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RWL058 How to Balance Leading a Remote-First Company Without Sacrificing Your Passions w/ Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote

What if you could lead a groundbreaking remote-first company without sacrificing your passion for hobbies? Join us as we sit down with Job van der Voort, CEO and co-founder of Remote, a former neuroscientist with a unique approach to interviews and a compelling journey from GitLab’s VP of Product to pioneering the future of work. Job’s passion for remote work, coupled with his impressive ability to manage a remote-first startup while balancing countless hobbies, creates a fascinating discussion about scaling businesses and the evolving landscape of work.

In our conversation, Job shares the invaluable lessons he learned while building and scaling a fully distributed company. We explore the transformative experiences at GitLab that cemented his belief in remote work, the rapid growth and high demand for Remote, and the significant challenges of managing a successful startup. Job dives deep into how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the need for remote work solutions and the critical role of leadership in these times, providing insights on clarity, determination, and the importance of a dedicated team.

Job also reveals his strategies for fostering continuous learning within a remote environment, emphasizing clear career paths, managerial support, and flexible hiring practices that prioritize effective communication skills. We discuss the growing importance of asynchronous work practices, minimizing unnecessary meetings, and maintaining productivity. Finally, Job shares his tips on balancing a busy work schedule with quality family time, ensuring a healthy work-life balance. This episode is packed with valuable takeaways for leaders and remote work enthusiasts, and we can’t wait for you to hear it.

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Interview With Remote Work CEO

Speaker 1
0:00

Skype
.

There

you

go
.

Speaker 2
0:03

Thank

you

Okay
.

Have

you

got

the

questions
?

Are

the

questions

okay
?

Anything

that

you

want

to

ask

me

at

all
.

Speaker 1
0:13

You

know
,

when

people

send

me

the

questions
,

I

don't

read

them

Because

it

just

makes

me

start

to

think

what

to

answer
.

And
,

like

I

prefer

to

be

authentic
,

Exactly

so
.

I

like

surprises
.

I'm

quick

on

my

feet
.

Speaker 2
0:26

I

should

be

okay

that

is

music

to

my

ears
,

because

the

next

question

I

was

going

to

ask

you

do

you

mind

having

some

on

the

spot

questions
?

Speaker 1
0:32

so

no
,

I

love

it
.

That's

you

know
.

To

be

completely

frank
,

I

get

the

same

questions

daily
,

so

you

know
,

and

then

I

try

to

vary

a

little

bit

my

answers

and

I

don't

feel
,

like

you

know
,

I'm

repeating

myself

too

much
.

But
,

no
,

I

like

interesting
,

hard

questions
.

I

don't

know

If

I

don't

want

to

answer

something
.

I'm

also

very

comfortable

just

telling

you
,

but

it

has

not

happened
,

Okay
.

Speaker 2
0:57

Okay
,

I'll

bear

that

in

mind

as

I

try

to

think

of

some

hard

questions

in

my

head

at

the

moment
.

Speaker 1
1:01

Yeah
,

go

for

it
.

Speaker 2
1:09

Yeah
,

hard

questions

in

my

head
.

Yeah
,

go

for

it
.

Yeah
,

excellent
,

excellent
,

okay
,

so

let's

get

kicked

off
.

Then

let

me

um

close

that

down
,

because

looks

like

my

internet

is

not

doing

so

good

today
.

Um
,

right
,

and

I

pronounce

your

name
,

york
.

Yeah
,

it's

perfect
.

Speaker 1
1:20

yeah
,

really

well

done
.

Yeah
,

better

than

my

wife

did

it

the

first

year
.

Speaker 2
1:27

I

better

cut

that

bit

out

of

the

recording
.

Okay
,

let's

do

this
,

right
,

all

right
,

what's

that

one

there
?

Speaker 2
1:46

Okay

okay
,

right
,

so

here

we

go
.

Hello

everybody
.

It's

alex

once

again

from

remote

work

life
.

Welcome

and

thanks

for

joining

me
.

Speaker 2
2:01

And

today

I

have
,

well
,

yet

another

special

guest
.

As

I

mentioned

to

you

before
,

we

only

bring

the

best

guests

on

the

remote

work

life

podcast
,

and

today

I

have

with

me

Job

van

der

Voort
.

And

Job

is

the

CEO

and

co-founder

of

remote

Job
,

previously

worked

as

a

neuroscientist
,

believe

it

or

not
,

before

leaving

academia

to

become

the

VP

of

product

at

GitLab
,

which
,

as

you

may

or

may

not

know
,

is

the

world's

largest

all-remote

company
.

He

hired

talent

in

67

different

countries
,

so

that
,

wow
,

that's

immense
.

So

we're

going

to

learn

a

little

bit

about

that

today
.

Job

is

also

a

highly

sought-after

presenter
.

He

speaks

on

topics

relating

to

scaling

a

remote

first

startup
,

remote

culture

and

the

future

of

work
.

So
,

yeah
,

ideal

guest

have

on

the

podcast
.

Job

also

has

two

kids

and

500

hobbies
,

and

and

you

know
,

I

need

to

ask

Job

about

that

because

500

hobbies
,

I

mean
,

puts

me

to

shame
.

But
,

job
,

thank

you

for

joining

me

today

and

you're

welcome

to

the

podcast
.

Speaker 1
3:14

Thanks

for

having

me
,

Alex
.

Speaker 2
3:16

So

welcome
,

so

welcome
,

so

Job
,

I've

been

waiting

quite

a

while

for

this

moment
.

I

think

you

started

remote

around

about

2019
,

around

about

the

same

time

that

I

started

the

Remote

Work

Life

podcast
,

and

I

suppose
,

quite

frankly
,

it's

exploded

in

terms

of

interest
,

in

terms

of

uptake
.

I

just

wanted

to

say
,

as

I

I

said
,

thank

you

for

joining

me
,

but

tell

me
,

um
,

how

did

it
,

you

know
,

how

did

you

get

to

this

point
?

Did

you

envision

yourself

in

this

role

when

you're

at

gitlab
,

for

example
?

Speaker 1
3:55

yeah
,

funny

story
.

