Freelance Designer, Minted

With the success of sites like Etsy allowing consumers to buy direct from artisans, Minted sets itself apart by holding monthly art and design challenges which are open for both submission and voting. The ‘crowd’ curates Minted’s product selection by rating products, and Minted utilizes analytics to evaluate votes. The winning designs go into production which is taken care of by Minted's fulfillment house and the designers receive a 6%-10% cut of the sales.

Its unique ‘design by upvoting’ business model has led to almost $300M in funding, with backing from Benchmark Capital and IDG Ventures. As contests draw in more designers, the company is looking to expand beyond Minted.com and into physical retail, finding new ways to use the designs and creating fresh income streams for themselves and their artists.