Here is a tool I am developing to manage tasks within my development team. This tool is inspired by task management principles laid out in the Lean Startup book. Here is the link to the demo http://kanbann.com/. Please let me know your suggestions.
Technologies used: Backbone.js, Node.js and MongoDB
I'm using oDesk for the past 3 years. It just worked fine and we are a 21 people team of developers now (from 2 people). Here's my profile http://bit.ly/vtv7Vx
Pros:
1) The hourly mode worked fine in my case. Get paid for the hours you work.
2) You don't need to send an invoice to the client. oDesk do it weekly and transfer funds to your account.
3) Good amount of money if you are living in a country like India.
4) 80% of time the employer will be an agency who outsource their work. If you are good you'll get their future projects.
Cons:
1) Most of the employers need cheap work.
2) Its difficult to find potential longterm clients and big projects.
3) You will face lots of employers who already lost money because of bad providers.
4) A single bad feedback from a bad client can make your profile rating down (the no. of bids you can make depends on the rating)
Now my team is working on 3 good startup projects through oDesk.