I

um
,

I

was

doing

a

different

job

before

gitlab

where

I

met

sid
,

the

ceo
,

and

he
,

oh
,

do

you

want

to

join

me

at

GitLab
?

And

I

was

like
,

yeah
,

I'll

join

you
,

but

I

kind

of

want

to

start

my

own

company
.

So

I'll

join

you

for

a

year

and

then

I'm

going

to

leave
.

And

that

year

turned

into

five

years
.

So

in

a

way

I

did

envision

running

my

own

company
,

at

least

because

that

was

explicitly

my

goal

even

by

the

time

that

I

joined

GitLab
.

And

between

Sid

and

I

we

always

had

an

agreement

that

I

would

join

and

then

I

would

leave
,

and

that

was

always

the

agreement
.

And

so

I

mean

I

stayed

for

five

years

and

I

told

him

look
,

now's

the

time

I

told

you

this

was

going

to

happen
.

Now

I'm

going

to

go
.

Lessons of Building a Distributed Company

Speaker 1
4:37

So

in

a

way
,

yes
,

I

mean

I

would

never

imagine

myself

leading

such

a

large

maybe

you

know
,

leading

such

a

large

um

area
.

Maybe

too

early

to

tell
,

but

relatively

successful

companies
?

Speaker 2
4:49

no
,

and

I

think
.

Well
,

you

obviously

had
,

like

you

said
,

you

had

that

goal

in

your

mind
.

So

it

sounds

like

I

mean
,

and

from

some

of

the

interviews

I've

listened

to

you
,

you

sound

like

maybe

I

don't

know

if

I'm

right

or

wrong

a

bit

of

a

risk

here
,

but

you

sound

like

you're

the

kind

of

person

who

really

knows

what

they

want

and

you

go

after

it

and

you

plan

out

what

you

want

and

you

approach

things

from

that

perspective
.

Am

I

right

in

saying

that
?

Speaker 1
5:12

Yeah
,

no
,

you're

right
.

I've

been

always

very

clear

on

what

I

want
,

although

that

thing

has

changed

many

times
.

I

don't

know

what

I

want

to

do

after

remote

if

they

kick

me

out
.

But

no
,

kick

me

out
,

but

um

no
.

I've

been

always

incredibly

stubborn

about

what

I

want

to

do
,

and

I've

always

just

gone

straight

for

that
.

Speaker 2
5:29

So
,

yeah
,

yes
,

well
,

that's

a

good

point
,

it's

a

good

guess
.

It's

a

good

guess
,

but

no
,

um
,

and

we're

going

to

talk
.

I

mean
,

for

those

of

you

listening

today
,

we're

going

to

really

dig

into

um
,

obviously

going

to

be

talking

about

remote

work
,

we're

going

to

be

talking

about

asynchronous

work

as

well
,

working

asynchronously

within

your

teams
.

But
,

as

you

all

know
,

I

like

to

get

under

the

skin

really

and

really

understand

the

people

behind

the

businesses

and

to

that
,

as

I

was

saying

before
,

I

listened

to

a

few

of

Yub's

interviews

and
,

yeah
,

what

I

was

supposed

to

want

to

know

is

how

was

your

time

at

GitLab
?

What

did

it

teach
?

Speaker 1
6:13

you

A

lot

of

things
.

It

was

five

years
,

so

it's

a

lot

of

time
,

and

the

company

grew

really

fast
.

The

first

year
,

at

GitLab
,

we

were

initially

not

even

planning

to

raise

any

VC

money

and

we

thought

we're

just

going

to

bootstrap

this
,

and

a

year

later

we

were

in

Y

Combinator
.

We

went

through

that

whole

experience

and

so

a

lot

I

learned
,

how

I

think

the

most

fundamental

thing

is

is

that

I

learned

that

you

can

do

this
.

You

can

build

a

truly

distributed

team
.

Speaker 1
6:43

I

have

people

all

over

the

world

and

build

a

very

successful

company

and
,

I

think
,

in

a

lot

of

ways
,

a

company

that
,

for

one
,

breaks

the

mold

but

also

does

many

things

significantly

better
,

and

not

necessarily

because

of

choice
,

but

more

because
,

as

an

emergent

property

of

the

fact

that

we

didn't

have

any

offices
,

we

ended

up

hiring

from

all

over

the

world

and

ended

up

with

a

very

diverse

team
.

Speaker 1
7:03

I

think

that

in

and

of

itself
,

has

so

many

advantages

for

any

kind

of

organization

and

it's

such

a

great

forcing

function

to

better

practices

like

asynchronous

work

and

many

others

that

you

know
.

I

think

that

laid

the

foundation

on

what

I

was

going

to

do

next
,

right
,

like

I

think

the

reason

that

remote

exists

is

because

I

saw

the

problem

we

face
,

the

problems

we

face

at

GitLab

and

are

trying

to

solve

that

at

remote
,

but

also

because

I

believe

that
,

okay
,

you

can

build

these

kinds

of

organizations

and

I

want

to

help

more

people

create

organizations

like

this

and
,

in

doing

so
,

give

more

people

the

opportunity

to

work

for

those

kinds

of

organizations
.

So
,

yeah
,

a

whole

lot
.

Gitlab

taught

me

a

whole

lot
.

I

don't

want

to

say

everything
,

but

a

whole

lot
.

Speaker 2
7:43

No
,

nice

summary
.

What's

the

biggest

takeaway

from

you
,

from

GitLab
?

What's

the
?

Speaker 1
7:51

biggest

thing

you've

probably

learned

from

your

time

there
.

I

mean
,

it's

what

I

said
,

it's

the

fact

that

you

can

do

this
,

that

you

can

build

this

truly

distributed

company
,

and

that

it

has

massive

advantages
.

That

is

easily

the

best

one
,

I

think
.

When

we

were

building

GitLab
,

we

often

faced

people

being

skeptic

about

the

fact

that

we

were

fully

remote

and

fully

distributed
.

It

was

seen

as

a

very

controversial

thing

to

do

something

that

was

very

rare

and

exceptional
,

and

the

questions

were

always

the

same
,

like

oh
,

only

certain

kind

of

people
,

or

you

don't

collaborate
,

or

it's

just

because

you're

building

this

kind

of

company
,

or

a

million

others

really
.

