Since its inception Gaper has pushed the concept of remote employment – as the philosophy behind it is that the future of employment is remote.
In the quest to garner opinions and insights, the team at Gaper went ahead full throttle getting industry experts, startup founders, and accelerators to share their experiences with remote employment on our podcast. The reaction and acceptance of it were astounding and much better than we could have ever expected. So much so, that within a short period of time, we were able to garner the attention of top stakeholders in the startup ecosystem.
This blog is the first installment of a 3-part series, where we share a snapshot of the 300 plus podcasts we have done so far.
From the questions to the answers shared, we bare it all. A lot of our interviewees also asked about how this podcast helped us. The answer is simple – immensely! Many thought this was a paid invitation, let’s clear the air on that! No, it is not. It is completely free and we keep approaching as many people, inviting them to hopefully connect and build long-lasting relationships with. Our strategy of approaching stakeholders was quite defined, however, as our network grew, more and more people joined the journey along the way.
If anything, Gaper’s strengths on understanding and working on remote employment, practically hit the bull’s eye when the world was forced to go remote almost overnight. The quotations we shared earlier, were seen to translate into reality almost immediately. So getting on board with the concept is definitely something everybody should adopt. Our Survey again filled the gap on what people’s predictions are about the immediate future.
When we spoke to Jennie from Retirement Atlas, she advised others to “make sure that the kind of thing you do day to day are things you really enjoy. Ensure what it is, lines up with what it is you want to do, otherwise, you would be miserable.”
Going remote from day one, Jennie benefitted from the untapped market – including hiring remote software engineers from around the globe.
Monique from Blushup had something similar to say wherein, she mentioned that for her, remote employment is the norm – especially with early-stage startups. She herself works with distributed teams from around the world. “As long as you manage them carefully, things can go really well.” She also suggested, “It is always very important, especially if you are not a tech founder, you have to make sure that you have someone that’s leading the engineers abroad.” So hiring a VP of engineering or CTO that can manage the remote team is of utmost importance. Stressing on a streamlined contract is also key where payments need to be the main area of focus. Sometimes a monthly payout is better than a weekly payout, especially where deliverables are concerned. This is so that software engineers are more committed to the product – instead of leaving midway.
Speaking about how Gaper and Scopio can synergize, Nour (Forbes 30 under 30) commented on how vetting to the top 1% is important, and going remote needs a lot of back and forth, which Gaper solves. “Hire Smart” are her parting words, which are so impactful, that we actually went ahead and added that into our questionnaire. Hiring and firing over the course of one’s company is part and parcel of running a business, hence, looking for the top 1% already puts you ahead of the curve.
Ilana and her team are always on about excelling at accelerating. She shares that, “Starting early, putting a little money into a company, having to use that money to test how well their product fit with their target customer wanted and that iterating the product and business model based on the feedback they get from customers and getting to a point where they really had what we call ‘market product fit’ where you know that the product you are creating is what the customer wants, it solves a real life problem … something that is scalable”; hence the team went ahead and founded Alpha Lab Gear.
She believes that “Our real secret sauce is that the folks on our team had manufacturing experience … we are thinking about what would it take to scale that manufacturing process and what price they can project.”
Judy’s take is to “Live life a little”. She summed up her decade long endeavor, by sharing, “You need perseverance” for all the ups and downs was one thing she started off with. Secondly, her sound advice “from a business standpoint…you may have to go out and live a little life first.” She came up with all her business ideas due to all the personal problems she faced. Selling a solution for a pain point is easier than selling a new idea.
About the future of remote employment, Judy had a few choice words to tell, “In the immediate future remote workers can really work for a lot of companies” and that it depends on how a company can motivate people to feel a part of the team and reach for the success that any company is striving for.
It is super important to have daily meetings for the core tech team and she compares it to “imagine playing a sport; but not in person – those are very real challenges.”
When Chenoa (from Blue Startups) was asked if there was anything she would like to share with her younger self, she emphatically stated, “Be patient would probably be the main thing I would want my younger self to know.”
As the years went by, she believes that Blue Startups has evolved through introspecting on their core operations. With a varying landscape from a couple of decades ago, the number of accelerators has surged – from a handful, to into the thousands. With more competition “you have to be more specific about your strengths and (what) your value is.”
You may have noticed that this installment featured all females in the startup ecosystem – this was a conscious act and only goes to show that there are things that every segment of society has to share. We wish we could add way more than what we have already shared, or will share soon enough … but at the end of the day, are you even listening?
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