Outside The Valley

Outside The Valley Transistor (https://transistor.fm)

https://feeds.transistor.fm/outside-the-valley

Where startup leaders get real about what it's really like to build remote teams. 2019 Arc en Wed, 01 Jul 2020 02:00:00 -0700 Sat, 01 Aug 2020 02:39:08 -0700 https://podcast.arc.dev https://images.transistor.fm/file/transistor/images/show/3207/full_1566191606-artwork.jpg Outside The Valley https://podcast.arc.dev Jovian Gautama at Arc Where startup leaders get real about what it's really like to build remote teams. No No episodic Jovian Gautama at Arc Where startup leaders get real about what it's really like to build remote teams. Where startup leaders get real about what it's really like to build remote teams.. remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team Jovian Gautama jovian@arc.dev No No No Chris Ruder (Spikeball): Shaping Up Your Company's Culture and Values 30 Chris Ruder (Spikeball): Shaping Up Your Company's Culture and Values full No No d49186ff-6072-4a23-a067-58426ce52308 https://share.transistor.fm/s/13dfadc6 In this episode, we talked about how shaping up company culture and values, the “a-ha” moment when Chris realized that an office is not really required to get things done, how Chris deliberately works on processes and culture within the company, and his advice for companies starting out with remote work. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

The history of SpikeBall
Why playfulness and kindness is essential to SpikeBall’s company culture
Identifying traits that makes someone suitable for remote work during the interview process
SpikeBall’s onboarding process for new employees

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 01 Jul 2020 02:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3016 In this episode, we talked about how shaping up company culture and values, the “a-ha” moment when Chris realized that an office is not really required to get things done, how Chris deliberately works on processes and culture within the company, and his advice for companies starting out with remote work. In this episode, we talked about how shaping up company culture and values, the “a-ha” moment when Chris realized that an office is not really required to get things done, how Chris deliberately works on processes and culture within the company, and his a remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Recruiting and Remote Work in a Post-COVID World 29 Recruiting and Remote Work in a Post-COVID World full No No 312647bc-94ad-4672-abb7-873f5420e722 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c4faea50 This week’s episode is a replay of our recent webinar Recruiting and Remote Work in a Post-COVID World. We invited remote work thought leaders to talk about how the recruiting landscape will shift in the “post-COVID” world, how remote work will play a huge role in employer branding, building the infrastructure for your remote team, and more. Topics also covered in this episode:

How recruiting teams can adapt to shifts in the talent market.
Creating a job description that attracts the right candidate.
Purposefully building infrastructure so your remote team can be sustainable and succeed.
The importance of culture when bringing new hires together in remote teams.
Practices or processes that might continue even after the pandemic is over.
Soft skills recruiters should be screening for when evaluating remote candidates.

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 09 Jun 2020 07:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3495 This week’s episode is a replay of our recent webinar Recruiting and Remote Work in a Post-COVID World. We invited remote work thought leaders to talk about how the recruiting landscape will shift in the “post-COVID” world, how remote work will play a huge role in employer branding, building the infrastructure for your remote team, and more. This week’s episode is a replay of our recent webinar Recruiting and Remote Work in a Post-COVID World. We invited remote work thought leaders to talk about how the recruiting landscape will shift in the “post-COVID” world, how remote work will play a remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Jennifer Aldrich (InVision) - Why Remote Work is More Than a Job Perk 28 Jennifer Aldrich (InVision) - Why Remote Work is More Than a Job Perk full No No 6acdaf2d-f57d-4f3f-a225-b8bc1535561a https://share.transistor.fm/s/b1d98ce9 In this episode, we talked about how InVision’s culture has adapted to their rapid growth, how their “design-first principle” has impacted their culture, the difference between a community and an audience, and her personal story on how remote work changed her life. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How culture and onboarding evolved at InVision as they experienced rapid growth
What companies should know about building a community
Challenges Jennifer faced as a community builder
Why remote work is a life-changer for disabled individuals
Advice for remote job-seekers

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 27 May 2020 01:30:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2645 In this episode, we talked about how InVision’s culture has adapted to their rapid growth, how their “design-first principle” has impacted their culture, the difference between a community and an audience, and her personal story on how remote work changed her life. In this episode, we talked about how InVision’s culture has adapted to their rapid growth, how their “design-first principle” has impacted their culture, the difference between a community and an audience, and her personal story on how remote work changed remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Remote Engineering Team Best Practices (AMA with TaxJar and Help Scout) 27 Remote Engineering Team Best Practices (AMA with TaxJar and Help Scout) full No No 12c2e431-f429-42df-8628-5233f329fef0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/40a3da66 Another special episode this week! This is the first Outside the Valley episode not hosted by me (you’re welcome). This week’s episode is a replay of our recent AMA session with CTO of TaxJar Matt Anderson. The AMA was hosted by our VP of Sales Mike Fossi, and a special co-host: VP of Engineering of Help Scout (and previous podcast guest), Megan Chinburg. It’s a conversation between engineering leaders of two awesome remote companies talking about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their teams, figuring out processes and goal setting, and how they go about hiring the right person for their teams. Topics also covered in this episode:

How COVID-19 pandemic has affected Matt and Megan’s working routines
How Matt and Megan kept the morale and culture of their engineering teams intact during this challenging time
How they go about figuring out meetings and setting goals for their teams
The hiring processes and interview questions at TaxJar and Help Scout

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 13 May 2020 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2978 Another special episode this week! This is the first Outside the Valley episode not hosted by me (you’re welcome). This week’s episode is a replay of our recent AMA session with CTO of TaxJar Matt Anderson. The AMA was hosted by our VP of Sales Mike Fossi, and a special co-host: VP of Engineering of Help Scout (and previous podcast guest), Megan Chinburg. It’s a conversation between engineering leaders of two awesome remote companies talking about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their teams, figuring out processes and goal setting, and how they go about hiring the right person for their teams. Another special episode this week! This is the first Outside the Valley episode not hosted by me (you’re welcome). This week’s episode is a replay of our recent AMA session with CTO of TaxJar Matt Anderson. The AMA was hosted by our VP of Sales Mike F remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Brooke Hurford (Workfrom) - Building a Community of Remote Workers 26 Brooke Hurford (Workfrom) - Building a Community of Remote Workers full No No 1cf319ba-8341-4382-a3d6-349b0d6a86c3 https://share.transistor.fm/s/05e588d6 For this week’s episode, we have Brooke Hurford, COO and co-founder of Workfrom, a platform connecting professionals to real-world spaces and virtual offices. We talked about how Workfrom is designed to help remote workers interact better, the benefits of remote work to local communities, how Techstars mentorship helped her and her co-founder, and more. Topics also covered in this episode:

Why Brooke was initially attracted to remote work
Brooke’s experiences with isolation while working remotely
How Workfrom helps remote workers to interact with each other
How Brooke thinks COVID-19 will impact the dynamics of remote work in the future
Why remote work is a big benefit to local communities

