The short version
In PYMNTS (June 17, 2019), founder and CEO Ryan Vet described Boon, a two-sided marketplace matching licensed professionals with on-demand work. He argued that traditional staffing agencies hide their fees, that "the pricing is built to be entirely transparent for both sides," and that a skilled-labor marketplace lives or dies on verifying that every worker is who they say they are.
Ryan Vet · Article in PYMNTS
In June 2019 Ryan Vet launched Boon in North Carolina's Research Triangle: a two-sided marketplace that let licensed professionals list their availability and let employers book them directly. PYMNTS, which covers payments, commerce and the digital economy, wrote about it as a digital identity story. On a marketplace for skilled work, the hardest problem isn't matching supply and demand. It's proving that the person who shows up actually holds the license they listed.
Boon started with temporary and contract medical staffing because, as Ryan told PYMNTS, that was where the old model was most visibly broken for both sides. He later extended it to other credentialed work.
Ryan's Big Takeaways
- 01
Opaque pricing hurts both sides of the deal.
The usual way to fill a short-term role was a third-party agency, with fees neither side could see. PYMNTS described hidden fees, high multiples on hourly labor and substantial subscription costs. "Practices are up against higher turnover than before and are faced with a heavily burdened overhead when it comes to bringing in new temporary team members," Ryan said. Boon's answer was to publish the price: "All parties will know exactly what they will be compensated before a shift is ever assigned. No surprises."
- 02
Give the power to the two parties doing the deal.
"Unlike many traditional temporary staffing agencies, we are giving all the power back to both the hiring party and the working party," he told PYMNTS. Listing and searching were free, and Boon charged both sides only after a job was agreed. The design bet was that workers command better rates when they deal directly with the people hiring them.
- 03
In a skilled marketplace, identity is the product.
PYMNTS pointed to the harm an unvetted worker can do and why the risk is higher in credentialed fields. Boon verified licenses, certifications and training itself, and required a third-party background check before anyone could list. That is the less glamorous half of every gig platform, and the part that decides whether a marketplace for licensed work can exist at all.
Standout Quotes
There is a desperate need for solutions here.
The pricing is built to be entirely transparent for both sides.
All parties will know exactly what they will be compensated before a shift is ever assigned. No surprises.
Unlike many traditional temporary staffing agencies, we are giving all the power back to both the hiring party and the working party.
Drag, swipe, or use the arrows to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Boon?
Boon was a two-sided marketplace founded by Ryan Vet and launched in June 2019 in North Carolina's Research Triangle. It matched licensed professionals with short-term work, starting with healthcare staffing and later extending to other credentialed work. It was acquired by CrowdfundNC in December 2020.
What did Ryan Vet tell PYMNTS about the gig economy?
Ryan Vet told PYMNTS in June 2019 that traditional staffing agencies burden employers with opaque overhead, that Boon's pricing was "built to be entirely transparent for both sides," and that a marketplace for licensed work has to verify every worker's identity and credentials before they can list.
Books, People & Sources Mentioned
- WRAL TechWire: Durham startup launches gig work app : The launch coverage PYMNTS cites.
- Crowdfund Insider: CrowdfundNC acquires Boon : The acquisition, December 2020.
Keep Exploring
- What I called on the gig economy in 2019, and what happened Explore →
- Appearance USA TODAY: what AB5 would cost consumers USA TODAY quoted Ryan Vet, then founder of the gig staffing marketplace Boon, on the night California's Senate passed AB5. He called it good for workers, warned it would "implode the gig economy as we know it today," and argued consumers were the side nobody was counting. Explore →
- speaking Futurist keynotes Explore →
Ryan writes one free essay a week. It's called Collide.
How generations are reshaping work and home. Practical, research-backed, and delivered weekly. Read it at RyanVet.com/collide.