Like
,

for

example
,

we

knew

at

GitLab
,

oh
,

we

were

not

a

good

acquisition

target

because

we

didn't

have

an

office

in

San

Francisco
,

so

it

would

be

very

hard

to

acquire

us
.

All

of

those

things
.

They

seem

super

controversial

at

the

time
,

but

while

in

GitLab
,

it

seems

so

incredibly

obvious

that

this

was

working
.

Yeah
,

that

was

the

takeaway
.

Speaker 2
8:45

That

GitLab
,

it

seemed

so

incredibly

obvious

that

this

was

working
.

That

was

the

takeaway
.

That's

cool
.

You're

at

remote

now
.

You

started

remote

and

everything

seems

to

be

going

really

well

and

you're

hiring

and

growing

different

entities

across

the

world
.

I

mean
,

in

terms

of

remote
,

how

are

things

going

at

remote

at

the

moment

for

you
?

Speaker 1
9:07

uh
,

I

think

pretty

well
.

Uh
,

it's

running

companies

really

really

hard

and

um
,

remote

grew

from
.

I

think

a

year

ago

we

had

40

or

50

employees
,

today

we

have

500

something
,

so

that's
,

that's

a

lot
.

It's

really

hard

to

build

some

kind

of

structure
,

organization

and

to

make

people

even

understand

what

their

job

is

when

you're

growing

this

incredibly

fast
.

And

so

the

reason

that

we

grew

so

fast

is

because

there's

so

much

demand
,

right
,

we

have

thousands

of

customers
,

and

so

those

two

things

together

that's

really

difficult
.

I

think

from

the

outside
,

and

if

you

look

at

the

numbers
,

we

are

quite

a

successful

company
.

I

think

on

the

outside
,

if

you

look

at

the

numbers
,

we

are

quite

a

successful

company
.

I

think

on

the

inside

sometimes

it

feels

like

everything

is

on

fire
,

but

it's

also

a

little

bit

the

way

it

goes

to

the

startup
.

I

think

generally

everybody

that

works

at

remote

is

working

really

hard

to

build

something

really
,

really

good
.

Speaker 2
9:59

I

would

give

us

an

8

out

of

10

so

far

the

thing

I've

noticed

about

you

very

um
,

are

you

the

kind

of

person

as

well

who

just

really

absorbs

challenges

and

just

takes

things

as

they

come

um
,

or

are

you

somebody

who

just

really

foresees

what

might

happen

and

can

prepare

for

those

things
?

Speaker 1
10:23

well
,

I

think

a

bit

of

both
.

Right
.

In

a

startup
,

the

reality

is
,

and

for

any

problem

set
,

most

of

the

things

that

you

think

are

complex

you

figure

out

in

advance

and

real

hard

things

you

encounter

while

you're

doing

it

right
,

and

the

same

goes

with

a

startup
.

So

I

had

all

these

grand

visions

about

particular

parts

of

how

we

were

going

to

do

things

and

some

of

them

really

panned

out

and

some

of

them

were

still

very

much

building

and

I

first

saw

them

years

ago
.

And

others

I

had

never

imagined

that

those

were

complex

things

that

we

would

trip

over

six

times

before

we

were

able

to

fix

them
.

So

you

know
,

I

would

say

a

bit

of

both
,

which

I

think

is

necessary

in

a

startup
.

Speaker 2
11:09

You

need

to

have

a

long-term

vision
,

but

you

also

need

to

be

able

to

deal

with

the

day-to-day
.

And

what

about
?

Because
?

I

mean

we

in

different

podcasts

I

hear

you

talking

a

lot

about
,

about

remote
,

but

what

about

you

and

your

career

Leadership Lessons in Remote Work

Speaker 2
11:17

?

I

mean

you've

talked

through

some

of

the

chat
,

basically

some

of

the

challenges

you've

had

so

far

with

remote
,

but

what

about

your

career
?

I

mean

for

you
,

what

have

been

the

personal

challenges

that

you've

had

in

your

career

that

you've

had

to

had

to

overcome
?

Speaker 1
11:31

um
,

I

don't

know
,

I

I

always

like

to

say

that

I'm

not

a

very

good

example

or

story

to

listen

to

in

that

sense
,

because
,

as

as

we

were

saying

early

on
,

is

that

I

like

challenges

and

I

overcome

them

by

force

of

will
.

So

I

don't

feel

like

I
.

You

know
,

I

think

I've

had

struggles
,

like

everybody

else
,

but

I

I

never

felt

like

wow
,

that

was

like

a

major

hard

thing

to

come

out

to
,

to

get

over
.

You

know
,

as

I

was

saying
,

I

think

it's

really

hard

to

build

a

company

and

it's

probably

the

biggest

challenge

so

far

career-wise
.

Speaker 2
12:02

Fair

enough

and

it's

a

nice

challenge

to

have

that

success
.

You're

in
.

Is

it

67

entities
?

Now

you

said

right
.

Speaker 1
12:11

No
,

but

we

are

around

60

or

so

that

we

have

right

now

and

it's

growing

really

fast
.

I

think

we'll

be

around

80

before

the

end

of

the

year
.

So

we're

adding

a

lot

these

last

two

months
.

Speaker 2
12:22

And

for

those

who

don't

know

about

remote

reading

a

lot

these

last

two

months

of

steve

and

for

those

who

don't

know

about

remote
,

just

could

you

give

us

just

like

an

overview

of

of

what

remote

is

all

about
?

I

mean
,

I

know
,

but

I

don't

want

to

bore

people

with

my
,

so

you

please
,

you

tell

us
?

Speaker 1
12:33

it's

very

simple

if

you

have

a

company

and

you

want

to

hire

someone

in

a

different

country

than

where

you

have

that

company
,

we

can

solve

that

for

you
.

We

take

care

of

payroll
,

we

take

care

of

compliance
,

taxes

and

anything

else

that

comes

with

it
.

That

is

what

remote

does

and

that's

what

we

solve
,

and

we

solve

that

in

a

million

different

ways
.