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 06 May 2020 02:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2318 For this week’s episode, we have Brooke Hurford, COO and co-founder of Workfrom, a platform connecting professionals to real-world spaces and virtual offices. We talked about how Workfrom is designed to help remote workers interact better, the benefits of remote work to local communities, how Techstars mentorship helped her and her co-founder, and more. For this week’s episode, we have Brooke Hurford, COO and co-founder of Workfrom, a platform connecting professionals to real-world spaces and virtual offices. We talked about how Workfrom is designed to help remote workers interact better, the benefit remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No All About Pair Programming: AMA with Ben Orenstein of Tuple 25 All About Pair Programming: AMA with Ben Orenstein of Tuple full No No 5098549e-db45-4e49-ba23-abcc28354731 https://share.transistor.fm/s/242fcd6a Welcome back! For this week’s episode, we’re going to replay our live AMA session with Ben Orenstein, co-founder and CEO of Tuple. We covered a lot of grounds in this session, including the benefits of pair programming in remote teams, best practices in pairing, the ups and downs of running a bootstrapped startup, and more! You can also find a simplified version of the transcript below. Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 28 Apr 2020 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3315 Welcome back! For this week’s episode, we’re going to replay our live AMA session with Ben Orenstein, co-founder and CEO of Tuple. We covered a lot of grounds in this session, including the benefits of pair programming in remote teams, best practices in pairing, the ups and downs of running a bootstrapped startup, and more! You can also find a simplified version of the transcript below. Welcome back! For this week’s episode, we’re going to replay our live AMA session with Ben Orenstein, co-founder and CEO of Tuple. We covered a lot of grounds in this session, including the benefits of pair programming in remote teams, best practices i remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Remote Work FAQs - a Chat with the Arc Team 24 Remote Work FAQs - a Chat with the Arc Team full No No f11b2d43-3fa9-4f4e-b9fa-66a05000d8c6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0d0e398b This week we have a special episode on the podcast! In this episode, we have our very first roundtable chat with other Arc team members. During this chat, we talk about our recently-launched Remote Work FAQs. We created this resource hoping to help companies who need to go remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode’s guests are members of different teams at Arc. We get their perspective on how the current remote work transition has been affecting their team, processes, and more. Joining us in this episode are our Head of Marketing Christine Orchard, Hiring Consultant Emiliano Rodriguez-Wyler, and Front-end Engineer Ting Chang! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How our communication style and processes have evolved
How we designed our workspaces at home
Handling criticism and feedback in remote teams
How remote work affected our routines and daily life

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2020 02:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3239 This week we have a special episode on the podcast! In this episode, we have our very first roundtable chat with other Arc team members. During this chat, we talk about our recently-launched Remote Work FAQs. We created this resource hoping to help companies who need to go remote because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode’s guests are members of different teams at Arc. We get their perspective on how the current remote work transition has been affecting their team, processes, and more. Joining us in this episode are our Head of Marketing Christine Orchard, Hiring Consultant Emiliano Rodriguez-Wyler, and Front-end Engineer Ting Chang! This week we have a special episode on the podcast! In this episode, we have our very first roundtable chat with other Arc team members. During this chat, we talk about our recently-launched Remote Work FAQs. We created this resource hoping to help com remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Darren Murph (GitLab) - Why Companies Should Go All-Remote 23 Darren Murph (GitLab) - Why Companies Should Go All-Remote full No No 4d4383b2-7ab7-4f1d-b0cd-59133ffff95e https://share.transistor.fm/s/a988488d This week on the podcast, we have Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab, book author, and Guinness World Record holder! We talked about why GitLab uses “all-remote” to describe the company’s remote identity, how hybrid model remote teams can lead to anxiety and guilt, GitLab’s handbook-first approach, and why “story-telling ability” is essential in remote teams. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How Darren got the rare title of “Head of Remote”
Why GitLab choose “all-remote” as their company identity
Why hybrid remote teams can lead to guilt and burnout
Why “storytelling ability” is important in GitLab
GitLab’s “handbook-first” approach
Darren answering questions from Twitter

Mentioned resources:

]]> Wed, 08 Apr 2020 00:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3214 This week on the podcast, we have Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab, book author, and Guinness World Record holder! We talked about why GitLab uses “all-remote” to describe the company’s remote identity, how hybrid model remote teams can lead to anxiety and guilt, GitLab’s handbook-first approach, and why “story-telling ability” is essential in remote teams. This week on the podcast, we have Darren Murph, Head of Remote at GitLab, book author, and Guinness World Record holder! We talked about why GitLab uses “all-remote” to describe the company’s remote identity, how hybrid model remote teams can lead to anxi gitlab, remote work, tech startups, distributed team, remote team, startups, darren murph No No Steph Smith (Integral Labs) - The Main Qualities of Effective Leadership 22 Steph Smith (Integral Labs) - The Main Qualities of Effective Leadership full No No 4c05510d-fddd-4e47-affc-595458cc9046 https://share.transistor.fm/s/1a7356b3 Outside the Valley is back! Today we have Steph Smith, author, developer, and Senior Analyst at The Hustle! In this episode, we talked about the “give and take” approach in remote hiring and why you should actively hire “givers”, the three must-have aspects of effective leadership, how to be a better communicator through deliberate practice, and more! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

What attracted Steph to remote work
The “give and take” approach in remote hiring
How Steph learned to be a better communicator
Can you deliberately train communication skills?
How to encourage top-down empathy in an organization
Why humility should be at the core of leadership
The three must-have qualities of effective leadership
Frameworks for remote decision making
Is there a middle ground between “delegating” and “being hands-on” for CEOs?
How Steph adapted to remote life and still finding time to be creative

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 31 Mar 2020 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3171 Outside the Valley is back! Today we have Steph Smith, author, developer, and Senior Analyst at The Hustle! In this episode, we talked about the “give and take” approach in remote hiring and why you should actively hire “givers”, the three must-have aspects of effective leadership, how to be a better communicator through deliberate practice, and more! Outside the Valley is back! Today we have Steph Smith, author, developer, and Senior Analyst at The Hustle! In this episode, we talked about the “give and take” approach in remote hiring and why you should actively hire “givers”, the three must-have as remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Laurel Farrer (Distribute Consulting) - Re-skilling Via Remote Work 21 Laurel Farrer (Distribute Consulting) - Re-skilling Via Remote Work full No No 7c2e880d-604b-430f-b047-736c9770a50d https://share.transistor.fm/s/50d597ec Today we have Laurel Ferrer, CEO of Distribute Consulting and founder of the Remote Work Association! In this episode, we talked about how remote work can help the development of rural areas by enabling entrepreneurship, strengthening local technology culture, and re-training the local workforce to utilize their skills for remote work opportunities. We also talked about how to measure the impact of transitioning a company to remote-first or fully distributed, how to measure productivity costs, and why remote work is not just limited to the tech industry. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How Laurel persuaded the executives of his previous company to experiment with remote work
Why Laurel thinks compliance is the number one thing companies should figure out before going remote
How Laurel measures the cost of transitioning to remote work (as well as the metrics for measuring whether this transition has been successful)
Why remote work can strengthen local technology culture
How remote work can enable both re-skilling and up-skilling
How the right training can enable older members of the workforce to get modern remote opportunities
How can leaders help new remote workers develop their [self-discipline](https://arc.dev/blog/self-discipline-remote-work-8se6kn8qyr) (without micromanaging!)

