I see a bright future for products and services focused on remote team management
In my life, having that separation so I’m physically gone when I’m not available and then fully present and available when I’m home has made everyone a lot happier.
Before you go telling me I needed an office space or a cowork, I did have an office space, and for a while I tried coworking. Once you’re going to a cowork —- well, to me it’s more fun to just go to a nice office with your actual coworkers than it is to rent a desk with a bunch of strangers.
Just sitting in the same area with some other remote workers that I had nothing in common with would probably just be weird.
They work together in a scarce and hostile environment and still build an inclusive culture that make people feel at home. To the point that your alliance is in a lot of way your family, at least as much as all these companies want.
The way they do that is through multiple channels, and the game itself helps ofc. But the main tool they use is always on vocal server. Teamspeak and Mumble are the incumbent there, with Discord being the new entrant.
The way it usually works is that people are always logged in these server the moment they are online. They stay online but go in an "AFK" channel if they went away for a break. Otherwise they will be in a shared "quiet" channel. Or in a "general" channel which is about talking with each other and having a shared space.
If you go do something, like play another game, organize a squad to do something specific, have a meeting, etc. Then you create a dedicated channel.
What happens is that you get people to share the space and feel a community mostly through the vocal channel.
You also usually have a forum for longer run things and "out of band" fun. And in general you also add a slack equivalent. Historically Jabber or Discord these days.
The only thing missing is a good whiteboarding experience, but i have high hope for VR there.
So yeah anyway, always on vocal is the thing most people miss that create that feeling of belonging.
Most of my remote team has family and kids and remote work allows them to actually spend time with them and afford a house in a decent area.
Bay Area is great for single people and/or rich people basically.
It helps to have access to talent anywhere in the US.
So far investors have responded positively to our distributed setup.