Why did some companies not just survive
“Why did some companies not just survive but thrive during the Pandemic?”
Founder resourceMaster $20m+
How I scaled TimeDoctor to $10m Revenue
Why remote companies can be 13% more productive, and how written, asynchronous communication holds a 46-country team together
Liam Martin · Time Doctor
Published September 6, 2023About this resource
- Format
- Bootstrapped Stage at SaaStr Annual 2023
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What you’ll learn
The talk asks why some companies thrived during the pandemic and argues that remote work will remain. It recommends adapting management and building written, asynchronous practices to help remote teams work effectively.
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REMOTE WORK IS NOT GOING AWAY…
“REMOTE WORK IS NOT GOING AWAY…”
“I don’t think these guys are actually
““I don’t think these guys are actually working?””
Build a culture of written, asynchronous communication
“Build a culture of written, asynchronous communication”
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Liam Saastr Slide deck
Liam Martin is the co-founder and CMO of Time Doctor and Staff.com — one of the most popular time tracking and productivity software platforms in use by top brands today. He is also a co-organizer of the Running Remote Conference.
He consults on outsourcing and process design and is passionate about how to gain insights into the inner workings of how people work.
He is an avid proponent of remote work and has been published in Forbes, Inc, Mashable, TechCrunch, Fast Company, Wired, The Wall Street Journal, The Next Web, The Huffington Post, Venturebeat, and many other publications specifically targeting the expansion of remote work.
The mission statement that feeds all the products and services that Liam is involved with stems from empowering workers to work wherever they want, whenever they want.
Liam has an undergraduate and graduate degree in Sociology from McGill University. He lives in Canada but travels 3-6 months out of the year due to his ability to work wherever and whenever he likes. He chooses a new place to travel a few times a year but usually spends time in Austin, Las Vegas, and Ubud each year and loves to encourage others to work remotely on his travels.
- Company revenue
- $22M
- Team size
- 291
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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.
58 passages
Introduction
Slide text
Why did some companies not just survive but thrive during the Pandemic? Question for everyone:
A team celebrates together
A group gathers around an office Christmas tree, suggesting an in-person team celebration.
Colleagues share a meal
Coworkers sit together at a restaurant table, showing an informal team meal.
Coworkers mark a birthday
A group celebrates a colleague with a cake, balloons, and a birthday gathering.
A team shares lunch
Colleagues pose beside several pizzas, illustrating a shared office lunch.
Employees relax at the office
Several coworkers lounge on large beanbags in a shared office space.
Why did some companies not just survive
The talk opens with a question
The speaker asks why some companies thrived during the pandemic while others only survived. This sets up the talk’s central comparison.
Slide text
Why did some companies not just survive but thrive during the Pandemic?
Liam Martin introduces his work
The speaker is identified as a Time Doctor co-founder and CIO, a Running Remote co-organizer, and a co-writer of a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He invites the audience to focus on how work works.
Slide text
Liam Martin Co-Founder CIO @ Time Doctor Co-Organizer Running Remote Co-Writer WSJ Bestseller Focus on understanding how work… works!
A conference takes place in Bali
A world map accompanies the dates 23-24 June 2018 and the location Bali, marking a conference setting.
Slide text
23-24TH JUNE 2018 BALI
The story turns to March 2020
This section asks what changed in March 2020, introducing the sudden shift to remote work.
Slide text
WHAT HAPPENED IN MARCH OF 2020?
User dispersion rises sharply
The chart stays comparatively steady through late 2019 and early 2020, then rises sharply in March. It frames the pandemic as a turning point in the distribution of users.
Slide text
11
Time Doctor reaches $20m ARR
A revenue chart shows a long gradual climb followed by a steep acceleration around early 2020, reaching the headline of $20m ARR.
Slide text
12 $20m ARR
Remote work expands in March
The slide contrasts 4% working remotely in February with 45% in March, emphasizing how quickly work arrangements changed.