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 03 Mar 2020 03:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3079 Today we have Laurel Ferrer, CEO of Distribute Consulting and founder of the Remote Work Association! In this episode, we talked about how remote work can help the development of rural areas by enabling entrepreneurship, strengthening local technology culture, and re-training the local workforce to utilize their skills for remote work opportunities. We also talked about how to measure the impact of transitioning a company to remote-first or fully distributed, how to measure productivity costs, and why remote work is not just limited to the tech industry. Today we have Laurel Ferrer, CEO of Distribute Consulting and founder of the Remote Work Association! In this episode, we talked about how remote work can help the development of rural areas by enabling entrepreneurship, strengthening local technology remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Ken Weary (Hotjar) - How to Regain Productivity in Your Remote Team 20 Ken Weary (Hotjar) - How to Regain Productivity in Your Remote Team full No No c88ce258-9cd5-495a-96af-741c9d1c85e9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/ea3b8934 Today we have Ken Weary, VP of Operations at Hotjar! In this episode, we talked about the reason why Hotjar prefers asynchronous communication, why software tools aren’t as important, and the “Tribes” system Hotjar uses in project ownership. We also talked about Hotjar’s onboarding process, meeting culture, documentation principles, and why being a self-starter is the number one attribute to have as a remote worker. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How Ken and his spouse manage their children’s education while being digital nomads
Why Hotjar decided to always default to asynchronous communication whenever possible
How Hotjar realized that productivity was going down
Hotjar’s meeting culture and requirements
How Hotjar’s utilizes the “Tribes” system in project ownership
Why being a self-starter is important as a remote worker
Hotjar’s onboarding process and documentation principles

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 25 Feb 2020 01:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2903 Today we have Ken Weary, VP of Operations at Hotjar! In this episode, we talked about the reason why Hotjar prefers asynchronous communication, why software tools aren’t as important, and the “Tribes” system Hotjar uses in project ownership. We also talked about Hotjar’s onboarding process, meeting culture, documentation principles, and why being a self-starter is the number one attribute to have as a remote worker. Today we have Ken Weary, VP of Operations at Hotjar! In this episode, we talked about the reason why Hotjar prefers asynchronous communication, why software tools aren’t as important, and the “Tribes” system Hotjar uses in project ownership. We also remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Fred Perrotta (Tortuga Backpacks) - Encourage Remote Team Risk-Taking 19 Fred Perrotta (Tortuga Backpacks) - Encourage Remote Team Risk-Taking full No No 2f6b742b-2e2d-404f-a30a-2626ecb0f7eb https://share.transistor.fm/s/37300b10 Today we have Fred Perrotta, Co-founder and CEO of Tortuga Backpacks! In this episode, we talked about the challenges of developing a physical product when you’re a 100% distributed team, building an epic place to work, and applying the principle of “players and coaches” in your company. We also talked about Fred’s million-dollar mistake, how to figure out if someone can be a good remote worker, and why you should always do project post-mortems. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

The challenges of developing a physical product as a 100% remote company
How you can create an “epic place to work”
How Fred applies the principle of “gentle guidance” as a remote leader
Tortuga’s hiring process
Signals to find out if someone can work remotely well
Fred’s one million dollar mistake
The importance of project post-mortems in remote teams

Mentioned resources:

]]> Mon, 17 Feb 2020 04:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3064 Today we have Fred Perrotta, Co-founder and CEO of Tortuga Backpacks! In this episode, we talked about the challenges of developing a physical product when you’re a 100% distributed team, building an epic place to work, and applying the principle of “players and coaches” in your company. We also talked about Fred’s million-dollar mistake, how to figure out if someone can be a good remote worker, and why you should always do project post-mortems. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Today we have Fred Perrotta, Co-founder and CEO of Tortuga Backpacks! In this episode, we talked about the challenges of developing a physical product when you’re a 100% distributed team, building an epic place to work, and applying the principle of “p remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Jesse Mecham (YNAB) - Building a Helpful & Kind Remote Team Culture 18 Jesse Mecham (YNAB) - Building a Helpful & Kind Remote Team Culture full No No 28b19a61-bbe8-4d23-acd7-3a346b0cf8d6 https://share.transistor.fm/s/af440aad Today we have Jesse Mecham, Founder and CEO of You Need A Budget (YNAB)! In this episode, we talked about how Jesse started YNAB in 2004 and how it evolved to be a remote company, his approach in delivering feedback and criticism, and the deliberate steps that Jesse took along the years to become a better remote leader Jesse also shared about YNAB’s cultural manifesto, unique questions the team uses to assess new team members, and the impact of remote work on Jesse’s family life. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How Jesse started YNAB back in 2004 and found his CTO remotely
How Jesse delivers feedback and criticism as a remote CEO
YNAB’s unique ritual for all-hands meetings
YNAB’s hiring and onboarding process
The growing pains experienced while scaling a remote company
The unique interview questions that YNAB asks when hiring
Jesse’s past mistake in hiring and how YNAB learned from it
How remote work has influenced Jesse’s family life

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.

]]> Tue, 11 Feb 2020 02:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2628 Today we have Jesse Mecham, Founder and CEO of You Need A Budget (YNAB)! In this episode, we talked about how Jesse started YNAB in 2004 and how it evolved to be a remote company, his approach in delivering feedback and criticism, and the deliberate steps that Jesse took along the years to become a better remote leader Jesse also shared about YNAB’s cultural manifesto, unique questions the team uses to assess new team members, and the impact of remote work on Jesse’s family life. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Today we have Jesse Mecham, Founder and CEO of You Need A Budget (YNAB)! In this episode, we talked about how Jesse started YNAB in 2004 and how it evolved to be a remote company, his approach in delivering feedback and criticism, and the deliberate st remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Max Makeev (Owl Labs) - Making Remote Meetings Better 17 Max Makeev (Owl Labs) - Making Remote Meetings Better full No No 2bc46f41-ce46-4af8-9855-840c6c331c3d https://share.transistor.fm/s/12d015d2 Today we have Max Makeev, Co-founder of Owl Labs, the company that created the Meeting Owl. This is the first-ever episode that we recorded live in Arc’s office, so the audio is noticeably different! In this episode, we covered how their flagship product, Meeting Owl, was created, and the struggles Max and his co-founder faced in the early days of Owl Labs, We also talked about the unique challenges of building a hardware startup, how Max prepares for — and runs — meetings, and his learning/challenges faced when he was still the CEO of Owl Labs. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How Max started in the world of robotics and helped created Roomba
The very first prototype of Meeting Owl
How Max and his co-founder found early adopters and gathered feedback
How can a hardware startup vet their suppliers?
Does a 100% distributed team need a Meeting Owl?
Unique use-cases of Meeting Owl
Max’s number one piece of advice for founders who want to be better at meetings
The most important things Max learned when he was still the CEO
Why Max had to record an apology video for customers
How Max thinks remote work will affect the future
What’s next for Owl Labs

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.

