

Rates and Payment Terms

As a client, you have no idea how much you're being charged, because there are no indications of fees anywhere on the site. 

But the Terms of Service page clearly states payment terms via the site. Shipping charges are also mentioned. This suggests that 1840 & Company either was selling goods or is planning to sell goods? 

The harsh no-refund policy - “All sales are final and no refund will be issued” - sounds pretty suspicious, doesn’t it? Throughout the website, 1840 & Co boasts about the quality of its services. But once they’ve got the money, they’ll never refund it under any circumstances. No reason is explained. That doesn’t sound right to me.