Slide text
February 4% working remotely March 45% working remotely
Retail activity falls after lockdowns
The Ontario retail and recreation chart drops well below its baseline in early 2020, then recovers toward the baseline over the following months.
Park visits rebound during 2020
The Ontario parks chart falls around the start of 2020, then climbs above its baseline and becomes more variable through the summer.
Workplace visits remain below baseline
The workplace chart shows a sharp fall in early 2020 and recurring weekly swings afterward, with visits staying below the pre-pandemic baseline.
Remote work surges after 2020
The chart traces a gradual increase in work-from-home prevalence from 1965, followed by a sharp pandemic-era jump from 4.7 to 61.5 and a later decline to 28.2.
Remote work settles above pre-pandemic levels
The survey chart jumps from a low pre-COVID starting point to above 60%, then declines and levels near 30% through 2023.
Remote work extends beyond the Bay Area
A screenshot of an article highlights that 58% of top YC companies are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area while 82% are partially or fully remote.
Remote work remains widespread
The slide compares 45% working remotely in March 2020 with a current range of 26-34%, presenting remote work as a lasting arrangement.
Slide text
March of 2020 45% working remotely TODAY 26-34% working remotely
REMOTE WORK IS NOT GOING AWAY…
Remote work is not going away
This section states that remote work will persist, setting up the case for adapting how teams operate.
Slide text
REMOTE WORK IS NOT GOING AWAY…
Remote work as a lasting shift
A quote attributed to Marc Andreessen frames remote work as a civilizational shift connected to the internet’s impact.
Slide text
Remote Work is “a permanent civilizational shift. A consequence of the internet that's maybe even more important than the internet itself…” Marc Andreessen
A book advocates asynchronous work
The featured book presents itself as a guide to thriving in a world of asynchronous work, with supporting endorsements from business writers.
Coverage shows competing office views
News screenshots capture debate over office returns: a possible recession-driven return, Apple encouraging attendance, and concern about how remote work affects Salesforce.
Workers and managers disagree on productivity
The slide contrasts 76% of employees who say they are more productive with 67% of managers who say they are not.
Slide text
76% of employees say they’re more productive 67% of managers say they aren’t
Productivity concerns surface
A short statement expresses the concern that nobody is productive anymore.
Slide text
“No one is productive anymore.”
Teams lack clarity about work
A short statement captures uncertainty about what people should be doing.
Slide text
“Nobody knows what to do?”
“I don’t think these guys are actually
Managers question visible effort
A short statement captures a manager’s suspicion that remote colleagues may not be working.
Slide text
“I don’t think these guys are actually working?”
Some leaders reject remote work
A short statement voices a strong moral objection to remote work.
Slide text
“Remote work is bullshit and morally wrong…”
A public critique challenges remote work
A split-screen news image shows Elon Musk discussing remote work, with the broadcast framing his position as a sharp criticism.
Labor productivity rises after 2020
The labor productivity line trends upward over the decade and jumps in 2020, then remains elevated compared with its earlier level.
Remote work can improve outcomes
The slide claims remote work is 13% more productive, provides a day more per week, and has 50% lower attrition.
Slide text
Remote is 13% More Productive Remote works a day more per week Remote attrition is 50% lower
Remote teams need different management
This section shifts from whether remote work will last to how leaders should manage distributed teams.
Slide text
Manage Differently
Asynchronous management leads the approach
This section introduces asynchronous management as the operating model for remote teams.
Slide text
ASYNCHRONOUS MANAGEMENT
Three practices support async management
The slide groups the approach into deliberate over-communication, democratized workflows, and detailed metrics.
Slide text
Deliberate Over-communication Democratized Workflows Detailed Metrics
Remote-first and remote-forced differ
The comparison distinguishes companies designed for remote work from companies pushed into remote work by circumstance.
