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Mozilla serves as an interesting example here. They are very much a Silicon Valley company and have a ton of that same energy. Even before the pandemic they had

Mozilla serves as an interesting example here. They are very much a Silicon Valley company and have a ton of that same energy. Even before the pandemic they had a globally distributed workforce and so had to develop processes that brought people together. Twice a year, for example, they had a company all-hands event to bring everyone to the same place. Usually somewhere fun. Now they aren't a large company by any means but if the 'culture' you're worried about preserving is a group of fun-loving, hard-working, highly talented and motivated engineers committed to a goal that's ultimately beneficial for the world then Mozilla is a pretty damn good example that distributed can work. Now, due to both economics and the pandemic Moz had shut offices and even more people are fully remote. We'll have to see if that crosses some previously hidden tipping point where the culture is eroded because the MV office doesn't exist, but I suspect not. It's the mission, people, and processes which make it a great place to work.* * My knowledge is second hand, I don't work for Mozilla or speak for them.

cmrdporcupine 5y ago
Anecdotally I personally know several people who have left Mozilla in the last year, and not because they were laid off but because they were very frustrated with how things had been going internally (not necessarily with remote work.) They just went through a huge round of layoffs, but I see job postings from them constantly. Somethings not right over there. I interviewed with them a couple years ago and it didn't work out; I feel like I dodged a bullet. As for offices/WFH -- in that case I was specifically attracted to a hybrid model (work remotely but go into the local office 2-3 days a week). I would have not been interested in a purely remote model. I suspect many companies flirting with pure-remote will run into this.
- iandanforth 5y ago
  FWIW if the vast majority of your revenue comes from a single source that actively competes with you it can be a hard business model to sustain. When revenue starts declining then you're living with a situation where things are getting worse day by day. I think Moz is/has been dealing with it fairly well. It's forced them to confront the need to diversify their revenue streams. Now when that happens people will look at the choices being made around how to fix the situation and disagree vehemently. People with extensive tenure are let go due to cost and a belief that the company needs people with different skills, that erodes social networks, and other people who were not let go decide to leave. In other large/largish companies that have gone through boom and bust cycles I've seen this same pattern play out. During growth periods people laud leadership choices and during contraction and turn around people say "there's something fundamentally wrong here." So not saying you're wrong, just that this reality is not unexpected or unusual.

cmrdporcupine 5y ago

Anecdotally I personally know several people who have left Mozilla in the last year, and not because they were laid off but because they were very frustrated with how things had been going internally (not necessarily with remote work.) They just went through a huge round of layoffs, but I see job postings from them constantly. Somethings not right over there. I interviewed with them a couple years ago and it didn't work out; I feel like I dodged a bullet. As for offices/WFH -- in that case I was specifically attracted to a hybrid model (work remotely but go into the local office 2-3 days a week). I would have not been interested in a purely remote model. I suspect many companies flirting with pure-remote will run into this.

iandanforth 5y ago
FWIW if the vast majority of your revenue comes from a single source that actively competes with you it can be a hard business model to sustain. When revenue starts declining then you're living with a situation where things are getting worse day by day. I think Moz is/has been dealing with it fairly well. It's forced them to confront the need to diversify their revenue streams. Now when that happens people will look at the choices being made around how to fix the situation and disagree vehemently. People with extensive tenure are let go due to cost and a belief that the company needs people with different skills, that erodes social networks, and other people who were not let go decide to leave. In other large/largish companies that have gone through boom and bust cycles I've seen this same pattern play out. During growth periods people laud leadership choices and during contraction and turn around people say "there's something fundamentally wrong here." So not saying you're wrong, just that this reality is not unexpected or unusual.