]]> Tue, 04 Feb 2020 04:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3513 Today we have Max Makeev, Co-founder of Owl Labs, the company that created the Meeting Owl. This is the first-ever episode that we recorded live in Arc’s office, so the audio is noticeably different! In this episode, we covered how their flagship product, Meeting Owl, was created, and the struggles Max and his co-founder faced in the early days of Owl Labs, We also talked about the unique challenges of building a hardware startup, how Max prepares for — and runs — meetings, and his learning/challenges faced when he was still the CEO of Owl Labs. Today we have Max Makeev, Co-founder of Owl Labs, the company that created the Meeting Owl. This is the first-ever episode that we recorded live in Arc’s office, so the audio is noticeably different! In this episode, we covered how their flagship produ remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Laura Roeder (MeetEdgar) - How to Build a Company That Doesn't Need You 16 Laura Roeder (MeetEdgar) - How to Build a Company That Doesn't Need You full No No 4ef40d6f-8e77-4d8e-ac16-62891358521f https://share.transistor.fm/s/8024b1a0 Today we have Laura Roeder, CEO and founder of MeetEdgar! In this episode we covered how Laura built a company that can run without her, why MeetEdgar has a “CEO” _and_ a “President,” and the importance of transparency in company culture. We also talked about why MeetEdgar doesn’t believe in deadlines, why they use the title “advocates” instead of “managers,” and how you can give better criticism and feedback in a remote team. Laura also has a special gift for Outside The Valley listeners! Get one free month of MeetEdgar with the coupon code PODCAST here. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

Laura’s current role and why MeetEdgar has a “President”
Why Laura decided to create a company that can run without her
Mistakes and challenges Laura made while growing MeetEdgar
The importance of transparency
Why you should not put criticism on Slack
Why meetings are essential for remote teams
Is MeetEdgar small by design?
How MeetEdgar thinks about documentation
Why MeetEdgar doesn’t have “managers” but “advocates”
Why Laura doesn’t believe in deadlines

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

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]]> Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3270 Today we have Laura Roeder, CEO and founder of MeetEdgar! In this episode we covered how Laura built a company that can run without her, why MeetEdgar has a “CEO” _and_ a “President,” and the importance of transparency in company culture. We also talked about why MeetEdgar doesn’t believe in deadlines, why they use the title “advocates” instead of “managers,” and how you can give better criticism and feedback in a remote team. Laura also has a special gift for Outside The Valley listeners! Get one free month of MeetEdgar with the coupon code PODCAST here. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Today we have Laura Roeder, CEO and founder of MeetEdgar! In this episode we covered how Laura built a company that can run without her, why MeetEdgar has a “CEO” _and_ a “President,” and the importance of transparency in company culture. We also t remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Kieran Flanagan (HubSpot) - Remote Work as a Growth Lever 15 Kieran Flanagan (HubSpot) - Remote Work as a Growth Lever full No No ae24ee4e-0ef4-404c-af8c-413410d9cbad https://share.transistor.fm/s/290cf1d3 Welcome back to Outside The Valley! For our first episode in 2020, we have Kieran Flanagan, VP of Marketing at HubSpot and host of the Growth TL;DR podcast! In this episode, Kieran talked about how remote work had helped him in his life, why he thinks career opportunities should not be limited by geographical location, and one of the hardest parts of being a distributed team leader. Kieran also shares his insights on why remote hiring is one of the best things you can do for growth, avoiding too many processes in distributed teams, and the “goldfish face” problem in remote meetings. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes!
Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

How remote work helped Kieran in his career and personal life
Why geographical boundaries shouldn't limit career opportunities
The hardest part of remote leadership
Why remote hiring is one of the best things you can do for company growth.
Using "squads" in distributed teams
Avoiding too many processes in distributed teams
The "goldfish face" problem in meetings
How presenting on Zoom can be awkward
Things HubSpot do to recreate the “watercooler feeling”
Kieran's advice to companies who want to hire remotely

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

]]> Mon, 13 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2780 Welcome back to Outside The Valley! For our first episode in 2020, we have Kieran Flanagan, VP of Marketing at HubSpot and host of the Growth TL;DR podcast! In this episode, Kieran talked about how remote work had helped him in his life, why he thinks career opportunities should not be limited by geographical location, and one of the hardest parts of being a distributed team leader. Kieran also shares his insights on why remote hiring is one of the best things you can do for growth, avoiding too many processes in distributed teams, and the “goldfish face” problem in remote meetings. If you’re enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a review on iTunes! Welcome back to Outside The Valley! For our first episode in 2020, we have Kieran Flanagan, VP of Marketing at HubSpot and host of the Growth TL;DR podcast! In this episode, Kieran talked about how remote work had helped him in his life, why he thinks remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team Yes Yes Tammy Bjelland (Workplaceless) - Leveling Up Your Company with Remote Work 14 Tammy Bjelland (Workplaceless) - Leveling Up Your Company with Remote Work full No No 25998270-201c-4bba-b088-d6b2f9d1ac74 https://share.transistor.fm/s/6ce3c933 This week on Outside The Valley we have Tammy Bjelland, CEO and Founder of Workplaceless, a company that helps remote professionals, managers, and organizations to thrive in a remote setting. Tammy shares about how she got into advocating for remote work, what fascinates her the most about remote work, and why she thinks remote work can improve the education sector. We also talked about the specifics of how Workplaceless helps companies transform into remote-friendly organizations, and whether it’s possible to “hire for potential” in a remote organization. We’re taking an end-of-year hiatus after this episode and will be back next year with more cool discussions with other remote leaders! Until then, see you and have a great holiday season! Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

04:12 — How Tammy realized that working in an office is not really for her
07:00 — What fascinates Tammy the most about remote work
08:27 — How remote work can improve the education sector
13:30 — How Workplaceless started
16:46 — Why companies and managers need training to successfully become “remote”
21:51 — Why creating a career map is important for remote companies
24:54 — The #1 fear of companies who are trying to go remote
30:24 — The three pillars framework you can start with when proposing a remote initiative to your boss
32:37 — Is it possible to hire for potential?