We

solve

that

for

contractors
,

for

direct

employees

or

employees

that

are

employed

through

us
,

through

an

employer

records

kind

of

structure
,

any

kind

of

form

really
,

and

anything

that

comes

with

that

as

well

Payroll

benefits
,

but

also

more

complicated

things

than

that
.

We

solve

all

of

that
,

which

is

a

lot

and

it's

really

really

complex
,

but

fundamentally

it

just

solves

that

one

problem

you

want

to

hire

someone

in

a

different

country
.

We

solve

that
.

Speaker 2
13:15

And

you

do

that

by

API
.

How

does

that

work

then
?

Because

I

mean
,

I

get

the

concept
,

but

you

do

that

via

API
.

Can

you

explain

that

a

bit

more
?

Speaker 1
13:26

No
.

Speaker 1
13:27

So

the

way

we

do

it

is

by

lots

of

sweat

and

tears
.

It's

you

have

to

figure

out

like
,

let's

say
,

I

want

to

hire

Jane

in

Portugal
,

right
,

I

have

to

then

go

into

Portugal
,

figure

out

what

are

the

local

labor

laws

like
,

how

do

I

employ

someone
,

how

do

I

run

payroll

locally
?

So

we

do

this

for

every

country

in

the

world

and

in

doing

so
,

we

have

to

build

software

to

automate

the

processes

involved

with

onboarding

Jane

and

all

their

other

friends
.

So

we

build

all

this

software
,

which

is

this

really

complicated

stack

of

software

that

does

a

million

different

things
,

and

we

make

it

available

directly

to

our

customers

so

that

you

can

just

sign

up

and

you

don't

have

to

talk

to

someone
,

but

rather

you're

just

guided

through

this

onboarding

thing
.

Or

we

make

available

APIs

so

that
,

if

you

are

a

partner

of

ours
,

you

can

offer

the

same

kind

of

functionality
.

So

you

can

say
,

well
,

you

can

employ

people

through

us
,

but

really

through

remote
,

and

there's

this

API

available

that

we

then

use

to

integrate

with

remote

that

is

really

what

that

is

Amazing
.

Speaker 2
14:24

Like

you

said
,

it's

got

so

many

different

moving

parts
,

but

you've

managed

to

package

it

in

such

a

way

that

you've

been

able

to

scale

so

quickly
.

You

must

have

a

wonderful

team
.

Speaker 1
14:36

I

do

yeah
.

Speaker 2
14:38

And

in

terms

of

the

uh
,

did

you
,

did

you

and

I

mean

I

know

obviously

everybody's

been

forced

to

work

remotely
,

um
,

and

some

are

liking

it
,

some

others

aren't
,

and

it's

you

know

you're

you're

having

lots

of

clients

on

board

did

you
?

Did

you

anticipate

the

sort

of

uh
,

the

success

that

you
,

that

you're

having

now
?

Did

you

anticipate

the

numbers
?

Speaker 1
15:03

No
,

I

didn't
.

I

also

didn't

anticipate

COVID
,

so
,

which

I

think

is

a

major

boon

and

like

one

of

the

main

ways

that

this

massive

shift

to

remote

work

happened

right
.

So
,

no
,

I

didn't

anticipate

it
.

We

started

seeing

it

when

COVID

started

happening
.

It

was

very

clear

that

this

was

going

to

be

an

accelerating

trend
,

right
.

So

when

COVID

happened
,

it

was

very

clear

that

this

was

going

to

be

an

accelerating

trend
.

Speaker 1
15:21

So

when

COVID

happened
,

it's

not

that

there

was

immediately

a

boom

of

demand
,

the

demand

was

already

there

and

we

were

already

serving

part

of

that
,

but

I

mean
,

we

weren't

actually
,

because

we

only

opened

the

doors

after

COVID
,

but

nonetheless
,

we

were

anticipating

the

demand
.

We

were

speaking

with

potential

customers

for

a

long

time
,

but

what

we

did

anticipate

is

that

once

people

start

working

remotely
,

they

start

to

realize

that
,

oh
,

I

can

just

hire

internationally

instead

of

just

hiring

in

my

country

or

even

in

a

neighborhood

in

which

I

have

an

office
.

And

now

I

think

we're

starting

to

see

that

demand

realized
.

Right

Now

you

start

to

see

more

and

more

jobs

opening

that

have

location

anywhere
,

and

that

is

what

we

were

anticipating

a

year
,

year

and

a

half

ago
,

but

not

before

that
,

absolutely

not
.

No
,

I

thought

we

would

be

successful
.

I

knew

that

this

was

an

interesting

market
.

I

knew

we

could

be

successful

in

this
.

I

didn't

anticipate

us
,

within

two

years
,

to

have

a

company

with

500

employees

now
.

Speaker 2
16:21

It's

incredible
.

It's

just
,

it's

beyond
,

sort

of

like
,

yeah
,

it's

incredible
,

that's

the

only

word

I

can

think

of

right

now

and

obviously

being
,

you

know
,

fast

forwarding

to

where

you

are

now
,

to

500

employees
,

leadership

obviously

comes

into

it
.

You

know

you
,

you

as

not

just

a

founder
,

but

there

has

to

be

so

many

facets

to

your
,

the

way

you

work

and

who

you

are
,

in

order

to

to

have

a

successful

company
.

Um
,

with

that

scale
,

what's

the
?

What

would

you

say

is

probably

the

most

significant

or

most

important

leadership

lesson

that

you've

learned
.

Speaker 1
17:03

Oh
,

good

question
,

I

don't

know
.

I

think

it's

hire

great

people

and

give

them

the

space

to

be

great
.

I

think

that's

one

of

the

most

important

things
.

You'll

find

that

if

you

hire

someone

that's

ambitious

and

hungry
,

as

they

say
,

right
,

wants

to

get

shit

done
,

and

you

give

them

the

space

to

do

so
,

they

tend

to

be

excellent

people

and

they

tend

to

do

really

well
,

and

I

think

that's

how

I

am

as

a

leader
.

I

tell

all

my

reports

that

you

have

to

play

around

to

yourself
.

You

get

to

do

your

best

work
.

I

will

make

sure

you're

unblocked
.

You

have

anything
.

