Faces in the Crowd

Eduardo Cruz, a Brazil-based freelance software developer with clients in North America and Europe, honed his skills over two decades before transitioning to freelance work two years ago. After quitting the tech start-up he co-founded in 2012, Cruz struggled to find work, despite his programming skills, master’s degree and Java certification. Towards the end of 2013, he was broke. It was at his lowest point that he tried his hand at freelancing — and landed his first client in Atlanta. Despite being offered a full-time job after completing that project, Cruz decided that he preferred the flexibility and excitement of freelance software development. So over the last two years, he built a successful business of his own. “I see so many people complaining about the market struggle, but I also see so many projects trying to find good developers, here and internationally,” he said. “It’s not a race, it’s a marathon.”