Slide text
Remote first Two kinds of remote companies: Remote forced
Culture includes how teams work
The diagram contrasts the social side of team culture with how people work together, suggesting the latter is a substantial part of culture.
Build a culture of written, asynchronous communication
Write to make async work
The recommendation is to build a culture of written, asynchronous communication.
Slide text
Build a culture of written, asynchronous communication
A visual transition introduces process
An action-adventure film still serves as a transition into the following process examples.
A process moves through four stages
The book page organizes process work into Discover, Design, Deploy, and Debug, with questions, documentation, testing, feedback, and review at each stage.
Build processes through iteration
The diagram connects discovery and design with deployment and debugging, then cycles back through feedback and refinement.
A handbook centralizes team guidance
A screenshot shows a searchable company handbook with sections for values, communication, tools, security, and other shared policies.
Slide text
42 about.gitlab.com/handbook
Company values guide collaboration
The handbook page introduces GitLab’s values and explains collaboration through kind, direct feedback and an expectation that suggestions receive a thoughtful response.
Slide text
43 https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/
Equity grants vary by seniority
The table links job levels to option grants, with larger grants for more senior roles and smaller grants for junior roles, ranging from 15,000 to 1,500 options.
Slide text
44 https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/stock-options/
A demo shows the development lifecycle
The example explains a DevOps platform through a cycle connecting development and operations, from planning and creation through release, configuration, and monitoring.
Slide text
45 https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/marketing/product-marketing/demo/
Everyday tools support remote work
A collage combines communication, collaboration, time tracking, and work equipment, showing the mix of tools used in a distributed setup.
Slide text
46 http://www.speedtest.net/result/7471682920
Detailed metrics open a new section
This section introduces detailed metrics as another part of operating an asynchronous team.
Slide text
Detailed Metrics
Meeting tasks make values actionable
An Asana meeting board turns company principles into named work items, making values visible in the team’s recurring workflow.
Company priorities have owners and status
The task board separates company priorities from individual priorities and tracks owners, progress, and status across each item.
Issues are assigned for async follow-through
A shared issue list gives tasks owners and dates, allowing work and follow-up to remain visible without a live meeting.
A scorecard tracks actuals against targets
The spreadsheet groups metrics by owner and compares quarterly targets with actual results, month-to-date figures, forecasts, and achievement rates.
Async work can broaden opportunity
The slide argues that asynchronous practices can support inclusion, reduce charisma bias, widen access to global talent, speed hiring, and focus leadership on results.
Slide text
If you implement Async this will happen Greater inclusivity and cultural exchange Women and minorities become leaders faster as their bias isn’t overt Charisma bias disappears. The loudest voice will no longer win the argument Hiring will become faster, easier and by extension ready to scale Leadership will be agnostic towards anything but results Global talent pool means better talent period Managers will stop paying attention to presence and instead on results
Remote work helps both sides find fit
The slide frames remote work as an opportunity for employers and employees to find the strongest match with each other.
Slide text
Remote Work Gives Employers and Employees The Opportunity To Find The Best Of Each Other.
Productivity follows a hype cycle
The curve moves from an innovation trigger to inflated expectations and disillusionment, then climbs through enlightenment toward a productivity plateau.
The speaker marks the current stage
A marker labeled “We are here” places the speaker near the lower part of the productivity curve, after the initial peak and before the climb.
Slide text
We are here.
Remote work spans many company types
A screenshot repeats the point that many leading YC companies are based in the Bay Area while most are partially or fully remote.
Adapt to lasting remote work
The closing message is that remote work will continue, so organizations should adapt now.
Slide text
REMOTE WORK IS NOT GOING AWAY… SO ADAPT NOW.
Continue beyond the talk
The final slide points viewers to the speaker’s book and online channels through a QR code and printed web links.
Slide text
LIAM MARTIN | RUNNINGREMOTE.COM/LIAM YOUTUBE.COM/RUNNINGREMOTE RUNNINGREMOTE.COM