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.]]> Tue, 10 Dec 2019 01:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2978 This week on Outside The Valley we have Tammy Bjelland, CEO and Founder of Workplaceless, a company that helps remote professionals, managers, and organizations to thrive in a remote setting. Tammy shares about how she got into advocating for remote work, what fascinates her the most about remote work, and why she thinks remote work can improve the education sector. We also talked about the specifics of how Workplaceless helps companies transform into remote-friendly organizations, and whether it’s possible to “hire for potential” in a remote organization. We’re taking an end-of-year hiatus after this episode and will be back next year with more cool discussions with other remote leaders! Until then, see you and have a great holiday season! This week on Outside The Valley we have Tammy Bjelland, CEO and Founder of Workplaceless, a company that helps remote professionals, managers, and organizations to thrive in a remote setting. Tammy shares about how she got into advocating for remote wo remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Liam Martin (Time Doctor) - How to Be a "Remote Executive" 13 Liam Martin (Time Doctor) - How to Be a "Remote Executive" full No No b59e2fcb-8f99-4313-91fa-4e0252f1706b https://share.transistor.fm/s/6ef0ac1e This week on the show, we have Liam Martin, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Time Doctor and Staff.com. He is also the co-organizer of the Running Remote conference, the biggest conference on distributed teams and remote work. Liam shares his insights on growing into an “executive” role by “letting the entrepreneur inside you die,” how to help other people work with you, and the literal million-dollar mistakes that Liam and his co-founder Rob made when running their company. We also talk about why he started the Running Remote conference, the unspoken truths about running a large scale event, and what’s in store for next year’s conference in Austin, Texas. If you want to learn from the best of remote leaders, you can buy early bird tickets for next year’s Running Remote Conference here: https://ti.to/running-remote/2020 Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

04:10 — How Liam realized that overworking and hustle culture is dangerous
09:00 — The main difference between “entrepreneur” and “executive”
14:15 — The top two things that Liam needed to re-teach himself to be a better remote executive
24:14 — The million-dollar mistakes that Liam and his co-founder made
30:17 — Why it is crucial to extract the “sacred knowledge” of your key team members and document it
37:14 — How Liam created a document to help his direct reports work with him more effectively
41:39 — The most surprising feedback Liam received from his direct reports
44:45 — Why Liam and the team started Running Remote
48:37 — The unspoken difficulties about running a conference

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.

]]> Tue, 03 Dec 2019 02:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 4135 This week on the show, we have Liam Martin, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Time Doctor and Staff.com. He is also the co-organizer of the Running Remote conference, the biggest conference on distributed teams and remote work. Liam shares his insights on growing into an “executive” role by “letting the entrepreneur inside you die,” how to help other people work with you, and the literal million-dollar mistakes that Liam and his co-founder Rob made when running their company. We also talk about why he started the Running Remote conference, the unspoken truths about running a large scale event, and what’s in store for next year’s conference in Austin, Texas. If you want to learn from the best of remote leaders, you can buy early bird tickets for next year’s Running Remote Conference here: https://ti.to/running-remote/2020 This week on the show, we have Liam Martin, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Time Doctor and Staff.com. He is also the co-organizer of the Running Remote conference, the biggest conference on distributed teams and remote work. Liam shares his in remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Eddie Zaneski (Digital Ocean) - Fostering Remote Developer Communities 12 Eddie Zaneski (Digital Ocean) - Fostering Remote Developer Communities full No No a67e7f67-1413-4f41-9908-838392ca58f9 https://share.transistor.fm/s/62764345 This week we are joined by Eddie Zaneski, Manager of Developer Relations at DigitalOcean! This episode is quite special, because we’re focusing on one single job position, which is, you guessed it: Developer Relations. We talk about how Developer Relations is a position that most of the time only makes sense when it’s a remote position, and how the rise of remote work affects this particular position. We also talk about The Remote Developer Experience report released by DigitalOcean this year, and the life of remote workers at DigitalOcean. Topics also covered on the podcast episode:

03:31 — What makes DigitalOcean’s hybrid team model successful
06:42 — Examples of the “remote-first mindset” at DigitalOcean
08:03 — Early resource investments by DigitalOcean to make remote work run smoothly
09:16 — The growing pains of DigitalOcean’s remote processes
13:49 — Eddie’s most surprising finding in the DigitalOcean Remote Developer Experience Report
21:26 — How the rise of remote work helps foster communities of local developers
34:29 — Advice for developers who wants to start their own meetup

Mentioned Resources

]]> Wed, 27 Nov 2019 01:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2397 This week we are joined by Eddie Zaneski, Manager of Developer Relations at DigitalOcean! This episode is quite special, because we’re focusing on one single job position, which is, you guessed it: Developer Relations. We talk about how Developer Relations is a position that most of the time only makes sense when it’s a remote position, and how the rise of remote work affects this particular position. We also talk about The Remote Developer Experience report released by DigitalOcean this year, and the life of remote workers at DigitalOcean. This week we are joined by Eddie Zaneski, Manager of Developer Relations at DigitalOcean! This episode is quite special, because we’re focusing on one single job position, which is, you guessed it: Developer Relations. We talk about how Developer remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Megan Chinburg (Help Scout) - A Look Into Help Scout's Hiring Process 11 Megan Chinburg (Help Scout) - A Look Into Help Scout's Hiring Process full No No 4e03639a-3a7f-4f26-ad0a-643472015ca2 https://share.transistor.fm/s/081f8b93 Today on Outside The Valley we have Megan Chinburg, VP of Engineering at Help Scout! We talked about Help Scout’s hiring and onboarding process from start to finish, with a discussion around the “value screening” stage, and how Help Scout makes sure to reduce biases in the interview process. Megan also shared the one thing that Help Scout did in the early days that made them grow solidly, and her top two pieces of advice for engineering managers everywhere. We covered:

02:31 — How Megan started her engineering leadership career
08:40 — The differences between managing a remote vs co-located engineering team
18:06 — How Help Scout screens for value alignment and technical competence
35:38 — Help Scout’s onboarding process for new hire
40:10 — Why documentation is important when onboarding new engineer
41:00 — One of the best things Help Scout did early on to grow a solid remote team
43:35 — How Megan sees her responsibilities as a VP of Engineering
49:30 — Top two pieces of advice Megan would give to other engineering managers

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.

]]> Wed, 20 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3169 Today on Outside The Valley we have Megan Chinburg, VP of Engineering at Help Scout! We talked about Help Scout’s hiring and onboarding process from start to finish, with a discussion around the “value screening” stage, and how Help Scout makes sure to reduce biases in the interview process. Megan also shared the one thing that Help Scout did in the early days that made them grow solidly, and her top two pieces of advice for engineering managers everywhere. Today on Outside The Valley we have Megan Chinburg, VP of Engineering at Help Scout! We talked about Help Scout’s hiring and onboarding process from start to finish, with a discussion around the “value screening” stage, and how Help Scout makes sure t remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Hailley Griffis (Buffer) - A Peek Into Buffer's Open Culture 10 Hailley Griffis (Buffer) - A Peek Into Buffer's Open Culture full No No c5d36f10-7555-443e-8326-6227d9114dad https://share.transistor.fm/s/2803ffb9 Today on Outside The Valley we have Hailley Griffis, Head of Public Relations at Buffer. We discuss the culture of transparency and openness within Buffer, including how it affects the company’s marketing and hiring, how remote work affects Hailley’s productivity, and more. We also dive into Buffer’s internal processes, and talk about the most unique parts of them. This includes “internal applications” for new job openings, asynchronous all-hands meetings, why Buffer started offering paid sabbaticals, and more. Finally, we also talk about Buffer’s annual State of Remote Work Survey! Check out the survey here and please take a few minutes to fill it in! We covered:

04:25 — How Hailley convinced her previous company to allow remote work
06:33 — Advantages of remote work for Hailley’s productivity
11:30 — Why Buffer has a super transparent culture (and how this affects Buffer)
13:55 — Why Buffer gives internal team members opportunities to apply for new job openings
20:03 — Do you need to have experience in remote work to have a job at Buffer?
23:36 — Buffer’s onboarding process and what’s so special about it
28:50 — What are some unique internal communication processes within Buffer?
35:00 — Why Buffer started offering paid sabbaticals
41:12 — Buffer’s unique all-hands meeting
50:15 — Hailley’s most surprising finding from the last State of Remote Work survey

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.]]> Tue, 12 Nov 2019 02:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3386 Today on Outside The Valley we have Hailley Griffis, Head of Public Relations at Buffer. We discuss the culture of transparency and openness within Buffer, including how it affects the company’s marketing and hiring, how remote work affects Hailley’s productivity, and more. We also dive into Buffer’s internal processes, and talk about the most unique parts of them. This includes “internal applications” for new job openings, asynchronous all-hands meetings, why Buffer started offering paid sabbaticals, and more. Finally, we also talk about Buffer’s annual State of Remote Work Survey! Check out the survey here and please take a few minutes to fill it in! Today on Outside The Valley we have Hailley Griffis, Head of Public Relations at Buffer. We discuss the culture of transparency and openness within Buffer, including how it affects the company’s marketing and hiring, how remote work affects Hailley’s prod remote, startup, tech, remote work, Buffer, distributed team, social media, company culture No No John Doherty (Credo) - Communicating Expectations Well 9 John Doherty (Credo) - Communicating Expectations Well full No No bcd44f98-4add-41e4-9a17-4d750c300f48 https://share.transistor.fm/s/0f8e2a9a Today on the show, we have the CEO and Founder of Credo, John Doherty. Credo is a platform where you can hire reliable, vetted marketing professionals. This week’s episode is less about remote work itself, but more about managing and communicating expectations — whether you're a leader of a company, a client, or a freelance consultant. We also talk about managing communities affiliated with a marketplace-style business, and John’s thoughts on building a bootstrapped, profitable company outside of Silicon Valley. John is also one of the happy users of Codementor, an Arc product, and it really was a pleasure to have him on the podcast. Enjoy the episode! We covered:

4:30 — How John keeps in touch with the Credo community.
7:00 — Has John's mindset about remote work changed over the years?
11:05 — The difference between managing a client vs managing a product.
14:30 — How a leader can be better at writing expectations, especially in a remote organization.
20:00 — What soft skills John looks for when hiring a remote contractor.
28:32 — How remote freelancers can "sell" themselves better.
32:28 — John's thoughts on building a profitable business outside of Silicon Valley.
35:06 — Can you build connections remotely?

Mentioned resources:

Available now on your favorite podcast players:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates!]]> Tue, 05 Nov 2019 05:00:00 -0800 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2456 Today on the show, we have the CEO and Founder of Credo, John Doherty. Credo is a platform where you can hire reliable, vetted marketing professionals. This week’s episode is less about remote work itself, but more about managing and communicating expectations — whether you're a leader of a company, a client, or a freelance consultant. We also talk about managing communities affiliated with a marketplace-style business, and John’s thoughts on building a bootstrapped, profitable company outside of Silicon Valley. John is also one of the happy users of Codementor, an Arc product, and it really was a pleasure to have him on the podcast. Enjoy the episode! Today on the show, we have the CEO and Founder of Credo, John Doherty. Credo is a platform where you can hire reliable, vetted marketing professionals. This week’s episode is less about remote work itself, but more about managing and communicating expecta remote, startup, tech startup, remote work, leadership, team management, bootstrap, marketing No No Peldi (Balsamiq) - Continuous Learning as a Company DNA 8 Peldi (Balsamiq) - Continuous Learning as a Company DNA full No No 8f915796-4784-45f3-a063-67e20db2122e https://share.transistor.fm/s/92b0ba97 Today I’m joined by Giacomo “Peldi” Guilizzoni, the CEO of Balsamiq. In this episode, we talked about Balsamiq’s culture (specifically around the core value of continuous learning and the importance of experiments), the growing pains Peldi experienced as a leader, and more. We also had a quick peek into Balsamiq’s hiring and onboarding process. We also talked about why Peldi strongly prefers to employ remote team members, rather than have them as contractors (which is a common practice amongst remote/distributed companies). I really admire the self-aware nature of Balsamiq, which is a byproduct of Peldi’s personality as a founder and a leader. Hope you enjoy it too! We covered:

02:31 — Why Peldi moved back to Italy to build Balsamiq
07:26 — What Balsamiq does to maintain a self-aware and continuous learning culture
10:16 — Why “experiment culture” is important in Balsamiq
13:35 — Why Peldi prefers not placing too much weight on his own “voice” within the company
21:15 — The un-sexy part of remote hiring (legal challenges, paperwork, etc.)
28:05 — A peek into Balsamiq's hiring process
29:50 — Balsamiq's onboarding process and how it has evolved over time
32:46 — How Peldi moved away from doing the things he's good at

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 29 Oct 2019 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2961 Today I’m joined by Giacomo “Peldi” Guilizzoni, the CEO of Balsamiq. In this episode, we talked about Balsamiq’s culture (specifically around the core value of continuous learning and the importance of experiments), the growing pains Peldi experienced as a leader, and more. We also had a quick peek into Balsamiq’s hiring and onboarding process. We also talked about why Peldi strongly prefers to employ remote team members, rather than have them as contractors (which is a common practice amongst remote/distributed companies). I really admire the self-aware nature of Balsamiq, which is a byproduct of Peldi’s personality as a founder and a leader. Hope you enjoy it too! Today I’m joined by Giacomo “Peldi” Guilizzoni, the CEO of Balsamiq. In this episode, we talked about Balsamiq’s culture (specifically around the core value of continuous learning and the importance of experiments), the growing pains Peldi experienced as remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Hiten Shah (FYI) - Figuring Out Your Own Remote Work Structure 7 Hiten Shah (FYI) - Figuring Out Your Own Remote Work Structure full No No ba0de708-a71b-4e99-a306-d81b5ba5d523 https://share.transistor.fm/s/5b6a7a68 Today on the show we have Hiten Shah, founder and CEO of FYI. Hiten was also the founder of tech startups like Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, and Quick Sprout. We talked about how Hiten has been leading remote teams since 2003, FYI’s Remote Work report, the importance of figuring out your remote work structure, and why hiring is about “opting-in.” An interesting theme in this interview is Hiten’s core message: “Figure out what works for you.” You can easily find articles about remote work best practices, remote work management, and so on. However, Hiten strongly recommends that you figure it out yourself. If your personality, management style, and team structure are not ideal for remote work, admit it and find a solution that works for you. We covered:

2:27 — How Hiten Shah started his very early internet business
4:00 — Why Hiten and his co-founder Marie Prokopets wrote the Remote Work Report
6:10 — The most surprising finding from the Remote Work Report
8:10 — How a remote manager can help remote team members figure out their ideal daily structure
10:10 — What exactly is “overcommunicating”?
12:37 — Why understanding people is the most important challenge remote companies need to tackle
14:00 — Hiten’s hiring process and the biggest differences in hiring remotely between then and now
24:00 — Questions people should ask themselves when they’re building a remote team.
29:09 — Where Hiten usually does his best work