Speaker 2
17:36

You

need

money
,

people
,

whatever

else

show
,

show

me

your

best

work
,

and

that

tends

to

work

out

really
,

really

well

okay
,

the

reason

I'm

laughing

is

because

I've

worked

in

recruitment

for

a

number

of

years

myself

and

you

said

just

hire

the

best

people
.

Yeah
,

that
,

yeah
,

that's

the

the

end

game
.

You

want

to

hire

the

best

people
.

Yeah
,

that's

the

end

game
.

You

want

to

hire

the

best

people
.

But

I

think

the

principles

of

recruiting

and

hiring

people
,

yeah
,

they're

pretty

much

there
.

We're

not

set

in

stone

but

it's

pretty

straightforward

to

follow

those

principles

but

it's

easier

to

sort

of

like

the

practice

of

recruiting

and

hiring

the

right

people

is

the

challenge

what's

the

remote

way

or

the

job

way

of

hiring

people

and
,

you

know
,

making

sure

that

they're

aligned

with

what

you're

looking

at
.

Speaker 1
18:29

Yeah
,

I

think

it

starts

a

little

bit

early

in

the

net
.

I

think

you

have

to

create

a

company

culture

or

a

place

where

talented

people

want

to

work
.

Right
.

To

create

a

really

safe
,

inclusive

environment

is

a

really

important

one
.

I

think

it's

important

to

almost

everybody
.

That
,

I

think
,

is

great
.

So

that's

a

pretty

good

start
,

right
.

And

even

if

you

want

to

hire

a

white

guy

from

San

Francisco
,

creating

an

inclusive

environment

is

also

going

to

do

better

for

them
,

right
.

That's

a

really

good

place

to

start
.

And

then

you

create

an

atmosphere

that

is

pleasant

for

them

as

well
.

Speaker 1
18:56

If

you're

a

micromanager
,

they

will

get

that

sense

from

you
,

from

your

organization
,

in

talking

with

your

organization
.

Like

nobody

wants

to

work

for

a

micromanager
.

So

that's

where

it

starts
.

And

then

you

know
,

like

there's

no

such

thing

as

the

best

person

in

any

given

thing
.

One

way

you're

definitely

not

going

to

find

it

is

by

looking

at

someone's

CV

and

counting

the

years

of

experience

they

have

in

X

or

Y
,

right
.

Like

it's

not

how

you

find

someone

great

at

all
.

It's

quite

the

opposite
.

I

think

you're

going

to

find

someone

that's

incredibly

rigid

and

very

like

expecting

a

particular

thing

if

they

spend

a

lot

of

time
.

So

I

think

really

what

you're

looking

for

is

like

what

is

the

kind

of

person

that

matches

our

organization
,

matches

what

I

like

to

the

type

of

person

that

I

like

to

work

with
,

right
,

and

this

is

often

described

as

cultural
,

but

it's

also
,

you

know

how

people

select

people

that

look

like

themselves
,

so

careful

not

to

use

that

but
,

how

you

know
,

looking

for

that

person

that

matches

well

with

you

and

with

with

a

greater

organization
.

And

then
,

of

course
,

has

some

relevant

experience
.

Speaker 1
19:54

And

what

I

find

is

that

one

of

the

best

predictors

if

someone

is

successful

at

remote

not

going

to

make

any

judgments

with

other

companies
,

but

at

remote

is

someone

that

is

very

kind
,

hardworking

and

just

very

smart
.

And

then

experience

in

the

relevant

place

in

which

we're

hiring

them

into
.

It's

definitely

important

and

it's

going

to

help

them

a

lot
,

but

it's

not

the

solution

to

the

hiring

fit

right
.

The

fit

is

going

to

be

fully

determined

by

all

the

other

things
,

assuming

they

have

the

experience

that

they

need

to

be

able

to

do

the

job
,

and

that's

how

you

hire

the

best

people
.

Speaker 1
20:28

And

so

that

means

sometimes
,

you

know
,

we

have

people

that

don't

have

many

years

of

experience

in

a

particular

function
,

but

because

now

they

finally

have
,

you

know

they're

getting

the

trust
,

they're

getting

the

space

to

do

the

best

work
.

That

is

why

they

succeed

at

remote

and

so
,

yeah
,

I

think

a

very

large

part
,

if

not

my

entire

team

is

exactly

people

like

that
.

I

mean
,

I've

never

been

a

CEO

so

far
.

It's

going

pretty

well
.

So

that's

what

I

was

thinking

about
.

It's

like

I'm

also

new

to

this

job
,

so

let's

all

figure

it

out

together
.

I

don't

necessarily

have

to

hire

people

that

can

redo

the

thing

that

they

have

been

doing

in

the

past
.

Speaker 2
21:06

Love

that

principle
,

love

that

way

of

looking

at

recruitment
,

and

I

think

I've

interviewed

many

people

who

work

remotely
,

especially

those

who

hire

and

make

the

decisions
,

and

I

think

it's

very

different
.

The

way

that

remote

companies

hire
,

the

tactics

might

be

similar

to

sort

of

office-based

hiring
,

but

the

thought

process

is

completely

it's
,

far

removed
.

It's

so

much

more
,

like

you

said
,

it's

more

about

the

person
.

The

CV

is

not
.

People

are

still

so

hung

up

on

resumes

and

CVs

and

don't

look

beyond

the

CV
,

and

I

think

that's

something

that

I

can

categorically

say

that

remote

businesses

do

better

than

any

other
.

So
,

yeah
,

I

love

that
.

Continuous Remote Work Learning and Development

Speaker 2
21:57

Okay
,

so

one

one

of

the

biggest

challenges
.

Actually
,

I

come

across

your

um

and

in

fact
,

myself
,

when

I

was

uh
,

well
,

I

worked

remotely

myself

and

there

was

a

point

where

I

became

very
,

um
,

isolated

in

my

career
,

um
,

and

perhaps

got

so

focused

on

work

that

I

didn't
,

I

didn't

reach

out

as

much

as

I

should

do
.

I

just

just

got

my

head

down

and

did

my

work

and

that

was

it
.

