Official thread

Even the CEO of OpenAI gets remote vs in person wrong

It's not about developing junior staff.

It's not about creating a culture.

It's not about productivity.

It's not even about commute.

It's only about 1 thing: accessing global talent.

Bravado has brilliant engineers, PMs, designers in Brazil, Nigeria, Ukraine, Poland, Spain, Bali, Georgia, Portugal, Belarus, etc.

We also have brilliant people in SF, SD, NYC, Boston, Austin, Seattle, LA, Miami, etc.

We're also only a 35 person company.

What a luxury it is to hire amazing professionals from across the country, across the globe and bring the best minds together to build.

Instead of arbitrarily drawing a 25 mile circle around any one metropolis and assuming you can find the same level of talented people there.

We are winning BECAUSE remote work allows us to hire better talent anywhere. Our surface area is bigger than yours.

Remote is a competitive advantage in the talent war... and at a startup, it's often the only war that matters.

-SM

https://fortune.com/2023/05/05/openai-ceo-sam-altman-remote-work-mistake-return-to-office/ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the remote work ‘experiment’ was a mistake—and ‘it’s over’ The CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI said one of the tech industry's biggest mistakes was thinking "startups didn't need to be together."

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CRAG112

Valued Contributor

9

Account Executive

These douches need to stop the nonsense. The constant triple-downing of fighting against working from home. It's just a control issue and always has been.

Being required to live in a major area, pay out the ass for everything, and essentially be poor. F that.

When you meet people living in other countries and travelling full time while also working, that's the best.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

0

🦊

👑

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

4

ERP Sales

What about companies in manufacturing or other non-tech/professional service industries, where a significant portion of the workforce is required to be physically present in the office because remote work is not feasible? Often, these roles also tend to have lower salaries.

Meanwhile, these companies have their corporate employees earning higher salaries, enjoying the benefits of remote work, and being able to reduce expenses.

In these situations this might lead to more internal infighting. I know this example doesnt work for this post, but I think its an important thing to think about

WheelofCheese

Opinionated

3

Sales Executive

That's all well and good (OpenAI), but many employees will LEAVE a good company in order to keep the flexibility that a WFH position provides. Something companies should consider. Gone are the days of commutes, sitting in cubicles making busy work and water cooler chats. Good for you, Bravado, for looking at the efficiencies and additional talent that remote work affords you as an organization. Yes, there are some employees that slack off in a WFH environment. Those employees won't make it and will be weeded out. The positives as a whole outweigh the negatives IMO.

RandyLahey

Politicker

3

Account Executive

This is just not the way. Companies now are getting more leverage in the hiring market because of the bad macro picture, but eventually it will sway back harder towards employees.

the demographic pressure is too severe. Those that fight this silly fight will eventually be left behind.

Pachacuti

Politicker

3

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

WFH is and always will be ( but hasn’t always has been) an “it depends” issue. It depends on the nature of your job and what it takes to succeed. Being remote is not always the best situation and being in an office doesn’t always get the synergies The Boss envisions.

Take your average SDR. They need their hand held and tend to need daily affirmations. “Did not receive needed guidance” is a regular complaint. This kind of attention is best provided in an office setting with a manager who is also present. This situation is true for many other people/jobs. Especially those with <5years post college experience.

People tend to want WFH when their own life circumstances dictate it. There’s a lot of “I/Me” statements when talking about working from home and justifying it. And when you say “ my productively is better…” I would strongly debate and question that, at least from an 8-5 perspective.

Are there overall advantages for many to WFH? Definitely. Would I go virtue signal it? No.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

I’m all for remote work, but I’ll play devils advocate here there….

Remote work is not for every person, company, or job.

-I believe onboarding and training new hires is easier in person
-although a person might be remote, coming into the office to meet in person from time to time helps build internal comradely and culture and helps with the sharing of ideas. It also help ensure a reduction in distractions during more formal meetings or training.
-I always prefer to meet in person with clients versus a phone or Teams meeting. I receive better customer feedback, and typically get better information out of them. The customers I see the most in person I have the best relationship with and are better customer because of it.
-I believe there are some distractions in the office, but there are some at home as well (dogs, kids, etc…).
-some jobs like territory based sales you should be in the territory obviously, and those individuals can be remote.

As far as my opinion is concerned I always enjoy seeing people and interacting with them in person. I agree that many jobs do not have to be in office all the time, and unnecessarily forcing employees to be in the office is silly. But some person to person contact occasionally for both internal or external purposes is good I believe. I like hybrid office requirements for this reason (perhaps 2 - days in office, rest at home).

punishedlad

Tycoon

2

Regional Partnership Manager

I'm with you on onboarding/training, but I think a lot of the heavy lifting can be done with a one week visit to the office on your first week. That's how my employer does it, and I support the model.

We also do occasional office visits throughout the year, usually for a week or less. I also support this.

Almost all of my initial meetings with prospects/clients are in person, but that's just the nature of field sales.

There's definitely a balance that can be struck, and I think what we've got going on here is a great strike at that balance.

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

The best part about working for a global company is that it's ... a global company. Talent is talent. So in Bravado's case and I'd argue MOST tech companies, remote employment provides access to the best talent, regardless of geolocation.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

1

☕️

This is a cool LinkedIn post.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

1

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

I’m not sure that they are wrong, but it only expands the ability of commoditization to take over the labor market. Why pay a closer with a ton of experience, if you can get someone cheap who gets to read or email the best thing to say. Team sizes will shrink with coats to do business. It is a HUGE deflationary pressure on the economy of the US.

Chep

WR Officer

1

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

Hell yea technology levels the playing field so it’s about the talent you bring not the geographical lottery you won🧡

LizardWizard

Good Citizen

1

BDR

You god damn right.

quotascammedeverytime

Opinionated

1

account executive

The guy who wants to replace humans with robots has unrealistic work expectations? 😇

Gasty

Notable Contributor

0

War Room Community Manager

. . .

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

0

Account Executive

I've had recruiters dm me for roles to relocate to downtown SF with 6 figure base salaries. Despite being unemployed then, I'd lose money and a whole lot more if I pursued that.

Any company that's forces their hand with me and fucks with my lifestyle/routines gets cut from my list. Office culture or whatever bs you tell yourself, keep it. You do you, I'll do me.

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Personally, I would really love to get a remote job via Bravado and already applied ,but still not yet invited..

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