They Raised $100M+ and Built a 220-Person Remote Company

A Company That Scales Without Officesn

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Some
companies
scale
by
adding
to
bums
on
seats
in
the
office,
not
removing
them.
But
I
recently
discovered
a
company
that
grew
from
15
people
in
October
2022
to
more
than
220
employees
across
18
countries
in
under
three
years.
That
growth
happened
without
building
a
traditional
headquarters.
Hey,
if
we
haven't
met,
I'm
Alex
Wilson
Campbell's
AI
twin.
Alex
is
the
creator
and
host
of
the
Remote
Work
Life
Podcast,
where
we
spotlight
the
remote
companies
and
location-independent
founders
and
leaders
shaping
the
future
of
business
and
work.
Alex
personally
researches,
writes,
and
edits
every
episode
you
hear
here.
And
I'm
his
AI
voice,
so
you
don't
miss
the
updates,
even
if
you
can't
get
to
the
studio.

Filigran’s Remote-First Origin Storyn

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0:45

This
episode
focuses
on
how
Filigran
built
a
fast-scaling
remote
first
company
from
Europe
without
relying
on
a
central
office.
It
centers
on
how
hiring,
funding,
and
operating
decisions
come
together
when
location
is
not
the
organizing
principle.
Filigran
was
founded
in
October
2022
by
Samuel
Hassine
and
Julian
Richard,
both
coming
from
long
careers
inside
cybersecurity
organizations
and
data-led
teams.
Hassine
had
spent
around
15
years
working
in
cyber
threat
intelligence
and
crisis
management
at
France's
national
cybersecurity
agency,
while
Richard
brought
more
than
20
years
leading
engineering
and
data
teams
across
various
companies.
The
starting
point
was
not
a
blank
slate.
Both
founders
had
already
worked
inside
complex
organizations
where
teams
were
dealing
with
fragmented
information,
slow
processes,
and
distributed
stakeholders.
That
experience
shaped
how
they
approached
building
a
company
from
day
one.
Instead
of
setting
up
around
a
single
office
in
Paris
or
another
European
hub,
they
chose
a
remote
first
structure
immediately.
That
meant
hiring
across
borders
from
the
beginning
rather
than
expanding
internationally
later.
By
the
time
the
company
passed
220
employees,
the
team
represented
more
than
30
nationalities
across
18
countries.
The
geographic
spread
covers
Europe,
North
America,
the
Middle
East,
and
Asia
Pacific,
with
specific
commercial
pushes
into
markets
like

Global Hiring Built Around Marketsn

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2:23

Japan,
Saudi
Arabia,
and
Singapore.
That
hiring
model
usually
changes
how
teams
are
formed.
Instead
of
relocating
talent
or
clustering
around
a
headquarters,
roles
are
filled
based
on
proximity
to
customers,
regulatory
environments,
and
local
market
knowledge.
The
company
effectively
builds
regional
understanding
into
the
team
itself
rather
than
layering
it
on
later.
There
is
no
daily
reliance
on
a
physical
office
as
a
coordination
point.
Instead,
work
is
organized
across
distributed
teams
that
need
to
collaborate
across
time
zones
and
contexts
as
a
default
condition,
not
an
exception.

Funding Pressure And Fast Expansionn

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3:03

Growth
has
been
supported
by
external
capital.
In
its
first
three
years,
Filigran
raised
over
$100
million
from
investors,
including
Eurasio,
Axel,
Insight
Partners,
and
Deutsche
Telekom's
T-Capital.
That
level
of
funding
places
it
among
the
more
heavily
backed
cybersecurity
companies
coming
out
of
France
in
this
period.
Funding
at
that
scale
usually
comes
with
expectations
around
speed,
hiring,
and
market
expansion.
In
this
case,
the
remote
first
structure
appears
to
be
part
of
how
those
expectations
are
met
rather
than
a
constraint
on
them.
The
customer
base
has
also
expanded
quickly.
More
than
6,500
organisations
are
using
filigrants
platforms,
including
public
sector
and
enterprise
names
such
as
the
FBI,
the
European
Commission,
and
Rivian.

Customers Worldwide Without Local Officesn

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3:54

One
operational
detail
that
stands
out
is
how
the
company
uses
global
hiring
to
stay
close
to
those
customers.
By
placing
team
members
in
different
regions,
it
can
align
more
directly
with
local
requirements
and
expectations
without
building
separate
offices
in
each
location.

Culture Through A Yearly Team Meetupn

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4:10

At
the
same
time,
remote
work
does
not
remove
the
need
for
shared
culture.
Filigran
runs
an
annual
in-person
gathering
described
as
a
global
get-together
where
the
full
team
meets
physically.
The
purpose
is
not
day-to-day
execution,
but
reinforcing
trust,
relationships,
and
ownership
across
a
distributed
workforce.
That
creates
a
different
rhythm
compared
to
office-based
companies.
Instead
of
continuous
physical
proximity,
there
are
periodic
moments
of
in-person
connection,
with
the
majority
of
collaboration
happening
remotely
in
between.

What Remote Work Requires Day To Dayn

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4:48

For
employees,
this
changes
what
being
at
work
looks
like.
Day-to-day
activity
is
shaped
by
asynchronous
communication,
coordination
across
time
zones,
and
working
with
colleagues
who
may
never
share
the
same
physical
space.
It
also
affects
hiring
expectations.
Candidates
are
not
being
selected
based
on
willingness
to
relocate
or
commute,
but
on
their
ability
to
operate
effectively
in
a
distributed
environment
and
contribute
within
globally
spread
teams.

The Three-Part Scale Formulan

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5:19

From
a
company
building
perspective,
the
model
ties
together
three
elements:
founders
with
prior
operational
experience,
access
to
significant
funding
early
on,
and
a
hiring
strategy
that
treats
geography
as
an
advantage
rather
than
a
limitation.
The
result
is
a
company
that
scaled
headcount
customers
and
capital
within
three
years
while
keeping
the
office
out
of
the
center
of
how
it
works.
For
remote
knowledge
workers,
the
practical
change
is
subtle
but
important.
Instead
of
joining
a
company
anchored
to
a
place,
they
are
joining
a
system
that
is
already
designed
to
function
without
one.
That
shifts
how
teams
are
built,
how
opportunities
are
distributed,
and
how
work
moves
across
borders
on
a
daily
basis.
That's
it
for
today
on
the
Remote
Work
Life
Podcast.

Why This Changes Remote Careersn

SPEAKER_00
6:10

Before
you
head
off
alongside
the
podcast,
Alex
is
building
a
small
beta
platform
that
pulls
together
senior
level,
growth-focused
remote
roles
directly
from
employers'
websites,
not
job
boards.
It's
designed
for
experienced
operators
in
sales,
marketing,
strategy,
and
finance.
If
you
want
early
access
as
a
founding
member,
you'll
find
the
link
in
the
show
notes
or
via
Alex's
LinkedIn
profile.
You'll
also
get
bonus
content
featuring
founders,
leaders,
and
CEOs
from
location
independent
and
remote
businesses.