Not just possible. Not just viable. Better.
Let’s stop being defensive about this.
Better talent.
Your office can only hire people willing to live within commuting distance.
That’s a tiny fraction of the world’s talent.
Remote companies hire the best person for the job, regardless of geography.
A startup in Austin competing for local engineers against Google and Apple?
Good luck.
That same startup hiring globally? Different game entirely.
Better work.
Open offices are disasters for concentration.
The average office worker is interrupted every 11 minutes.
Remote workers control their environment.
They can build focus time into their day.
They can work when they’re sharpest, not when the office happens to be open.
Better clarity.
Offices let you be lazy about communication.
Unclear decision? Walk over and ask.
Missing context? Absorb it by osmosis.
Remote forces you to write things down. To be explicit. To document.
The result is clearer thinking, better decisions, and institutional knowledge that survives when people leave.
Better honesty.
In offices, mediocre performers hide.
They look busy. They attend meetings. They stay late.
Their actual output is invisible behind the performance.
Remote strips that away.
You can’t hide behind presence.
Either the work gets done or it doesn’t.
Better lives.
- No commute
- No dress code
- No fluorescent lights
- No overpriced lunch
- No performative face time
People get hours back every day.
They see their families.
They exercise.
They live where they want, not where the office happens to be.
Better economics.
- No office lease
- No furniture
- No security
- No maintenance
- No parking
- No snacks
The math isn’t close.
A $2,000 home office stipend is a rounding error compared to the per-employee cost of office space in any major city.
“But collaboration…”
Write better. Meet less. The collaboration will improve.
“But culture…”
Culture is how you treat people, not where you sit. Remote forces you to be intentional about culture instead of hoping it happens by accident.
“But some people prefer offices…”
Some people prefer fax machines. That’s not an argument for building your company around them.
The office had a good run. For most knowledge work, its time has passed.
Remote isn’t a compromise you make for flexibility.
It’s an upgrade.