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 22 Oct 2019 00:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2126 Today on the show we have Hiten Shah, founder and CEO of FYI. Hiten was also the founder of tech startups like Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, and Quick Sprout. We talked about how Hiten has been leading remote teams since 2003, FYI’s Remote Work report, the importance of figuring out your remote work structure, and why hiring is about “opting-in.” An interesting theme in this interview is Hiten’s core message: “Figure out what works for you.” You can easily find articles about remote work best practices, remote work management, and so on. However, Hiten strongly recommends that you figure it out yourself. If your personality, management style, and team structure are not ideal for remote work, admit it and find a solution that works for you. Today on the show we have Hiten Shah, founder and CEO of FYI. Hiten was also the founder of tech startups like Kissmetrics, Crazy Egg, and Quick Sprout. We talked about how Hiten has been leading remote teams since 2003, FYI’s Remote Work report, the impo remote, startup, tech, remote work, future of work, management, leadership No No Ho Yin Cheung (Remo) - Transitioning to Become a Remote Startup Leader: Challenges and Tips 6 Ho Yin Cheung (Remo) - Transitioning to Become a Remote Startup Leader: Challenges and Tips full No No e941d528-d302-481d-9fa6-eaa85e0cd2ba https://share.transistor.fm/s/22a25b36 Today I’m joined by Ho Yin Cheung, the founder, and CEO of Remo, a tool that helps you organize virtual events and office space, and Riotly Social Media, an Instagram social media agency. We discussed the challenges Ho Yin faced when he began transitioning to be a better remote startup leader, how his perceptions about remote hiring have changed from enabling cost-cutting to enlarging the talent pool, and how Remo help provides the right amount of transparency for remote teams. Ho Yin also shared the resources and thought leaders that helped him to be a better remote startup leader. Make sure to check these out in the Learning Resources section below! Since we recorded this episode, Remo organized several virtual webinar events, and has even more events coming up. We covered

05:54 — What fascinates Ho Yin the most about remote work
08:41 — Challenges and lessons Ho Yin faced while transforming to be a remote startup leader
13:08 — How Ho Yin’s hiring process changed
19:38 — Ho Yin’s “superpower” that helps him manage his remote team better
21:35 — Why recording is a powerful tool for creating processes in remote teams
24:59 — Resources that helped Ho Yin to be a better remote leader
26:54 — What is Remo?
34:21 — Use cases for Remo
40:58 — How Ho Yin’s transition to being a remote startup leader affects Remo’s product roadmap
49:11 — Advice to startups that want to start hiring remote team members
50:45 — Why it’s important for remote startup CEOs to have a deep bond with early remote team members

Learning resources:

Mentioned resources:

Follow us on Twitter to get updates.

]]> Tue, 15 Oct 2019 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3346 Today I’m joined by Ho Yin Cheung, the founder, and CEO of Remo, a tool that helps you organize virtual events and office space, and Riotly Social Media, an Instagram social media agency. We discussed the challenges Ho Yin faced when he began transitioning to be a better remote startup leader, how his perceptions about remote hiring have changed from enabling cost-cutting to enlarging the talent pool, and how Remo help provides the right amount of transparency for remote teams. Ho Yin also shared the resources and thought leaders that helped him to be a better remote startup leader. Make sure to check these out in the Learning Resources section below! Since we recorded this episode, Remo organized several virtual webinar events, and has even more events coming up. Today I’m joined by Ho Yin Cheung, the founder, and CEO of Remo, a tool that helps you organize virtual events and office space, and Riotly Social Media, an Instagram social media agency. We discussed the challenges Ho Yin faced when he began transitio remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Andreas Klinger (Angel List) - Why Hiring Outside Silicon Valley is The New Normal 5 Andreas Klinger (Angel List) - Why Hiring Outside Silicon Valley is The New Normal full No No 00a27a51-b20b-4835-b9f2-862e461689f1 https://share.transistor.fm/s/b6913aab Today on the show we have Andreas Klinger, the Head of Remote at AngelList, and one of the founding team members of Product Hunt. We talk about why hiring Silicon Valley engineers is now mostly a liability, how to systemize trust within remote teams, why onboarding is super crucial for remote teams, and so on. In this interview, we also mentioned two great resources: Andreas’ blog post “Managing Remote Teams - a Crash Course”, and his talk at the Running Remote conference. If you’re not familiar with these, be sure to check them out! We covered:

01:02 — What is “Head of Remote” actually?
02:00 — Why remote work came naturally to Andreas
04:37 — How investors’ perceptions about remote work have changed over the years
06:24 — Why building an engineering team inside Silicon Valley is now questionable
11:08 — Is there such a thing as a “network effect” in remote work?
15:45 — Why Andreas wrote Managing Remote Teams - A Crash Course
19:48 — Systemizing “trust” inside a remote team
23:35 — Why onboarding is crucial for new hires
28:37 — Why you need to “refactor” your organization every few months
35:04 — The misperception of the “digital nomad” trend
40:30 — Is “remote readiness” is a thing?
43:40 — How to start transitioning into a remote team
47:12 — Andreas’ general advice to those who want to start/scale remote companies, especially regarding hiring
50:30 — Why pair programming is an underrated way to assess your remote candidates

Mentioned Resources:

]]> Tue, 08 Oct 2019 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3393 Today on the show we have Andreas Klinger, the Head of Remote at AngelList, and one of the founding team members of Product Hunt. We talk about why hiring Silicon Valley engineers is now mostly a liability, how to systemize trust within remote teams, why onboarding is super crucial for remote teams, and so on. In this interview, we also mentioned two great resources: Andreas’ blog post “Managing Remote Teams - a Crash Course”, and his talk at the Running Remote conference. If you’re not familiar with these, be sure to check them out! Today on the show we have Andreas Klinger, the Head of Remote at AngelList, and one of the founding team members of Product Hunt. We talk about why hiring Silicon Valley engineers is now mostly a liability, how to systemize trust within remote teams, why remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Justin Mitchell (YAC Chat) - Using Voice to Bring "High-Resolution Communication" to Remote Teams 4 Justin Mitchell (YAC Chat) - Using Voice to Bring "High-Resolution Communication" to Remote Teams full No No 22c9210d-98e1-43f9-ab50-b00856424186 https://share.transistor.fm/s/de881ea5 Today on the show, we have Justin Mitchell. Justin is the founder and CEO of YAC Chat, a voice collaboration tool for remote teams. He’s also a founder of SoFriendly, a software development company based in Florida. We're going to dive into how Justin got his first startup gig in high school, how YAC Chat got their traction via Product Hunt Maker's Festival, the importance of high-resolution communication in remote teams, and the role of voice in the future of remote work and everyday life . It was a fun chat with Justin. Hope you'll enjoy it too! We covered:

01:28 — How Justin got his first startup gig in high school
06:06 — What is YAC Chat?
07:46 — Why voice communications are better than written documents
12:44 — Using voice for async communication and clarity
26:33 — How YAC Chat launched via Product Hunt Maker’s Festival
33:29 — Why Silicon Valley companies are doing themselves a disservice by not hiring outside the valley
37:04 — Why remote work can create a ‘disconnect’ between the CEO and CTO
41:12 — Why high-resolution communication is crucial for remote startups
45:23 — The role of voice in the future of remote work and other aspects of daily life.
48:50 — Using voice communication to increase accessibility

Mentioned resources:

]]> Tue, 01 Oct 2019 01:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 3175 Today on the show, we have Justin Mitchell. Justin is the founder and CEO of YAC Chat, a voice collaboration tool for remote teams. He’s also a founder of SoFriendly, a software development company based in Florida. We're going to dive into how Justin got his first startup gig in high school, how YAC Chat got their traction via Product Hunt Maker's Festival, the importance of high-resolution communication in remote teams, and the role of voice in the future of remote work and everyday life . It was a fun chat with Justin. Hope you'll enjoy it too! Today on the show, we have Justin Mitchell. Justin is the founder and CEO of YAC Chat, a voice collaboration tool for remote teams. He’s also a founder of SoFriendly, a software development company based in Florida. We're going to dive into how Justin remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Krister Haav (Toggl) - Creating a Fun and Playful Culture in Remote Teams 3 Krister Haav (Toggl) - Creating a Fun and Playful Culture in Remote Teams full No No 2eb4af96-a54f-44c5-af42-a96aef28b5ec https://share.transistor.fm/s/a308a32d Today on the show we have Krister Haav, the CEO of Toggl, a simple (yet powerful) time tracker that helps you learn how much your time is worth. If you’re familiar with Toggl, you’ve probably already noticed that they have a super playful brand. They’re not afraid to experiment with comics, or even this addictive startup simulator game: https://toggl.com/startup-simulator/ In this episode, we discussed how Toggl evolved from a software consulting company to a product company, the importance of brand authenticity for remote companies, and why playfulness is an important element of Toggl’s culture. I had a very fun chat with Krister, and there’s a blooper at the end. So you can skip directly to the end, OR listen to the whole episode, maybe learn a thing or two, and then get to the blooper. Up to you! We covered:

07:23 — Why “playfulness” is important to Toggl’s culture
11:51 — Does brand authenticity = a higher employee retention rate for Toggl?
13:51 — How Toggl “transfers the vibe” of team culture within the organization
20:45 — The hiring and onboarding process at Toggl
35:45 — Is it possible for remote teams to hire for potential?
40:13 — Krister’s advice for companies who want to start hiring remote employees

Mentioned Resources:

]]> Tue, 24 Sep 2019 02:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2669 Today on the show we have Krister Haav, the CEO of Toggl, a simple (yet powerful) time tracker that helps you learn how much your time is worth. If you’re familiar with Toggl, you’ve probably already noticed that they have a super playful brand. They’re not afraid to experiment with comics, or even this addictive startup simulator game: https://toggl.com/startup-simulator/ In this episode, we discussed how Toggl evolved from a software consulting company to a product company, the importance of brand authenticity for remote companies, and why playfulness is an important element of Toggl’s culture. I had a very fun chat with Krister, and there’s a blooper at the end. So you can skip directly to the end, OR listen to the whole episode, maybe learn a thing or two, and then get to the blooper. Up to you! Today on the show we have Krister Haav, the CEO of Toggl, a simple (yet powerful) time tracker that helps you learn how much your time is worth. If you’re familiar with Toggl, you’ve probably already noticed that they have a super playful brand. They’re n remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Claire Lew (Know Your Team) - How To Build Social Connections & Trust In Remote Teams 2 Claire Lew (Know Your Team) - How To Build Social Connections & Trust In Remote Teams full No No 3ecb1e6c-2c01-4fce-84c1-604d1cae250d https://share.transistor.fm/s/63e54aad Today we have Claire Lew on the show! Claire is the founder and CEO of Know Your Team, software that helps you become a better leader for your company. We talked about building trust and social connections in a remote team, how you can be a better facilitator as a leader, and the role of empathy in a distributed team. We covered:

03:00 — The 3 pillars of good leadership and how Claire codified these
08:40 — Attributes of a good remote team leader
10:05 — The importance of “affective trust” in a team
16:10 — Can empathy be trained?
19:40 — Asking the right questions as a leader
29:50 — Claire’s thoughts on hybrid teams (half remote, half co-located)
34:11 — How can employees “manage up” better?

Mentioned resources:

]]> Mon, 16 Sep 2019 09:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2590 Today we have Claire Lew on the show! Claire is the founder and CEO of Know Your Team, software that helps you become a better leader for your company. We talked about building trust and social connections in a remote team, how you can be a better facilitator as a leader, and the role of empathy in a distributed team. Today we have Claire Lew on the show! Claire is the founder and CEO of Know Your Team, software that helps you become a better leader for your company. We talked about building trust and social connections in a remote team, how you can be a better fac remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No Mark Faggiano (TaxJar) - How TaxJar Creates A Remote Culture by Prioritizing Employee Experience 1 Mark Faggiano (TaxJar) - How TaxJar Creates A Remote Culture by Prioritizing Employee Experience full No No 87468bad-6e1c-4da5-af10-2f985e7b5835 https://share.transistor.fm/s/15138fd6 Today I’m joined by Mark Faggiano, the founder and CEO of TaxJar, a 100% distributed SaaS company that helps businesses automate their sales tax calculations and filing. We talked about Mark’s genuine passion for remote work, why he personally handled new team members’ onboarding in the company, and how having an Employee Experience Team is vital for TaxJar. We covered:

03:00 — Why Mark is passionate about remote work
06:30 — The point during company scaling when it started to become harder to convey the company’s core values 06:30
10:40 — The importance of employee onboarding, and why Mark decided to personally onboard new employees until the company grew to a team of 20
16:00 — The importance of the Employee Experience Team and People Ops to TaxJar
25:00 — How TaxJar’s transparency helped build trust among potential customers and new hires
31:00 — How remote job applicants can stand out
42:45 — Why it is now easier to raise money as a distributed startup

Mentioned resources:

]]> Mon, 16 Sep 2019 09:00:00 -0700 Jovian Gautama at Arc Jovian Gautama at Arc 2935 Today I’m joined by Mark Faggiano, the founder and CEO of TaxJar, a 100% distributed SaaS company that helps businesses automate their sales tax calculations and filing. We talked about Mark’s genuine passion for remote work, why he personally handled new team members’ onboarding in the company, and how having an Employee Experience Team is vital for TaxJar. Today I’m joined by Mark Faggiano, the founder and CEO of TaxJar, a 100% distributed SaaS company that helps businesses automate their sales tax calculations and filing. We talked about Mark’s genuine passion for remote work, why he personally handled remote work, startup, tech, leadership, management, remote work, digital nomad, entrepreneurship, bootstrap, silicon valley, hiring, software, software engineering, remote startups, enterprise, management, future of work, distributed teams, work from home, remote team No No