When Vikram Ashok quit his private-equity job at Paris-based Quilvest in late 2011, he had no plans to start freelance consulting. Ready for a change, he'd moved to Florida to golf.
But consulting found Ashok when a former portfolio company reached out for help with a short-term budgeting project. It went well, and he started freelancing regularly — which helped finance his golf pursuits for a year, and kept his professional skills sharp.
Then, inspired by his own experiences, Ashok and his lifelong friend Ashwin Krishnan, who also worked in PE, founded SpareHire, an online marketplace for freelance finance and consulting work.