Then

I

realized

you

know
,

I've

got

to

do

a

bit

more
,

I've

got

to

be

a

bit

more

sort

of

out

there
,

I've

got

to

speak

to

people

and

I've

got

to

continue
.

I

like

to

continue

to

learn

that

my

inquisitive

nature

is

what

really

sort

of

took

me

to

to

that

place

where

I

was

learning

a

bit

more
.

But

what's

your

approach

to

not

just

yourself
,

continue

your

own

development
,

um
,

but

also

for

your

team

as

well
,

what's

your

approach

to

you

know
,

learning

and

development

to

keep

moving

forward
?

Speaker 1
22:57

um
,

yeah
,

I

mean

it
.

I

think

it

really

depends

on
,

like
,

what

part

of

the

organization
,

what

kind

of

person

you're

talking

about
,

right
?

Like
,

I

think

it's

very

different
,

for

the

people

that

report

up

to

me

directly

are

all

executives

who

have

a

very

different

kind

of

you

know
,

path

than

you

know

an

individual

contributor

in

the

organization
,

I

think

you

know
,

as

an

organization

as

a

whole
.

There's

a

few

things

you

want

to

do
.

One

is

you

want

to

make

sure

that

for

any

given

role
,

there's

a

career

path

available

to

them
,

right
,

whatever

that

might

be

and

it

might

be
,

you

know
,

moving

up

in

organizations
,

or

becoming

a

manager
,

or

a

manager

of

managers
,

or

moving
,

you

know
,

horizontally

to

a

different

function
,

or

just

at

like

a

different

seniority

right
,

and

all

horizontally

to

a

different

function
,

or

just

at

like

a

different

seniority

right
,

and

all

of

those

have

to

be

available

to

anybody

in

the

organization
.

If

there

isn't
,

they're

going

to

leave

eventually

because

they

want

to

make

steps

up

in

their

career

and

like

and

they
,

they

also

want

that

recognition

like

I

am

growing

and

I'm

getting

better
,

so

I

want

to

actually

move

up

in

roles
.

So

that's

one

which

is

like

setting

the

framework
,

um
,

and

then

you

want

to

make

sure

that

everybody

has

a

manager

that

understands

that

part

of

their

role

is

to

help

their

reports

grow

and

grow

in

their

function

and

grow

in

their

capabilities

and

how

good

they

are
,

and

that

you

know

and

wants

them

to

succeed

and

can

help

them

in

succeeding
.

Speaker 1
24:15

And

like
,

again
,

this

is

an

organizational

structure

trick
,

but

like

if

the

people

have

too

many

reports

they

can't

do

that

right
,

which

is

more

acceptable

but

nonetheless

unacceptable
.

More

acceptable
,

hiring

the

organization
,

but

definitely

if

you

are

an

individual

contributor
,

your

manager

should

have

time

for

you
,

they

should

have

time

for

you
.

And

then
,

beyond

that
,

as

an

organization
,

you

want

to

provide

opportunities

to

learn

and

to

develop

yourself
,

and

it

can

be

in

all

sorts

of

ways

right
,

both

internally

as

well

as

externally
,

through

making

available

budgets
,

through

coaching

them

to

become

leaders
,

for

example
,

by

offering

courses

and

whatever

else
,

and

internal

things
.

With

that
,

we

have

a

learning

and

development

team

side

of

remote
,

so

growing
,

you

know
,

companies

also
.

But

yeah
,

I

think

it's

a

combination

of

all

of

those

things
.

I

think

that

is

that

is

what

is

most

important

that

there's

many

different

ways

that

you

do

this
,

that

you

support

people's

growth

within

an

organization

and

sometimes

outside

of

that

I

like

that

and

talking

talking

about

the

team
,

obviously

continued

learning

is

an

important

thing
.

Speaker 2
25:25

I'm

sure

you

hire

people

who

probably

work

remotely
.

Do

you

hire

generally

people

who

have

not

worked

remotely
,

who

have

not

worked

asynchronously

before

as

well
?

Speaker 1
25:35

Yeah
,

we

don't

care

about

that
,

we

just

hire

whoever

we

want

to

hire
.

I

mean
,

if

you

can

communicate

well
,

you

can

work

remotely
,

that's

it
.

I

don't

feel

about

that
.

We

just

hire

whoever

we

want

to

hire
.

I

mean
,

if

you

can

communicate

well
,

you

can

work

remotely
,

that's

it
.

I

don't

feel

really

strongly

Adopting Async Work

Speaker 1
25:44

about

it
.

Yeah
,

otherwise
,

one
,

you're

just

going

to

shoot

yourself

in

the

foot
.

And

two
,

why
?

Why

block

the

opportunity

to

otherwise

great

people
?

Like

it's

not
,

like

they

have

an

office

to

go

to
,

so

there

was

no

choice
.

Yeah
,

and

it's

not

to

say

that

like

people

won't

struggle
.

They

might

struggle
,

but

we

provide

sufficient

resources

and

coaching
.

And

again
,

like

we

have

a

good

structure

in

the

organization

to

make

sure

that

you

can

succeed
,

um
,

and

there

are

resources

for

you

to

see

it
.

And

it

still

doesn't

work

out
,

for

whatever

reason
.

Speaker 2
26:10

That's

unfortunate
,

but

also
,

luckily
,

very

rare

and

one

of

those

things

that

maybe

people

have

to

adapt

to

and

I

think

more

and

more

in

the

future

is

working

asynchronously
.

And

for

you
,

why
?

Because

I

mean
,

this

is

something

I

think

obviously

is

going

to
,

it's

going

to

grow
.

It's

people

talking

about

it

a

lot

more

now
,

obviously
,

than

they

used

to

talk

about

it
.

Um
,

people

like

yourself

you're

the

I

guess

I've

seen

as

go-to

people

now

in

terms

of

talking

about

it

and

advising

on

it
.

But

in

your

view
,

why

should
,

why

should

leaders

care

about

adopting

async

work

practices
?

Speaker 1
26:54

well
,

if

they

don't
,

their

businesses

will

fail
.

So

I

think

that's

a

pretty

good

reason

why

they

should

care

about

it
.

