Forbes 30 Under 30 · Y Combinator
About David Iya
David Iya is the founder of Upwork Income Club, a structured course and community for freelancers who want to win better clients, raise their rates, and build reliable income on Upwork.
A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Y Combinator alumnus, David has shipped products that reached more than a million users across 30 different countries, generated over $70M in GMV, and raised more than $14M in venture funding - with over 18 years of experience in software.
Inside Upwork Income Club, David teaches the profile, proposal, and client systems that turn Upwork into a real income channel - grounded in real operator experience, not theory.
Areas of expertise
Articles
Rising Talent and Top Rated are not just badges. They are visibility multipliers - they change where you appear in search and how clients filter their results. Here is exactly how both work and what you need to do, in order, to earn them.
The freelancers who stay stuck at entry rates are not stuck because they lack skills - they are stuck because they never learned to reframe what they are selling. Raising your rate on Upwork is a positioning decision before it is a pricing decision.
Connects are Upwork's currency for applying to jobs. Most freelancers burn through them on jobs they have no realistic shot at winning. Here is the triage system I use to spend connects only on jobs where the math actually works in my favor.
Most Upwork proposals fail because they are written for the person sending them, not the person reading them. Here is the exact structure I use - five sections, under 200 words for most jobs - and why each section does what it does.
The first Upwork job is the hardest one. No reviews means clients skip you. Here is the exact sequence I would run if I were starting from scratch today - no shortcuts, no gimmicks, just the unglamorous work that actually moves the needle.
Built by
Upwork Income Club is built and taught by David Iya - a YC alumnus, Forbes 30 Under 30, and operator who has built products used across 30+ countries.
David IyaForbes 30 Under 30 · Y CombinatorOur team has worked with and been recognized by
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