| Used by | bb triage, bb verdicts |
|---|---|
| Rules | Chris' private Upwork playbook |
| Order | First match wins |
Blackbox gives every new Upwork job and invitation exactly one verdict, judged against Chris' playbook of lanes, rates, red flags, and evidence. The checks run in this order and the first match wins. Hard facts decide on their own: a job Chris already applied to, one where someone was hired, or one that is closed never reaches the judgment calls. The Connects cost always comes from Upwork, never from the model.
The ladder
FUCK NO
Sketchy, unethical, or a trap at any price: fake reviews or document fraud in the client history, link farms and fake locations, recovering fraud-flagged accounts, off-platform payment, unpaid "test" work. The label is private language and never reaches a client.
RUN
Over, unwinnable, or likely to go badly: already hired, already applied, a client silent for two weeks, a stale post, seven or more interviewing, the US excluded, a brand-new unverified client with no hires, a shopper with many posts and almost no hires, or guarantees about results nobody controls.
PASS
Legitimate but wrong for Chris: out of lane (paid media, video, design-led work, admin, link placement), rate math that fails, a fixed budget whose honest hourly rate falls under $40, or small one-offs that burn too many Connects.
APPLY (NO CONNECTS)
Invitations, or anything whose verified Connects cost is zero. Still screened for FUCK NO and RUN; never boosted.
APPLY ALL THE CONNECTS
The ones to prioritize when nearly everything lines up: fresh, a strong client with real spending and hiring history, squarely in lane with evidence to show, high value, and low competition. It means prioritize, not spend everything: Blackbox names a bounded boost and why, and boosts only with Chris' yes.
APPLY
Live, legitimate, in lane, a client who can pay about $40 an hour or more, manageable competition, and something specific and verifiable to say about their site in the first line.
See also
- Blackbox commands, the Upwork group
- Blackbox