But

the

reality

is

is

very

simple

if

you
,

if

you

don't

pay

attention

to

this
,

if

you

don't

start

working

asynchronously
,

if

you

are

a

remote

company
,

or

even

if

you're

not
,

um
,

you're

going

to

be

in

meetings

all

day
.

That's

it
,

right

like

it's
.

I

think

asynchronous

work

is

it's
,

or

like

working

asynchronously

is

presented

as

a

magical

thing

that's

going

to

solve

all

your

problems
.

But

the

reality

is
,

it's

just

you

know

a

few

good

standards

around

how

you

should

communicate

that

help

you

also

avoid

meetings

and

help

you

avoid

overhead

completely

unnecessary
,

which

is

sort

of

implied

in

overhead

overhead

that

you

know

everybody

would

be

happy

to

go

without
.

And

so
,

yeah
,

you

have

no

choice

as

a

business

leader
.

Unless

everybody

wants

to

be

in

meetings

all

day
,

which

no

one

wants

to

be
,

you

have

to

start

working

asynchronously
.

Speaker 1
27:51

Wait
,

I

don't

know

if

I

answered

your

question

I

did

say

what

I

wanted

to

say

well
,

it

does
,

it

does
.

Speaker 2
27:58

And

the

thing

is

that

I

think

lots

of

people

I

mean

I'm

looking

at

my

peer

group

now

and

people

who

perhaps

are

not

used

to

working

remotely

it's

almost

there's

still

a

block
,

I

guess

a

mindset

block
,

I

think
,

in

the

sense

that

people

still

feel

as

though
,

if

they

are

in

a

meeting
,

that

they're

doing

things
,

they're

getting

things

done
,

and

therefore

they

add

more

and

more

meetings

to

the

diary
,

which

I

just

find

just

something

that

I

can't

get

over
.

It

seems

as

though

that

people

are

not

necessarily

thinking

about
,

or

even

I

don't

know
,

thinking
,

that

asynchronous

work

can

be

easily

adopted
.

Is

it

something

that

can

be

easily

adapted
?

I

know

you

said

that

each

team

and

each

business

has

to

have

its

own

way

and

its

own

way

of

working
.

Each

team

and

each

business

has

to

have

its

own

way

and

its

own

way

of

working
,

but

how

it

is

Actually
,

that's

a

difficult

question

to

answer
.

Instead

of

that
,

I'll

ask

you

how

should

leaders

approach

trying

to

address

an

over-dependence

on

meetings
?

Speaker 1
29:13

Stop

having

meetings
.

That's

the

trick
.

Stop

having

meetings
,

just

try

to

write

things

to

each

other
.

That's

it
.

There's

nothing

more

to

it
.

That's

the

whole

secret
.

It's

just

stop

having

those

meetings
.

Just

consider

for

a

moment

do

we

need

to

have

this

meeting
?

Is

this

valuable

to

have
?

And

there's

a

few

very

simple

rules

you

can

follow
.

One

are

you

just

sharing

information
?

Don't

have

the

meeting
.

No

point

to

have

a

meeting

at

all
,

just

massive

overhead

and

delaying

particular

kind

of

information
.

Speaker 1
29:39

Rule

number

two

if

you

have

a

meeting
,

make

sure

it

has

a

clear

agenda
.

Everybody

has

seen

it

in

advance

and

everybody

contributes

to

it
.

And

then

you

can

just

add

on

top

of

that

a

million

different

things

just

for

meetings

by

itself
.

But

like

the

if

you
,

if

you

say
,

well
,

we

want

to

stop

over

relying

on

on

meetings
,

I

stop

having

those

meetings

and

like

find

other

ways
.

You

will

like
.

You

will

literally

be

forced

to

find

other

ways
.

You

will

literally

be

forced

to

find

other

ways

to

communicate

with

each

other
.

Speaker 1
30:00

And

if

you're

remote
,

and

especially

if

you're

distributed

so

you're

not

all

working

at

the

same

time
,

then

that

other

ways

means

you

have

to

write

stuff

down

somewhere

or

record

it

right
,

like

speak

it

into

the

air

or

into

a

Loom

video

or

whatever

else
,

and

the

moment

you

do

that
,

you're

working

asynchronously
.

Right
,

it's

like

there's

a

trap

you

can

fall

into
,

which

is

to

say
,

well
,

we're

going

to

stop

having

meetings
,

but

now

we're

just

all

chatting

on

Slack

all

the

time

and

everybody's

expected

to

be

online

at

the

same

time
,

because

we

are

really

bad

at

sharing

information
,

and

I

think

that's

actually

likely

that

you're

going

to

fall

into

the

trap

if

you're

just

immediately

going

to

stop

having

meetings
.

But

if

you

think

about

for

a

few

minutes
,

what

if

we

write

things

down

in

a

place

where

they

belong
,

in

appropriate

context
,

and

make

it

so

that

they

are

non-ephemeral
,

right
,

slack

being

ephemeral
,

the

messages

disappear

essentially

once

they're

out

of

sight
,

and

then

we

put

things

in

a

notion

page

or

in

our

project

management

tool

or

whatever

else
.

Um
,

yeah
,

you're

gonna
,

you're

working

asynchronously
,

that's

it
.

That's

the

solution
.

Speaker 1
30:57

Nobody

wants

to

be

in

meetings

all

day

and
,

like
,

the

few

times

that

you

are

in

meetings
,

you

should

spend

that

time
,

you

know
,

enjoying

seeing

each

other

and

having

an

interesting

conversation
,

like

we

are
.

But
,

um
,

yeah
,

so

yeah
,

how

to

address

it
?

Stop

having

those

meetings

and

then

figure

out

other

ways
,

create

a

single

source

of

truth

for

all

information

and

write

stuff

down

there

I

know

you

said

write

things

down

lots

of

of

other
.

Speaker 2
31:19

Well
,

I

say

lots
,

but

people

are

adopting

things

like

you

know

video
,

short

form

videos

and

short

form

even

audios
.

Now

that's

pretty

big
.

Do

you

do

that

as

well
,

or

are

you

mainly

written

form

within

remote
?

Speaker 1
31:37

No
,

you

know

different

media

for

different

purposes

and

the

nice

thing

about

text

is

it's

easy

to

search

through

and

easy

to

structure
,

whereas

you

cannot

easily

structure

video

or

audio
.

And

luckily

Loom

and

like

Yak

and

such
,

they

now

have

transcripts

which

are

okay

not

great
,

but

they're

okay

and

some

of

them

you

can

search
.

So

that

helps
.

But

you

need

to

have

some

sort

of

central

place

where

you

report

your

documentation
,

your

information
,

and

that

central

place

can

be

different

for

different

projects
.

You

might

want

to

have

one

for

the

whole

company
,

for

example
,

but

then

for

different

projects

it

could

be

a

particular

project

management

tool

or

whatever

else
.

But

writing

things

down

is

nice

because

it

makes

things

easy

to

find

no
,

yeah
,

agreed

into
.

Speaker 2
32:26

I

mean
,

I

think

we've

covered

async
,

obviously

just

in

a

overview
,

but

and

a

lot

of

really

like

your

simplistic

not

simplistic
,

but

your

that's

the

word

straightforward

view

on

that

and

I

think

maybe
,

I

guess

maybe

people

are

just

overcomplicating

things
.

Speaker 1
32:48

Maybe

I'm

oversimplifying

things
.

I

think

it's

a

bit

of

both
.

Speaker 2
32:52

You

think
.

Well
,

I

do

think

that
,

like

you

said
,

if

there's

no

point

having
,

if

people

are

just

sort

of

creating

meetings

just

for

the

sake

of

creating

a

meeting
,

then

then

why

is

it

there

in

the

first

place
?

But

no
,

it's

good

to

hear

that
,

but

what

I

wanted

to

ask

next

is

really

what's

what's

in

store

for

for

remote

going

forward
?

What's

the
?

What

does

the

future

look

like
?

Um
,

and

also

from

your

perspective

you've

you
,

obviously
,

you're

a

father
.

You

recently

had

a

second

edition

to

your

family

what
,

what's

the

what's

in

store

for

you

personally

as

well
?

Speaker 1
33:31

well
,

no

more

kids
,

alex
.

That's

we're

done

with

the

kids
.

Two

kids

is

is

a

lot
,

very

happy

with

them
,

but

no

more
.

No
,

look
,

remote's

doing

really

well

as

a

company
.

We
,

you

know

we

do

a

few

things
,

but

our

ambitions

are

far

greater

than

that
.

So

a

lot

of

exciting

things

to

come

out

most

of

next

year

as

the

year

is

ending

now
.

Yeah
,

for

me

personally
,

it's

doing

that

and

just

enjoying

my

family
.

We're

really

ambitious

with

what

we're

doing

with

Romance
.

It

doesn't

nearly

feel

like

we

have

arrived

to

where

we

want

to

be
.

We

have

a

really

long

path

to

go
,

so

there's

a

lot

to

do
.

Speaker 2
34:15

Well
,

as

a

fellow

dad

myself
,

I've

got

three

kids
.

Speaker 2
34:15

There's

a

lot

to

do
.

Well
,

as

a

fellow

dad

myself
,

I've

got

three

kids
.

You're

dealing

with

different

time

zones
,

different
.

You

know

you're

in

Portugal
,

right
,

and

then

you've

got

people

in

the

US

who

you've

got

people
,

well
,

all

over

the

world
,

how
?

I

mean
,

a

big

part

of

my

audience

are

people

who

are

parents
,

who

are

probably

working

from

home

sometimes
.

What

would

be

your

biggest

piece

of

advice
?

Obviously
,

you've

got

to

be

organized
.

I

think

everybody

would

say

that
.

But

what

is

your

biggest

piece

of

advice

for

people

who

are

trying

to

find

a

balance

with

work

and

home

life
?

Speaker 1
35:02

And

what

would

you

say
?

I

would

say

prioritize

what

is

important
,

which

is

your

family
.

Your

kids

won't

give

a

shit

about

what

you

did

in

your

life
,

um
,

in
,

in

terms

of

work
,

whether

you

were

successful

or

not
,

whether

you

were

the

best

or

not
.

So
,

uh
,

prioritize

your

family
.

That's

a

regret

you'll

never

have
.

That's

it
.

Speaker 1
35:19

I

actually

live

in

the

Netherlands

right

now
.

One

of

the

reasons

we

moved

is

to

be

close

to

my

parents
,

and

that's

one

of

the

best

things

I've

ever

done
,

so

my

kids

can

enjoy

their

grandparents

and

it's

really
,

really

nice
.

And

so

I

prioritize

that

they

didn't

move
.

If

it

was

for

remote
,

maybe

I

would

have

moved

to

the

US
,

where

many

of

our

customers

are
.

That's

not

the

choice

I

wanted

to

make
.

I

would

be

a

terrible

leader

if

I

was

very

unhappy
,

and

I

would

be

unhappy

if

I

couldn't

spend

time

with

my

kids

and

if

we

couldn't

prioritize

them
,

and

so

that's

Balancing Work and Family Time

Speaker 1
35:50

it
.

And

how

do

you

prioritize

when

you

have

a

lot

of

work

going

on

and

you

can

work

24-7
?

It's

by

aggressively

prioritizing

Block

time

for

your

family

so

that

your

work

doesn't

interfere
.

Put

away

your

phone

or

make

sure

that

you

know

your

phone

is

um
,

uh
,

you

don't

have

your

work
,

work

applications

on

your

phone
,

for

example
,

so

that

there's

no
,

there's

no

work

calling

you

while

you're

with

your

family
.

I

think

think

that

is

an

easy

trick
,

but

an

important

one
.

Speaker 2
36:22

It's

been

great

finally

to

have

you

on

the

podcast
,

and

I
,

for

one
,

will

be

keeping

an

eye

on

what

Remote

is

doing

for

the

future
.

And
,

yeah
,

you're

welcome

to

join

us

again

any

time
.

And

you

said

you've

got

some

things

in

store

for

2022
,

which

we'd

love

to

hear

from

you

again

in

2022
,

just

to

hear

what

those

updates

are
.

But

for

now
,

jörg
,

thank

you

so

much

for

joining

us

on

the

podcast
.

Speaker 1
36:49

Thanks
,

Alex
.